On the Road with the GR

by Donna MacMeans

Ah Spring - also known as conference season. The Golden Rooster and I took to the road to travel the opposite ends of Ohio in pursuit of writer and reader events. No plane this time, just an open window with the GR's red comb flapping in the wind.

Our first stop was the Cleveland Rocks conference., sponsored by the Northeast Ohio chapter of Romance Writers of America (NEORWA). Lori Wilde led an intimate discussion about developing high concept - undoubtably inspired by the rooster's high flirtacious antics. Everyone wanted to pose with the rooster!

Here's a few photos for the GR's scrapbook: posing with Harlequin and Warner author, Lori Wilde







...and Jamie Denton

We had a great time in Cleveland, but had to turn the SUV around to head down to Cincinnati for Lori Foster's & Dianne Castell's fabulous Reader Get-together. This was a much larger venue and the GR didn't hesitate to make the rounds.

The GR so engaged NYT's Bestseller Stella Cameron in conversation, she missed her photo shoot with the rest of the Tails of Love authors (below).

From left to right, back row - that's Marcia James, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Patricia Sargeant, Kate Angell, Diane Castell. Front Row: Lori Foster, Me (in the hat), and Anne Christopher.


Even Michelle Buonfiglio from Romance: B(u)y the Book fell victim to the rooster's charms.

Of course, all reader's events feature lots and lots of raffle baskets. The get-together was no exception. The raffles baskets brought $6,616 to benefit One Way Farm Children's Home.

The Romance Bandits contributed a basket that was won by Jodi Minton. That cream colored curve is really another rooster. The GR was capitivated.

All was not fun and games though. In the course of the event the rooster was KIDNAPPED! Horrors! The ransom note demanded I go to the bar if I ever wanted to see the GR alive again. Fortunately, I was already in the bar, so the nefarious plot was unraveled before it began (grin). As I discovered a Bad Agency button pinned to his feathers, I suspect bandita buddy Dianna Love was behind the scheme. But the rooster's not talking. The two may be in cahoots.

Thanks to the intervention of Sarah Parr (debut author of Renegade), we found a way to keep the GR in line. Sarah provided fuzzy red handcuffs! (Okay - so we won't ask WHY Sarah happened to have fuzzy red handcuffs.) That's Marjorie Liu looking on.

Now that the GR was back, he could participate in the Saturday night luau. Truly a party bird.

Thanks to Treethyme, the GR was reunited with a much younger brother. Here the GR takes the youngster under his wing.

The two went outside to discuss expectations in the lair. I'm thinking we might be seeing the little guy again.

Darn that bird flirts with anything with wings. At least he recognizes the lure of a good book.

So tell me, are any reader or writer events in your plans this year? Want to tell me about a good road trip? Any suggestions where the GR should venture next? Someone will win a copy of TAILS OF LOVE for some fun summer reading. Let's chat.

On The Road Again

by Beth Andrews

A few weeks ago I had the chance to do something I love doing, something I haven't had the time or, to be totally honest, the desire to do for a long time. I went on a Road Trip.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm in the car a lot. A whole lot. Either running errands, or taking my girls to practice or a friend's house, or sitting shotgun while teaching my son to drive (heck, sometimes I even do all of the above at the same time *g*). But it's been a good long while since I had somewhere to go outside my county's limits.

That all changed when I discovered my Senior Editor was speaking at Toronto Romance Writers - yes, that's in Toronto. A city with 4.5 million people. How do I know that's the population? Because my husband told me. A dozen times. In fact, here's just a sample of what he said to me before I left:

"For the love of all that's good in the world, don't plot a book while you're driving in Toronto. You really need to pay attention to what you're doing! There are 4.5 million people there."

And:

"Remember that one time when you picked up pizza for dinner at the pizzeria down the road and got in the wrong car and didn't even notice until you'd sat there a minute trying to figure out what was different? Well, please don't do that in Toronto. You know, there are 4.5 million people there. Leave their cars alone."

And also:

"Yes, I know you claim you're not lost when you drive aimlessly around a large city you're unfamiliar with - but just because you know you're in Canada, doesn't mean you know which direction to go in order to get home. Please take a map of the city with you. They've got enough people in Toronto (4.5 million) they don't need you living there too."

After this helpful advice, of course I was excited to get going. *g* And, as I'm no dummy, I decided to take someone with me to keep me company and help with the driving and navigate those big city streets. So, I took my son :-) Which was a great idea except, well, he's 16 which means his conversational skills could use some work, he only has his permit and there was no way I was letting him drive on those 8 lane highways (we only have the regular old 4 lanes of highways here - 2 on each side. Trust me, it's much safer) but he was an Ace as Chief Navigator! And he brought along some good CDs so we had classic rock tunes to listen to all the way up and back ;-)

It was a very successful road trip! My Senior Editor was a great speaker and the Toronto Chapter was warm and welcoming (even though I left in a hurry to avoid getting home too late), my son (despite my earlier teasing) was great company and he did drive part way. *g* Best of all, it brought back memories of the many road trips I've taken in my life and how I've evolved and changed.

During the late 80's/early 90's, I'd listen to 80's hair bands on the tape player of my Ford Escort while driving the 90 miles home from school. I'd munch on cheese popcorn or Combos (Combos are still a family road trip favorite) and chocolate milk (regular, none of that low fat stuff for me back then). My metabolism rocked in the 80's!!

The 90's brought with it three kids (I'm still not sure how I got them - although I'm starting to suspect they're to blame for my metabolism going to pot) and car seats. We'd pile in our mini-van and head to the beach as we snacked on animal crackers and juice boxes. Of course the windows were rolled down as the air conditioner didn't work but that's okay. That just meant everyone could hear Chumbawumba (anyone else remember them?) singing about getting knocked down and back up again. We liked to share the joy. *g*

A few years back the entire family went to Virginia to visit friends. About three hours into the trip, we stopped for lunch only to discover our son (then 12) had forgotten his shoes. We're still not sure how it happened - all we know is he thought he'd save time by putting his shoes on in the car once we were on our way (as opposed to actually wearing them out of the house) but never grabbed them. Luckily we were by a mall and able to pick him up some cheap sneakers. *g*

What about you, dear Readers? Do you love Road Trips? Or does the idea of being cooped up in a car for more than 30 minutes give you the heebie jeebies? What's your favorite traveling music? Snacks? We'd love it if you shared your favorite Road Trip memory ;-)