Back home after a week in Orlando at the Romantic Times Convention. I'm still experiencing sensory overload and complete physical exhaustion, but in a fantastically good way. I got up early this morning with my daughter, drove her to school and crawled back into bed for the next, oh, two hours. That's what a week of nonstop conferencing does to me, but I wouldn't trade the experience of these past days for anything.

What makes the RT convention unique in a countless slew of writing conventions is how it draws together members from every aspect of the publishing business - authors, editors, agents, book sellers, readers and even the men who model for our book covers.

I'd especially like to thank May, a bookseller from Thailand who I met at Club RT. May told me she stocks my books in her Bangkok store, and had me sign a tote bag, her autograph book and a sheet of book plates that she'll take back home with her. And she gave me a lovely little change purse as a parting gift.

Anyway, the week kicked off for me on Tuesday with the Aspiring Authors Preconvention Workshops. My good friend, mystery author Nancy J. Cohen and I were part of the beginners program headed up by Judi McCoy. We taught "The Big What If of Story Development." Thank you, Judi, for allowing me to help new writers move one step closer to achieving their dream of publication!

Me and Nancy at the Aspiring Authors Preconvention

After our workshop, Nancy and I hit the outlet malls and later met up with Karen Kendall for a night out at Downtown Disney. We had dinner at the Raglan Road Irish Pub and then played tourist walking among the crowds. Disney is all about fantasy, relaxation and fun, and it was the perfect interlude between our preconvention and main convention workshops.

On Wednesday, I headed up my Dark Heroes panel with Karen Kendall, Erin McCarthy and fellow Silk and Shadows blogger, Kim Lenox. I'll admit I'd worried beforehand that we wouldn't get much attendance -- not because we aren't a great bunch of writers discussing a topic near and dear to our hearts, but because there were so many other workshops at the same time. I was delighted that we actually had a great turnout -- thank you to everyone who came!!

Dark Heroes Panel: Me, Karen Kendall, Erin McCarthy and Kim Lenox

While I'm not naturally a public speaker (can we say sweating palms and racing heart?) I'm always glad that I push past my reluctance and do these workshops. It always turns out to be a great experience, and it's incredibly gratifying when people come up later to say how much they enjoyed it and how much they learned.

But of course, the RT convention wasn't all work -- oh, my no!

Having lunch with Roxanne St. Clair, Dara Edmondson, Nancy Cohen and Karen Kendall

I finally got to meet one of my Silk and Shadows buddies and fellow NAL historical author, Kim Lenox!

Ready for the Fairy Ball. Isn't it chic the way my horns match my dress?

At the Fairy Ball with two lovely ladies of the forest -- uh, I mean aspiring authors

More Fairies at the Ball

With Aspiring Cover Model Eric Truglia at the Fairy Ball. As you can plainly see, I was caught in mid laugh. That's because Eric had turned on his magnetic "cover-model charm," and suddenly I felt like a giddy school girl. Thanks, Eric, for the memory of my younger days! And good luck in your career!

Relaxing with RT Reviewer and Good Friend, Joan Hammond

At the Vampire Ball with aspiring author, Adila, whose excerpt I critiqued for the Aspiring Authors Workshop.

With Kim Lenox and Cindy Miles

With Kathleen Pickering and Nancy Cohen at the Saturday Book Fair

"The Chase Sisters!" Here I am at the Book Fair with my "twin," Elora's Cave/Cerridwen Press author Ashlyn Chase! Yes, our names are extremely similar, so no surprise that we were seated next to each other at the booksigning. I'd heard of Ashlyn quite some time ago and always wanted to meet her, so it was great getting to know her duing those four hours. She's an absolutely lovely person, and I'm looking forward to reading her Cerridwen Press release, "Heaving Bosoms."

Congratulations to Ruby, who won my Dark Pleasures Basket at Club RT! And thank you to my friend, Cheryl, who made that beautiful bow!

My most memorable and heart-thumping moment of the convention: Accepting the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for the Best Historic Romantic Gothic of 2008 for the second of my Blackheath Moor novels, DARK TEMPTATION!!!

Thank you Kathryn Falk, Kathe Robin, Jo Carol Jones, Carol Stacy and all the RT reviewers and staff for an amazing, exciting week I'll always remember.