Drinking at RWA

It's no big secret that a lot of the social life at RWA Nationals centers around the hotel bar (even if you aren't a drinker, come hang out with a soda). As great as the hotel bar can be, sometimes you want to get out of the conference hotel and experience something a little different. Since RWA 15 is in New York City and I'm a New Yorker, I thought I'd throw together some recommendations for bars really close to the Marriott Marquis. Anything with a star is a personal recommendation. *Pony Bar - 45th & 10th (craft beer)

*Beer Culture - 45th & 8th (craft beer)

The Jolly Monk - 48th & 9th (beer, waffle sliders <--I don't know what that is but my friend says they're amazing)

Gaf West - 48th & 9th (dive)

Valhalla - 54th & 9th (beer & food)

*Lillie's - 49th & 8th (Victorian cocktail bar)

The Rum House - 47th & 8th (cocktail bar)

Casellula - 52nd & 9th (wine bar)

Briciola - 51st & 9th (wine bar)

*St. Andrews - 46th & 7th (scotch)

If I have enough time before the conference, I'll try to throw together a list of some restaurants in the Hells Kitchen area that you might want to try.

COVER REVEAL: Of Demons & Stones

Anne L. Parks is celebrating a big cover reveal today! Check out this gorgeous cover by Book Beautiful who always does incredible work.

Summary

Kylie Tate is highly successful and focused on her future. No one sees the fear that consumes her, ravaged by demons from a past that left her distrustful of love.

Alex Stone is rarely denied. Not by business associates, and certainly not the women he dates and forgets. Romance is never an option. That is until beautiful, sexy, too damned independent Kylie comes into his life and frustrates the hell out of him. She sparks a desire in him to protect her from the one demon that haunts her - and threatens to destroy them both.

Pushed to her limit and unwilling to be a victim any longer, Kylie takes control of her life.

But a madman’s quest for revenge not only threatens to destroy the love she has finally found – but also her life.

You can preorder Of Demons & Stones on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1egnTOX

#RWA15: Getting to the Hotel

After the great #RWA1st conversation on Twitter yesterday, I realized that a lot of people have questions about getting to the RWA 15 conference hotel. The good news is that the hotel is in the middle of Times Square which means pretty much every subway line heads there and every cab driver will know exactly where you're headed.

Here's some information to help get you around NYC and to the Marriott Marquis in July. Please remember that all of this information should be checked and double checked. I'm writing this purely base on experience or memory, so if any New Yorkers have easier ways of getting to and from locations, feel free to contact me for an update or leave a comment below.

Getting a Cab

If you're hailing on the street or are not using a reservation service like Uber or Dial 7, stick to yellow cabs.* All you have to do is give the cabbie your cross streets (we don't operate in addresses in NYC) which for the RWA conference hotel is 45th and Broadway.** You can also tell the driver that you're headed to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and they should know where you're going.

From LaGuardia and JFK, the cabs will charge you a flat rate plus tolls and tip. It is common to tip 15-20% for most rides. Yellow cabs have credit card machines in the back of them now.

There are taxi stands at all airports and train stations. If you're at Penn Station or Grand Central Station, you can also hail off the street. Cabs that have their central light lit up are free. If there's no light on, it means they are engaged and will not stop for you. Know that shift changes and rush hour can be tricky for hailing a cab (around 4:30-5 PM). Also, it's not a lie that there's never a free cab when it's raining.

Cabs aren't cheap, but they're your easiest option. They are what I use when I fly because I'd rather suck it up, pay the flat rate, and know that I'm not relying on the MTA. Splitting cabs can make them much more affordable.

* You'll also see green cabs that look like yellow cabs. Those are outer borough taxis and are not supposed to pick up on the streets in most of Manhattan.

**New Yorkers give address street first and then avenue. For instance, if you're heading to 45th Street and 7th Avenue, you would say, "45th and 7th." Broadway is considered an avenue, hence "45th and Broadway" for the Marriott Marquis.

Uber/Shuttles/Etc.

Uber, private car service, and shuttles are also possibilities from the airport. My experience is that shuttles are a little less expensive than taking a cab but takes you longer. Uber's rates are variable, so you might want to double check before you order one. There are booking desks at the airports for shuttles, but you probably want to reserve in advance.

Public Transportation

LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia is the closest airport geographically to Manhattan. It's also arguably the biggest pain to get to and from on public transportation. There is no train. Don't look for one. Instead, you're going to want to take the M60 SBS Bus headed to 125th Street. There should be signage directing you to pick up the bus. I believe that the bus is now a select bus which means that there may be vending machines where you pay before you board and then pick up a receipt rather than pay with change or a MetroCard on board.

Get off at the Hoyt Ave/31st St subway station and take the N/Q Train headed for Manhattan. Get off at the 49th Street station. Then it's a short walk to the conference hotel.

JFK International Airport

For public transit from JFK, you're going to want to hop on the AirTrain. The train will take you to the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue Station where you can pick up the E train heading into Manhattan. You would take the E all the way to 42nd St-Port Authority station and then walk to the conference hotel.

Newark International Airport

I'm going to be totally honest here. I've never taken public transportation to Newark because I don't fly out of Newark. Here's a link to the Port Authority of NY-NJ's recommendation. If someone is a Newark public transit authority, please leave a comment if you have any other advice.

Penn Station

You can easily hail a cab at Penn Station, just make your way outside. The main entrance on 7th Ave. has a proper yellow cab stand. You can also hail a cab on the street (8th Avenue is a good spot too since you'll be heading uptown in the right direction).

If you want to take the subway (which I would recommend unless it's during rush hour and you're carrying lots of luggage), you can hop on the train inside Penn Station.* You'll want to take the 1/2/3 or the A/C/E uptown. The stop you're looking for on the 1/2/3 is Times Sq-42nd St and on the A/C/E it's called 42nd St-Port Authority.

Trains run local and express sometimes. This shouldn't matter for you as Times Square is a major hub and all of the trains will stop there no matter if they're running local or express.

*You'll need to buy a single-ride Metrocard at the vending machines in the subway area of the station. I believe it's $2.50.  

Grand Central Station

This one is really easy, guys. Just take the shuttle (which is part of the subway system and is noted by a grey S on signs). All this train does is go from Grand Central to Times Square and back, so you can't mess it up.

Resources

MTA subway maps & transit updates: mta.info

HopStop: hopstop.com

The Love in Food

An earlier version of this post appeared on the One Week in Love website. I grew up knowing that food is love. My mother taught me how to cook. I remember standing in the kitchen on weeknight, following her around as she showed me how to roast a chicken, or bustling around at a dinner party, making a stew stretch to feed an unexpected guest. My father taught me how to bake. He would let me kneed bread dough and roll out pie crusts with my childish hands, making me feel very grown up because this food was actually going to feed people.

Later, in college where dorm cafeteria meals are meant to get you through the day rather than satisfy the inner foodie in you, I would cook for my friends. Big pots of spaghetti Bolognese and chicken noodle soup would come steaming off of my dorm’s tiny electric stove. We would pile up mismatched plates and bowls to eat together in the lounge with our eclectic family chosen out of the people we loved best at school.

When I moved to New York for graduate school and then work, I learned to cook in a miniscule New York studio apartment in Morningside Heights with a kitchen that didn’t have an inch of counter space. I’d host little dinner and cocktail parties, feeling very grown up that all of my plates and dishes matched. That I had glassware was seen as a sign of maturity.

Now I cook for my boyfriend, a man doesn’t turn on the stove except to insist on making me a hot breakfast before I head to work. I started cooking for him within a few weeks of us meeting, teaching him little things here and there in the kitchen because he wanted to learn. But more than anything, I wanted to feed him. All my life, I’ve understood that we feed the people we care about because food is about more than sustenance.

Right in the middle of my novella “The Wedding Week”, Chris cooks for Annie. He’s a chef, so I knew it would be important for him to show his love of the heroine through food. It’s his language. I wound up writing a scene I think of as being deceptively intimate. Right in the middle of the book, Chris rolls out of Annie’s bed and makes he tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. But the scene isn’t just about amazing, post-coital food preparation. It’s an early sign of what the reader already suspects: Chris is already falling for Annie.

I’ve gotten a couple of requests from early readers to share Chris’ romantic but simple tomato soup recipe, so here it is. I only hope you will make it for someone you love whether husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, child, parent, or friend.

Tuscan Roasted Tomato Soup

Adapted from 5 Ingredient Fix: Easy, Elegant, and Irresistible Recipes, by Claire Robinson 

Ingredients

1 pound vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and quartered*

2 whole garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

One 28-ounce can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1 ½ cups water

1/3 cup basil leaves, chopped finely

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat over to 400.

Toss chopped, fresh tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Add whole garlic cloves. Roast in oven for 15 minutes until tomatoes start to shrivel and their sweetness concentrates.

While tomatoes are cooking, add San Marzano tomatoes and water to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add basil and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce head to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Once tomatoes are done, remove from oven and reserve garlic cloves. Add to the pot with all cooking juices. Smash garlic with the flat of a knife, and chop finely into a paste. Add to soup. Simmer for another three minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately alongside grilled cheese sandwiches.

This soup freezes well.

*I often make this recipe in the winter when tomatoes are out of season and the greenhouse grown ones are prohibitively expensive. During those months, ripe grape tomatoes sliced in half make a great alternative.

You can order One Week in Hawaii from Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. 

How to Organize Your Writing Life: Tracking Characters

When you're a writer, the struggle to stay organized is real. Different drafts. Different books. Different projects. Release days. Blog posts. Facebook parties. No matter the stage of your career, we all have responsibilities pulling us in different directions. Organization is key to making sure that everything gets done when it should without leaving you feeling completely overwhelmed.

Every Wednesday throughout the month of May, I'm sharing some of the tips and tricks that I used to keep my writing life in order. We've already covered your calendar and your daily writing goals. Today we're tackling tracking your characters.

Keep Record

I started to keep notes on all of the characters that appear in my books about three novels, four novellas, several short stories, and countless pitches into the process. I really, really regret not starting from day one. I'm still playing catch up on entering all of my character names as well as their defining characteristics.

So here's what I recommend. No matter where you are in your writing career, build a spreadsheet for your characters. Start it now. Today. And keep it updated. It will save you when you're editing manuscripts you haven't looked at in awhile. Even better, you can build your mini character profiles while you're writing and keep yourself on track as you draft.

What to Include

Your character spreadsheet can be as extensive or minimalist as you like. Here's a look at the things I track:

• First name
• Last name
• Title (mainly for historicals)
• Book the character appears in
• Role (hero/heroine/antagonist/secondary character)
• Race
• Height
• Hair color
• Eye color
• Profession
• Additional notes

Once I enter all of that information in, I use Excel's sort function to alphabetize by first name. That makes it easy to find characters fast, and it also helps me notice any trends. I have a tendency to like men's names that start with an "E" and women whose names start with a "C." I don't know why, but having a visual remind of that is hugely helpful.

Use Your Spreadsheet

Just like a calendar or a to do list, a character spreadsheet is only helpful if you actually use it. When I'm writing, I have it popped up in the background. If I write about a new character, I'll add their traits to the sheet. Similarly, I refer back to that sheet if I'm drafting and I can't remember the color of a character's eyes (something I seem to be incapable of). Doing this will save you a lot of annoying stopping and starting while you're editing a manuscript--especially if you haven't looked at it in a few weeks.

If you are interested in getting a copy of my character spreadsheet, just send me an email to juliakellywrites@gmail.com, and I would be happy to send you my template.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Another Sneak Peek of One Week in Hawaii!

Last Wednesday I gave you an exclusive look at One Week in Hawaii and introduced you to Annie and Chris. If you need to catch up, you can click here because today we're picking up right where we left off.  

Annie strode across the room, gripped Mark’s shoulder, and spun him around. A three-inch rip gaped at the back of his fine cotton tuxedo shirt.

Fuck.

“How bad is it?” asked the panicking groom as he tried to twist to look.

“Do you have a backup?” she demanded.

His lips pressed into a thin line. “Karen doesn’t like it. It doesn’t fit as well.”

Of course it didn’t. She looked at her watch. Nineteen minutes to ceremony. “Take it off.”

The groom and his party all stared at her.

“I have a sewing kit in here,” she explained, fighting to keep the exasperation from her voice. “Take the shirt off, and I’ll sew it back together. But someone’s going to need to iron the backup just in case.”

Mark started to unbutton the torn shirt as she looked around the room at more blank faces. “Not a single one of you can iron?” she asked.

Gary, the New York lawyer, shrugged. “Camilla won’t let me near the iron after I burned a hole in my brand new Brooks Brothers shirt a couple years ago.”

“I can do it.”

Chris stepped forward and unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket, letting it slide down his arms. She was one hundred percent positive that if she peeled his shirt off him she’d find strong, wiry muscle underneath there. Muscle she might have let herself indulge in thinking about if it wasn’t for the clumsiest groom in Hawaii.

“Good,” she said with a sharp nod. At least one of them could fend for themselves. Her mother always said that a real man was one who could cook, clean, and keep a house. A man who was the opposite of her father—often drunk, sometimes incarcerated, and rarely present.

She took Mark’s torn shirt, but not before fixing the other groomsmen with a hard stare. “You will each take a boutonniere. Then you will go to the ceremony location. You will stay at the ceremony location. No detours. No stalling. No more drinks until after the wedding vows are exchanged. Is that clear?”

The men murmured their agreement and shuffled out of the hotel room. She half expected them to hold hands, pairing off into field trip buddies like little kids.

She moved to her kit, a suitcase she’d planted in the room that morning. “Mark, how much have you had to drink today?”

“I had a scotch a couple hours ago,” he said shakily. “I was too amped up for anything else.”

“Good. Pour yourself another—a small one—and watch the game. I’ll be done with this in a moment.”

The groom shot her a grateful look and scuttled over to the couch.

She pointed at Chris. “You come with me.”

She moved fast, ripping the dry-cleaning bag off the backup shirt that hung in the closet and sliding it from its hanger. When she turned back, Chris had the ironing board out and was in the bathroom filling the iron’s water chamber.

They worked in silence for a couple of moments, her repairing the shirt with tiny stitches and him moving methodically to iron the backup crisp and smooth.

“You’re good at that,” she said, tipping her head in his direction.

His crooked smile slid over his face again. “Courtesy of my first job. I did all the grunt work at my stepfather’s restaurant. If I was late or broke a dish, I got stuck ironing napkins. He wanted sharp corners, the same way every single time.”

“Is spending all that time in the restaurant what made you want to be a chef?” She didn’t know why she asked it. After tonight, she wasn’t going to see this guy again, but he was helping her. Asking felt right.

“Mark mentioned that I’m a chef?” he asked, flipping the shirt so he could do the second front panel.

“I have a file on all members of the wedding party.”

His eyes widened. “That’s not sinister at all.”

She shrugged. “During one of the first weddings I ever planned, I didn’t realize that one of the bridesmaids had an ex-husband and an ex-boyfriend in the wedding party. The men started brawling during ‘The Cha Cha Slide.’”

He barked a laugh—a sound as rich as chocolate and just as sinful. “You’re kidding?”

The beginnings of a smile tugged at her lips. “The bridesmaid wound up sobbing into my lap in the bathroom. That’s why I try to find out as much about you guys as I can beforehand.”

“So what else do you know about me?” he asked. The question should have been casual, but the low rumble of his voice made it sound like a promise of so much more.

She squeezed her thighs tight. She was at work. That meant no lusting after guests.

“I know enough about you,” was all she said.

“That’s a cop-out.”

“I’m like the CIA. If I told you what’s in the dossier, I’d have to kill you.”

He put the iron down. “And what’s the CIA’s policy on dancing with a guest? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Annie nearly jabbed herself in the thumb with the needle. There was no way she was going to dance with this man. She wouldn’t survive the feeling of his body pressed up against hers no matter how much she wanted it.

“Generally the CIA frowns on such activities,” she said stiffly.

“Generally?” The look he sent her might have scorched the panties off her if she hadn’t held herself back. Because she needed to hold back. She could never let herself slip. No matter how much she wanted to.

“Exceptions are made if the man asking is a widower over the age of seventy-five.”

“You’re a tough sell.”

She concentrated on the shirt in her hands. “I’m not looking to buy.”

Oh, but she wanted to. He smelled like he’d just gotten out of the shower, with a hint of salt and masculine spice underneath the soap. Her whole body hummed with awareness, and she couldn’t help but want to know what it would be like to have those full lips on her skin. She had rules, yes, but this man was ice cream on a diet. TV on a school night.

Trouble.

This was getting out of hand. She wasn’t a bridesmaid cliché looking for a wedding fling with one of the groomsmen. She was one of the most in-demand wedding planners in Hawaii, but a long time ago, she’d realized that she needed to be smarter, sharper, better than everyone else. She didn’t have the connections that some planners had. She didn’t have the bred-in taste or knowledge of etiquette of the ones who had old Hawaiian society roots. Instead, she had hard work, grit, and determination. That was how she’d made it this far, and it was how she was going to stay at the top of her game. Men like Chris? They weren’t in her plan. She would not throw herself at a man just because he had some scruff and scars and talked a good game.

After putting in the last stitch on Mark’s shirt, she tied the thread off and snipped it. Barely a seam. “Not too bad.”

Chris turned off the iron and rounded the board. “Let’s see.”

Before she could hand the shirt over, he ran his finger over the thin seam of stitches, pressing the fabric into her open palm. She fought a shiver as he said, “Looks good to me. I think you’ve saved Mark from passing out from stress.”

She scooted along the bed and pushed up to standing a few feet from Chris. “Time to get the groom dressed. Again.”

Chris laughed. “Are you going to use that schoolteacher voice on him?”

“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.

He closed the gap between them until she had to tilt her chin up to look into those deep blue eyes of his. “You marched those men out of here like they were five. You get shit done, Annie Kalani. I like that.”

Then he took that slow, delicious smile of his and walked straight out of the room.

Can't wait for more? Preorder One Week in Hawaii at Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo now. You can also get more exclusive content like this by signing up for my newsletter: http://bit.ly/1DcijTk

How to Organize Your Writing Life: Setting Daily Goals

When you're a writer, the struggle to stay organized is real. Different drafts. Different books. Different projects. Release days. Blog posts. Facebook parties. No matter the stage of your career, you all have responsibilities pulling you in different directions. Organization is key to making sure that everything gets done when it should without leaving you feeling completely overwhelmed.

Every Wednesday throughout the month of May, I'm sharing some of the tips and tricks that I used to keep my writing life in order. Last week we talked about keeping your calendar straight. Today I'm going to talk about how setting attainable, realistic daily goals can transform your writing life.

The To Do List

 

My to do list drives the day-to-day of my writing career. I use it to keep myself on track and organize my long-term and short-term goals. It's also the place I turn to first when I'm feeling overwhelmed. If you use it well, I promise that it will help you take back control of your crazy writing hours.

I go over my to do list every day and update it. I write down everything that feels like a task to me, even if it's as simple as "pack lunch" or "write 1,500 words." Facing down more than one deadline, I've absolutely written down "take shower." Your to do list isn't going to judge you. It's a tool that lets you write down all of the random things zipping through your head, demanding attention. It also lets you let go of those things and say, "I'm going to take care of you, but you aren't my top priority right now." Once you do finish whatever task is bothering you, you can cross it out. You get a sense of completion, plus you can see physical evidence of all of your hard work. Non-to do list believers, trust me when I say it's an incredibly satisfying feeling.

Once I run out of things to add to my list, I look it over. I mark anything that must be handled that day as high priority.* I group similar tasks together so that I can complete them all at the same time. I usually look for tasks that have been on my list for a few days and try to figure out whether those are really necessary or whether I'm just avoiding them. If I'm avoiding, that's usually a pretty good sign that it's time to get that task crossed off the list.

 Three Daily Goals

I'm guessing that most of you already use a to do list to keep you organized. Now I'm going to show you how I take that information and move it off my list faster. I use a technique I think of as my three daily goals. Every day I write down three things:

• Three Goals
• Red Flags
• Successes

The three goals are the the three things that I'm going to do today that will help me move my writing career forward. These could be massive things (finish novella draft) or small tasks (post to Facebook). I recommend a mix. On March 12th, my list read like this:

• Set One Week in Hawaii cover reveal date
• Call with Alyssa Cole, 8 PM
• Finish new hockey scene for sports romance

Each of these things were pulled from my to do list and prioritized. They were also tasks that I knew that I could finish that day. That is one of the key elements of this three daily goals exercise. You're getting things done by breaking your larger deadlines into small, manageable tasks.

The next step is to identify any red flags you might have on that day. These are any activities that are potentially going to eat into your time and keep you from completing your three goals. For me, things like RWA meetings, friends visiting NYC, and unusual deadlines at my day job are the most common red flags. Identifying them can help you plan a strategy to not only comfort those red flags but also complete your writing goals.

And finally, I believe in celebrating little successes, so at the end of the day I write down the things that I did that day that helped further my writing career. I'm not always perfect with completing my three daily goals, so sometimes my list is as simple as, "Posted a release day promo to Facebook." Other days, I hit a good stride and overachieved. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of work success, find something out of your day that is a positive and celebrate that. We're writing big long books. We deserve a little bit of a boost throughout the process.

*I use my Mac's Reminders app since it syncs with my phone. This lets you mark anything high priority with !!!, something I find really helpful when scanning my list.

Sneak Peek of One Week in Hawaii!

Release day is almost here for my anthology One Week in Hawaii, but I just couldn't wait for May 19th to share Annie and Chris's story with everyone! Today I'm giving you part one of a two-part excerpt from my novella "The Wedding Week".   

Annie Kalani wedged her iPhone between her shoulder and her ear as she readjusted the tower of boutonniere boxes under her left arm. “How does a bridesmaid lose an earring in a three-room suite? It must be there somewhere.”

Her assistant Jemma’s voice came thin and high through the phone’s speaker. “She may have snuck a cigarette behind my back while I was coordinating the big reveal.”

Annie stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”

“I know, I know. There are so many people in this bridal suite, she just got out.”

She closed her eyes for a brief second and sent up a prayer to the wedding gods. It was the Friday evening before Memorial Day—the official kickoff of Wedding Week at the Kuhio Resort & Spa, and the start of the busiest three months of her year. Stapling a surly bridesmaid to a caterer’s chair was not how she wanted to ring in the season, but she would do it if she needed to.

“Was she wearing her dress while she was smoking?” she asked, keeping her voice as calm as she could. Couples paid a premium to have her orchestrate their big day. If she panicked, they panicked, so she never panicked. Visibly.

Jemma let out a little huff of relief. “She had a bathrobe on, thankfully.”

“At least we won’t have to Febreze the dress. Just her. There’s some dry shampoo that deodorizes in the kit. Get Johnny to give her a once-over with that, and then swap out her earrings for the pearl studs. They should be in a tiny Ziploc in the front pocket of the kit.”

“Johnny’s almost packed up,” Jemma fretted. The temperamental hairstylist was the best in Oahu, and he knew it. Experience told Annie that love and a little ego stroking was the best way to get him to do what she wanted.

“If he gives you a problem, send him my way,” she said, mashing the elevator’s up button with her pale pink, manicured finger. “And it wouldn’t hurt to mention that we have the booking for Jessica McCreedy’s wedding next May. The budget is unlimited.”

“I’ll let him know.” She could hear the grin in Jemma’s voice.

They said goodbye just as the elevator’s door slid open. With the boxes wedged against the wall, Annie let the phone slide down her arm, catching it in her hand to end the call. Alone in the quiet, she breathed deeply. One mini crisis a wedding. That was all she would tolerate, and the future Mr. and Mrs. Mark Liu just had theirs.

Wedding Week was all about putting out fires as fast as they sprang up. Celebrations at the Kuhio had two-a-day bookings for weddings Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, a fiftieth wedding anniversary dinner Wednesday, a Thursday rehearsal dinner, and five events the following weekend. Things would go wrong—they always did—but Annie would be there to fix them. The groom was late? No problem. The father of the bride got drunk? It’s handled. The flowers didn’t show up? On top of it. Being a planner was like juggling fourteen flaming torches while standing en pointe, and she loved it.

The elevator dinged, and she was out in the hall—boxes and all—in seconds flat. Things were running a few minutes behind schedule, but the buffer time she had built in should take care of that, so long as they didn’t slip any further.

At least the groom hadn’t presented any problems. Yet.

As she approached the groom’s suite, the door opened, and Josh, the wedding photographer, walked out while tucking a lens into his camera bag.

“You’re moving fast, Kalani,” he said with a jerk of his chin at the boxes in her hands. “Boutonnieres?”

“Late boutonnieres. I know we all run on island time, but remind me to kill the florist next time I see him.”

Josh laughed as he ran a hand over his shaved head. “You can’t do that. He’s the only florist you like. Besides, the groom’s good to go.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? He didn’t seem like the type to be ready on time.”

Josh grinned as he passed her. “Got you.”

With a sigh, she shifted the boxes back under her arm so she could knock. The door swung open to reveal a groomsman—this one called Dan—with a drink in hand. “Hello, wedding planner!”

She gave him a once-over and nudged through the door. “Your tie is undone.”

He looked down and tugged at one of the bow tie’s ends. “We were just trying to figure it out on YouTube. Gary’s got his done, but everyone else is struggling.”

She lifted the boxes. “Let me put these down. Then I’ll help.”

Dan led her over to a sideboard that also served as a bar. She eyed the levels on the decanter of scotch she’d checked on that morning. About half gone. Calculate that across half a dozen groomsmen plus the man of the hour and it wasn’t too bad. She’d certainly seen more sauced bridal parties on both ends of the gender spectrum before.

She glanced around the richly appointed room. Two groomsmen she’d met at the rehearsal sat on a plush, pale blue couch in front of a Dodgers game. Gary shook his head as he tried to show Dan and Andrew how to take one bold step into manhood and tie a real bow tie. And one man stood with his back to all of them, on his phone. That must be Chris, the late groomsman. She had a dossier on all of the wedding party, but what was on paper often didn’t tell her the whole story. Like the fact that Chris, a Los Angeles chef, hadn’t been able to get away from his restaurant until the morning of the wedding. That meant Annie had spent a good part of the early hours of setup tracking his flight, praying there would be no delays. Now that he was here, all she cared about was that the man was dressed and on time for the actual ceremony.

She would deal with him when he got off the phone. For now, she had tie-struggling groomsmen to put out of their misery.

A movement at the edge of her field of vision caught Annie’s attention. She turned on her nude three-inch high heels and found herself staring at a naked groom.

Well, not naked—wrapped in a towel—but that meant he was wearing a lot less tux than he was supposed to be.

She raised an eyebrow. “Mark, you aren’t dressed.” Before the wedding day, she tried her best to be accommodating, understanding. On the day? Not so much. Her job was to make sure Mark Liu and Karen Curen got to the gauze-covered bamboo pergola that would serve as their altar and said, “I do.” To do that, Mark needed to be clothed. Now. No excuses. No exceptions.

“I was a little late getting in the shower,” he said as he sheepishly ran a hand through his wet hair. Hair that should be pomaded and swept into a perfect, sixties-esque side part, per Karen’s instructions. Time for Mark to learn how to use a hair dryer.

Eric, Investment Banker Groomsman, had detached himself from the Dodgers game long enough to pour a couple of tumblers of Macallan 18. Ice cubes clinked in the glass that he started to hand to the groom.

“Oh no.” She surged forward to intercept the scotch. “Dress now. Drink later. You get married in twenty-six minutes.”

With her free hand squarely on Mark’s shoulder, she pushed him toward the bedroom. “Don’t forget the shirt studs.”

The groom dutifully trudged into the bedroom, sending only a brief, wistful glance at the baseball, booze, and bro time waiting for him in the living room.

When she turned back, she found Frat Boy Dan eyeing her and the glass of scotch in her hand. “Are you going to drink that?”

She could sense the slight edge in his voice. A bossy woman intruding on Man Time. No, not just a woman. A wedding planner, the kind of woman who made her living thinking about lace versus satin. Runners or full tablecloths. Venetian hour or plated desserts. She was the enemy, an intruder, and sometimes groomsmen gave her a hard time. What Dan didn’t know was that her job demanded that she be able to put him in place with ruthless efficiency, all while wearing a pastel, flowered Karen Millen sheath dress and a smile.

For now, however, she’d start with a friendlier approach. “I would like this scotch more than you know,” she said, putting the glass down, “but someone’s got to drive these stilettos. Now, why don’t I help you guys with your bow ties?”

Five minutes later, five groomsmen’s bow ties were in perfect order. The sixth was still pacing back in forth in front of the massive windows looking out over the water to Diamond Head.

Annie planted her hands on her hips, ready to order Late to the Party Chris to grab his tie and get in line, when the man hung up his call. He turned a pair of intense, soulful eyes on her, and he lifted a hand to scrape over the faint trace of a beard. “Are you going to tie me up too?”

The innuendo flowed through her, thick and sweet as golden honey that came to pool between her legs. Oh, this was bad. This was very, very bad.

He was a handsome man in a rugged sort of way. He wore his tux well, but something about him told her that this man was more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt—broken in and comfortable. Pair that with his short black hair and the loose, confident way he stood with his left hand thrust in his pocket, and he was all sorts of gorgeous.

He was looking at her expectantly, his head cocked, and Annie realized that she was checking out his lean body rather than answering his question. She cleared her throat. “Do you need help?”

His grin was a little lopsided as he set his phone down on a table and picked up either end of his bow tie. Slowly he wove them together, manipulating the black silk into a perfect knot. His fingers would be elegant if it wasn’t for the white slashes of healed scars that were visible even from where she stood. An image flashed through her head—those fingers playing over the smooth skin of her breasts—and a fierce blush exploded over the back of her neck, rushing to her cheeks.

“How did I do?” Chris asked, tugging at the tie to straighten it before letting his hands fall to his side.

He was flirting with her. It wasn’t exactly uncommon behavior for a groomsman, especially when you threw alcohol into the mix, but this was different. This time, Annie wanted to flirt back.

No. You have rules.

“You look fine,” she said, pushing away the throb of arousal that rolled through her. “Are you planning on stowing that cell phone for the ceremony?”

He glanced at the phone on the table. “Will you take it away from me if I say no?”

Her eyes narrowed, her expression frosty where his was teasing. “If I need to. Confiscating technology is part of the job.”

“Then I guess I’ll turn it off.” He swept the phone up as he walked by her, hesitating only to whisper, “But it would have been more fun if you took it from me.”

Heat shot through her, and she glanced around to see if anyone had just witnessed that exchange. All of the men were fixated on the Dodgers game.

She blew out a long, steady breath. This Chris guy was just messing with her—his own version of a test the way that Dan had challenged her about the Macallan. Nothing more.

Behind her, the bedroom door flew open, and Mark burst out dressed in everything but his tuxedo jacket. “How do I look?” he asked, a mile-wide grin plastered on his face.

“Like a man who’s about to lock himself to a ball and chain,” said Eric with a laugh.

Annie allowed herself the tiniest of eye rolls. “Okay, Mark, time to walk down to the ceremony. This wedding gets going in twenty minutes.”

The groom nodded. “My jacket’s in the bedroom. Hold on.”

He turned back and… Rip!

Can't wait for more? Part two is coming out next Wednesday so keep an eye out! One Week in Hawaii is available for preorder on Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo now. You can also get more exclusive content like this by signing up for my newsletter: http://bit.ly/1DcijTk

How to Organize Your Writing Life: Maximizing Your Calendar

When you're a writer, the struggle to stay organized is real. Different drafts. Different books. Different projects. Release days. Blog posts. Facebook parties. No matter the stage of your career, we all have responsibilities pulling us in different directions. Organization is key to making sure that everything gets done when it should without leaving you feeling completely overwhelmed.

Every Wednesday throughout the month of May, I'm sharing some of the tips and tricks that I used to keep my writing life in order starting with the basics: your calendar.

Keeping Your Calendar

I shouldn't have to say this, but I suspect that it's necessary. If you're going to take your writing career seriously, you're going to need a dedicated calendar. Just like you have to keep track of deadlines in a day job, you've got to keep things straight when it comes to your writing.

I use separate calendars for my writing, day job, and life events. They're loaded into my iCal that syncs to my phone and Mac. I do this because I'm never without my phone, and I can always keep it updated on the fly. I color code my writing calendar in blue so that it's easy to find at a glance, and I can uncheck the other calendars to isolate it when I need a writing overview.

Deadlines 

Whether these are set by your publisher or by you, you need to take your deadlines seriously. You're a professional. You wouldn't blow off a big presentation at work. Your manuscript isn't any different. But even when you take those dreaded deadlines seriously, sometimes they get away from us, making them a whole lot scarier when you finally remember them. If you use it correctly, your calendar can minimize the changes of that happening.

Here's what I consider a deadline in my own writing calendar:

• Each draft of my book. For my latest indie release, One Week in Hawaii, that meant my first, second, and third drafts. Then, once copy edits came back, my final draft. I was working with anthology partners so I also included the dates I had to get them back first and second draft critiques back. If you're working with a traditional publisher, you want to note the dates that you need to get all of your various edits back.
• Blurbs and cover copy
• Updates to back matter
• Cover art and formatting if I'm publishing independently
• Marketing rollout
• Cover reveal
• Release date
• Blog posts, articles, and other things I owe other people. This includes publisher blog obligations as well as blog tours and the occasional Facebook party.

I input each of these things into my calendar in all caps as soon as I find out about them. This means that I'm positive I have the most up to date information about what I owe who and when. If there is a change of date, the first thing I do when I find out about it is update my deadline in my calendar. My apartment could be on fire, and I probably would still stop to make a calendar adjustment. If I don't, there's  a 25% chance I will forget.

Writing Life

Your writing life is everything else that takes up your time or you need a reminder about. Some people block out time on their calendars for their daily word count to make sure that they know that's a permanent appointment. These are their office hours.

Since I have a day job and I write when and where I can, I don't keep office hours. I do, however, write down just about everything else I do related to my writing career. Here are some of them:

• Conferences
• Workshops and signings
• Articles for my blog
• Website updates
• Teasers, excerpts, and other materials for any upcoming releases
• Swag/business card order reminders
• RWA chapter meetings
• Writing dates with other authors
• Broadcast dates for First Draught, the writing talk show I co-host

I use my writing life calendar in conjunction with my to do list which includes emails I owe people, social media post reminders, maintenance on sites like Goodreads and Amazon's author page, and little day-to-day things that need to get done. Just like I mentioned in deadlines, the moment something comes up that will require my attention it goes on the calendar and possibly the to do list too.

Using Your Calendar

Writing all of this down is just half the battle. Now you actually have to put that beautiful (possibly color-coded) calendar to good use. I open mine every day and look at two views: the daily view and the monthly view. I'm looking for any red flag, deadlines, or projects that may have slipped my mind. I also try to do a three month look ahead once a week so I know that I'm looking ahead to. This helps minimize deadlines creeping up on me (especially blog posts I've promised to other people as those have a nasty habit of lurking in the shadows of my calendar).

Hopefully this gives you some jumping off ideas about how you might start managing your writing calendar to make it work harder for you. Now it's your turn to share. What advice can you give to writings looking to optimize their calendars and stay organized?

One Week in Hawaii Book Trailer

 

I'm getting really excited that One Week in Hawaii is almost here! One of my anthology partners in crime, Alexandra Haughton put together a gorgeous teaser for us. You can see the full trailer with excerpts by clicking here: adobe.ly/1EUrKgN

And don't forget that One Week in Hawaii is in preorder now! It releases on May 19th on all platforms including Barnes & Noble and print.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1DYCvrI iBooks: http://ow.ly/Mnv85 Kobo: http://bit.ly/1HL9oxF

Upcoming Workshop

Just a quick invitation for those you going to the New England Chapter RWA Let Your Imagination Take Flight Conference. Audra North and I will be teaching a workshop about the ins and outs of building indie box sets and anthologies. What: How to Publish a Boxed Set or Anthology: A Practical Workshop

When: Friday, April 24, 2:30 PM

Where: NECRWA Let Your Imagination Take Flight Conference, Boston Marriott in Burlington, MA

There are some fantastic speakers at this conference like Loretta Chase, Sabrina Jeffries, Lauren Dane, and Megan Frampton. Check out the full schedule online now. We can't wait to see you Friday!

Do You Have to Get to "I Love You?"

An earlier version of this post appeared on the Contemporary Romance Writer's blog and in the RWA-NYC April Keynotes. One of the cardinal rules of romance is that a story has to end with a happily ever after. But does that mean a couple has to say, “I love you,” at the end of every romance? Maybe not.

It’s a question I asked myself when I wrote “Seduction in the Snow”. The story unfolds over a week at a ski resort. Both Evan and Lydia tell themselves that their sexy hot tub encounters are just a vacation fling. Lydia is particularly tough to sell on the idea of love. Having seen relationship after relationship fall apart after a few short months, she’s scared of the big “L” word.

Of course, this is a romance so we all know where the story’s heading—for the happily ever after—but given Lydia’s resistance to the very idea of love, I didn’t feel that a big, “I love you,” exchange at the end of the novella would be fitting with her character. Instead, I decided that Lydia and Evan should show us their deep commitment and potential for future happiness in a different way.

As authors we have a responsibility to really get to know our characters. What are their fears? How can we push them out of their comfort zones? Would they actually say the words that we’re writing on the page? While “I love you,” is the backbone of many happily ever afters, it doesn’t have to be if it doesn’t fit with your character’s personality.

Another thing to consider is your book’s timeline. Romance authors tell stories that unfold over decades, months, weeks, days. There’s such vast variation in the timelines in our genre that a one-size-fits-all approach to the happily ever doesn’t always work. If a character is more in touch with their emotions and open to the idea of falling in love, the, “I love you,” exchange rings true. But we know our heroes and heroines will continue to grow after our stories are complete. If that’s the case, “I love you,” may realistically take them longer to get to.

Whether you decide to have your hero and heroine say, “I love you,” or not, the most important thing to remember is that it’s our job as authors to write a convincing love story. That means you’re not just telling the reader that the hero and heroine love each other. You’re showing their deep commitment through the actions and emotions. Write your story with that in mind, and you’ll have your readers falling in love.

My novella "Seduction in the Snow" appears in the sexy, contemporary romance anthology One Week in Wyoming. For more posts like this one, follow my blog or sign up for my newsletter.

Show Notes: How to Build Your Author Brand (Even When You Don't Have a Book Out)

Check out the show notes for this month's First Draught!

Cover Reveal: One Week in Hawaii

It's here! One Week in Hawaii's gorgeous cover is now out in the world, and, ahead of its May 19th release date, the book is up for presale at retailers too! I can't begin to tell you how excited I was when Book Beautiful sent us the draft of this cover. She got it in one shot, capturing all of the sexy, steamy, beachiness of this book.

Here's a little look at what you can expect from this seriously hot anthology:

Sun, sand, and seduction.

This summer, Alexis Anne, Audra North, Julia Kelly, and Alexandra Haughton sweep you away to paradise for One Week in Hawaii.

A wedding planner breaks all the rules to have just one night of pleasure, only to find that a stolen moment might hold the key to forever.

A movie star falls hard for her sexy co-star…who just happens to be her best friend.

A former black sheep risks falling from grace again when she seduces a handsome stranger with a dark history.

An artist has to choose between dating a guy who will please her parents and one who will please…and pleasure…her.

Sex on the beach is so much more than a drink in these four sizzling contemporary novellas by the authors who brought you One Week in Wyoming.

Preorder is now live!!!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NH2mKe

iBooks: http://apple.co/1GlNTTh

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1CCzIqC

The book will retail at Barnes & Noble on May 19th. One Week in Hawaii will also retail in paperback on Amazon.

Keep checking back in the run up to our May 19th release date for sneak peeks, excerpts, and more! And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter for the very latest about this and other new releases!

Author Branding on First Draught Tomorrow!

A quick reminder for you that First Draught is coming up tomorrow at 8:30 PM EST! Alexis, Mary Chris, and I are very happy to be welcoming Laura von Holt and Amy Jo Cousins on for a discussion about building your author brand. We'll talk about why branding is important, how you should go about creating your online and in real life presence, and why it's important to start now even if you don't have a book out. RSVP to our live event to be sure you don't miss a minute of our live conversation. If you can't make it on Tuesday, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel or check out our brand-new First Draught website!

Laura von Holt is a marginally famous writer and performer from Hawai’i who lives in New York. She writes paranormal romances about mermaids, and literary fantasy about the dark side of fairytales. She is also a Pulitzer-nominated playwright and the Co-Artistic Director of Little Lord, a Brooklyn-based theater company. Laura is best known as her pinup and performance artist alter ego, von Hottie. When Laura is not on the ground, she is in the air as the sparkly half of the international aerial comedy duo, Flaming Mermaid Broken Star, which creates and performs "stunning feats of how-dare-they" on the regular.

Visit Laura's website: vonhottie.com

Subscribe to Laura's newsletter: http://eepurl.com/OqvlD

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Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.

Fun facts: Amy Jo can get back into a kayak in the open water if she falls out of it, taught herself and her son how to say I love you in seventeen languages, and once ran the table in a game of eight ball.

Visit Amy Jo's website: http://amyjocousins.com/

Subscribe to Amy Jo's newsletter: http://bit.ly/1CriI2U

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Hot for Friday: Book Boyfriends Cafe

Hey there, blog hoppers! Today I'm participating in the Book Boyfriends Cafe Hot for Fridays. This week they've asked us to share a swoon worthy line from our hero. I'm road testing a little sneak peek of my upcoming book One Week in Hawaii and introducing you to Chris and Annie. He's a hot, young chef from LA who is a guest at the wedding that she's planned. And it turns out both of them have a taste for moonlight beaches, classic movies, and champagne. 

Chris wasn’t ready when Annie said, “No one’s ever brought me champagne before.”

He stared at her. How was that even possible? “Then I’m glad I’m the first.”

“It’s part of being a wedding planner,” she gave him that small smile again, as though the admission were an apology. “We’re usually the ones coordinating the big gestures.”

“Well, tonight you get champagne.” He pulled the glasses out of his pockets and handed them to her. “Do you mind?”

She took them from him with a raised eyebrow. “Not at all.”

He set about peeling the foil off the champagne’s cage.

“Does this make you William Holden?” she asked after a moment’s silence.

His hand stilled. “William Holden winds up with glass in his ass. I’m Humphrey Bogart.”

“You know Sabrina?” she asked, a little incredulous as he stuffed the cage into his pocket and eased the cork out of the bottle. It sighed—one of the best sounds in the world.

“I know Bogey. A man’s man.” He poured out her glass with a flourish before moving on to the other one. “Besides, there’s a whole culinary school b-story in Sabrina. It’s practically required watching.”

When he glanced up at her, she was smiling. A real smile that lit up her whole face. “You could just admit you love the movie.”

He laughed, clinking the edge of his glass against hers. “Or I could just admit I love the movie.”

If you liked this little preview of Chris and Annie, sign up for my newsletter. That way I can let you know as soon as the book (and its sexy cover) are up for preorder and sale. And don't forget to check out Book Boyfriends Cafe for all of the swoon worthy heroes you can handle!

Boston Romance Workshop

I'm thrilled to announce that I will be presenting at the Let Your Imagination Take Flight Conference hosted by the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America! Audra North and I will be presenting "How to Publish a Boxed Set or Anthology: A Practical Workshop." We'll teach you everything you need to know about idea creation, organization, preorders, marketing, royalty distribution, and taxes. This workshop will also be a great guide for anyone who wants a down and dirty overview of what it takes to put together a self-published book.

What: 2015 Let Your Imagination Take Flight Conference

When: Friday, April 24 - Saturday, April 25

Where: Boston Marriott in Burlington, MA

And don't forget, the best way to keep up to date on updates, release dates, and exclusive excerpts is by signing up for my newsletter!