It was a fabulous basket. I have a wonderful picture, which I will post as soon as the technology gods decide to smile on me. The "basket" was a bright pink rolling suitcase stuffed full of Bandit Booty! There were chocolates, a Bandits coffee mug, a Bandits t-shirt, a Bandits stuffed bear, a heart necklace, a lovely embroidered fan, tons of autographed books and lots of other awesome swag. There were also were many, many raffle tickets placed in our bag. People wanted the Bandit basket in a big way! Imagine our surprise when the lucky winner was none other than best-selling author Kathie DeNosky!
Kathie DeNosky, who hails from southern Illinois, is a multi-published author who writes for Silhouette's Desire line. She has published 22 Desires since her first came out in May 2000 and she was a 2007 National Readers Choice Award finalist for her book "The Expectant Executive". She was previously an NRCA finalist in 2002 for "His Baby Surprise". She is also a member of the Ditzy Chix, who some of our readers may already know and love. A winner indeed!
I had the pleasure of meeting Kathie and her lovely friend Roxann at the champagne and Tim Tams reception held in my suite after the RITA/Golden Heart award ceremony. Kathie said she was delighted to win the Romance Bandits basket. "That basket was adorable," she said, "and I am glad to have something to take my books home in!" She loved both the rolling suitcase and, especially, the fluffy Bandits Bear! Though her friend Roxann threatened to steal the bear for her collection, I am sure Kathie was able to stave her off with a Caramello Koala!
Kathie and I found several previously-unknown connections between her and the Romance Bandits. For one thing, Kathie was a two-time Golden Heart finalist. She said both times, "I prayed not to win!" She was terrified of having to give an acceptance speech. (I believe some Banditas may relate.) Another connection is that her dear friend and fellow Ditzy Chick, Bronwyn Jameson, is an Aussie and a friend of our own Anna Campbell! Kathie shared that Bronwyn taught her the correct way to eat Tim Tams. (Our Tim Tams, by the way, were hauled all the way from Australia by Anna, as were the Caramello Koalas. We were very grateful and pleased to eat them so she didn't have to haul them back.)
Kathie is currently working on three more titles for Desire, so look for her new releases in 2008. Her latest release, "Mistress of Fortune", was part of the Dakota Fortunes series from Desire, and is available on Amazon. Congratulations, Kathie! We hope you enjoy the basket and stop by to see us sometimes!
Did anyone enter our raffle at the Literacy Autographing and not win? Did anyone have an encounter with a Bandita at conference they would like to share? And speaking of Banditas at conference, tell us who you met that we need to know!
12 comments:
Congratulations, Kathie, and welcome to the Bandita pack! :-)
Well, I wasn't at the conference, so the only Bandita I've spotted lately has been in the mirror (snort).
So, since I couldn't get there, tell me, what was the best workshop you attended? Reception? Retreat? I am loving hearing all about everyone's conference experience!
I think the most helpful thing I did was to attend the Golden Network retreat arranged by our fabulous Banditas, Jeanne and Cassondra. We got some inside scoop on the industry from published authors and two editors. It was straight talk from straight shooters. Great stuff! And we'll see you there next year, Kirsten, for sure!
Our Bandita Basket was so cool, I could hardly make my way through the estrogen crowd to take a look! Congratulations, Kathie, I hope you enjoy the booty!
Yes, congratulations Kathie! You can now add the honor of being the first winner of a Bandita basket to your outstanding list of accomplishments.(What you don't know, is that if you rub the RB bear and repeat three times "parlay" that Johnny Depp will appear :-)
Kirsten, it's hard to pinpoint one great aspect of this conference. I will join Caren in saying the TGN retreat was super. I too appreciated the "straight talk". It almost felt like we were friends with them!
I did find it curious that at several different workshops/retreats the public words of caution from editors regarding agents. We've all heard the adage "no agent is better than a bad agent" and it appears to be true. One editor even offered to supply some names of agents to be cautious with...off tape, of course.
YAY! SUPER CONGRATS Kathie! Hope you enjoy all your Bandit Booty! (ACK! Joan, I can't believe you gave away one of our Johnny secrets!)
TimTams and Champagne?!?! OOOOO! Now Aunty is REALLY UPSET about staying home to mind the Lair. Next year in SF...LOOK OUT!
AC
Oh, Aunty C., we were so sorry you weren't there! And my dear friend Deb Marlowe (who won the GH in short historical on Saturday, btw) was so disappointed you were absent! She said, "What? Aunty Cindy won't be here? I was looking forward to meeting her--she's a hoot!" And there you have it. The roots of the Aunty C. fan club. Next year we will have a much bigger reception for Banditas and company, Aunty C. And if you want TimTams and champagne, we will arrange to have them!
Congratulations to Kathie! We hope you have lots of fun with all the Bandita Booty!
I had a great time pimping the blog and have lined up several authors who have asked to be guest bloggers on the site. I also know that at least one Bandita *coughCarencough* got a few signed books to resupply the Bandita treasure chest while at Nationals.
Below is the link to yesterday's Publishers Weekly online blog by Barbara Vey. She joined my DARA friends and I for breakfast on Saturday. We did talk about more than corn recipes, but with Barabara being a midwest girl, Milwaukee, and me from Ohio and Jo Davis' daddy having more Texas corn than he knows what to do, well we did discuss cooking.
Barbara was kind enough to highlight my name and anyone who clicks on it goes IMMEDIATELY to the Bandit blog!!
http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog
You mean I missed a party!!!
Sorry. Didn't know about the tim-tams and champagne or I would have stopped by.
This was my "first sale" conference, and it was kind of cool wearing that pink ribbon. I don't think I went to any regular workshops. I did manage the PAN retreat which was all about book distribution, but meetings with my agent - who I finally got to meet - and editor took up a vast portion of the conference.
I'm so looking forward to San Francisco. I'm hoping next year to be able to actually get outside of the hotel. This year, the only fresh, albeit humid, air I breathed was coming into the Hyatt on Wednesday morning and leaving again on Sunday morning. It was a wild, wild time.
Donna
You know, Donna, I believe I told you about the party after the RITA/GH ceremony when you were dazed and confused. There was a lot of that going on. *g* You and many others who had been on during the ceremony were making conversation, but not registering much.
Never fear! We will party again. Hopefully, in a less frenzied and better-planned-out manner. This year got away from all of us, I'm afraid. But Banditas+conference=party, so party we will in San Francisco!
The basket sounds fantastic I wish I could have been there congratulations to Kathie. Tim Tams and caramello bears yum with champagne what a party.
Have Fun
Helen
Helen, you would have absolutely made our party! I know we had at least one Bandits regular, Keira, at the conference. But I never got to meet her! Anna C. and a few others said they met dear Keira, but I never encountered her. That is why I am determined to have a planned get-together next year for the Banditas and honorary Banditas to meet and mingle. Maybe one day we will get to meet you, Helen!
Champagne and timtams sounds like such fun! And I would have been so tickled to see our Banditas running the show--with Trish for the PRO retreat and Jeanne and Cassondra for the TGN retreat, and Anna Campbell basically a household name, I would have been so proud to wear the Bandita banner!
Donna, I'm sure wearing that pink ribbon was so much fun. I remember I didn't step foot outside the hotel at Reno either--hopefully San Francisco won't be so bad!
I live on the west coast and will DEFINITELY be coming out for the conference next year, so LOOK OUT!! Banditas in the house!!
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