Getting Ready for Another Convention

I leave for the Rust City Book Con on Thursday. And you’d think I’d be ready, wouldn’t you? But I’m not.

Not even close.

I want to donate a series of books I own (for the raffle), but I have to finish reading the last one before I can do that. And then figure out how I want to give them away. Wrap them up in cellophane? Put them in a box (which would require finding a box that would fit AND display them)? Or maybe stick them in one of the numerous bags I’ve gotten from other conventions? Decisions, decisions.

I’m on a couple of panels and one of them might require some work ahead of time (still trying to get that confirmed). And if I do have to do some work, well, then, I’m gonna have to figure out what to work on.

I plan on giving away some frame-style key chains I bought from Oriental Trading. They’re really cool. I thought they’d look awesome with my covers. All I have to do is print out copies of my covers and insert them. Easy peasy, right? Only thing is, I needed a paper cutter, photo paper, labels (to stick on the back of the photo with my website), and ink for the printer. At least I bought all those on Friday. I had planned to print the covers, cut them out, and insert them yesterday, but did I? Nope. I decided to read the book instead (which I still haven’t finished).

Why or why do I wait until the last minute to do everything? I think my characters are toying with me, too. They know I’m busy, but now they’re talking. No fair!!!

So… Do you tend to “plan” for stuff, but then wait until the last minute to do it? At least I planned, though. Right? That’s gotta be better than flying blind. J

Happy Monday!

Stacy

 

Some Fun Swag

Short post, mainly because I can’t think of anything worthy to blog about.

I’m going to have some buttons made up to give away at conventions. This is the design I came up with (thanks to J. Mick Consulting for adding the fang holes and Maria Zannini for getting the writing/layout the way I wanted). By the way, the picture of the moon is mine (meaning I took it).

So… what do you think? The buttons will be 1-3/4” wide. I know it won’t reflect my ghost book, but I’ve got Blind Temptation coming out soon, so that’s what I’m focusing on.

If anyone has any ideas of how to go about making a fun (cheap) button for my ghost series, I’m all ears (eyes?).

Have a great Monday!

Stacy

One Broken Water Pipe, Coming Right Up

You know what the weather was like, heck you probably experienced it. I don’t think Tuesday got out of the negatives around here. And all that cold air finally got to our pipes.

Now, we’ll be the first to admit that we didn’t think things through when we had our house built (back in 1996). The master bath hangs over the front porch which means three walls, the floor and ceiling are exposed to the elements. Which also means, so are the pipes.

A couple of years after we moved in we got a cold snap and the pipes froze at the sink and shower (they share the same wall). Found out the builders failed to properly insulate that wall (or the floor). After we stuck in more insulation, we hadn’t really had any problems since.

Until Monday night.

Lost water to the sink. Lost water to the shower. But the real killer: lost water to the toilet (on the opposite wall). That had never happened before. Yes, we were stupid regarding the sink and shower (should have left them running--I really don’t know what we were thinking!). Wasn’t sure how we could have prevented the toilet from freezing (plumber later suggested flushing it every hour). Anyway, we opened all the cupboards and turned on our little heater, leaving it running all day (as long as someone was in the house, that is).

Wednesday morning we got water to the sink and shower - yay! The toilet? Nope. I wasn’t even sure where to aim the heater at!

I had some errands to run and met my husband for lunch, so I turned off the heater. When I got home and hung my coat, I heard water running upstairs. I thought: Oh good, the toilet is filling. Except when I went up to the bathroom, water was leaking out from the closet. I ran outside. Water was leaking onto the porch. I rushed downstairs. It was raining in the basement!

Yikes!

Now, I had NO IDEA where the shut off valve was located. I called my husband. No answer. I think I tried him ten times. Even tried his desk phone. No answer. I called a plumber. They can’t get anyone out. I called another, they can only promise to put me on a wait list. She tried to tell me how to find the water shut off valve, but we have a drop-down ceiling, so I can’t follow any pipes. And did I mention it was raining down there?

I finally got a hold of my son and he knew how to turn off the water. Now I know, too.

But dang, you would think with the bathroom hanging over the porch that all the water would end up outside. No such luck. And in case you were wondering, nothing important in the basement got wet (whew!).

I’m just glad I don’t work away from home. I can only IMAGINE the mess I would have come home to. The basement would have been flooded, no doubt. So would our bathroom, part of our bedroom, and the front entry (where we have hardwood floors).

You don’t really realize how much you use water until it’s not available. No water on Wednesday and no water on Thursday morning. Plumber was able to arrive by 10:30am. Yay!

$167.55 later the pipe is fixed and we have water, but now I have a hole in my closet wall. I can live with that. I’m just glad I was able to tell the guy where I noticed the water first. Who knows how many walls he would have had to check?

So that was my excitement for the week. I think I can live without experiencing that again!

Hey, in a lighter vein… I’ve been thinking about putting together a giveaway basket at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, but I was wondering what to put in it. Then I thought of my mad crochet skills (okay, semi-mad) and thought about crocheting some bookmarks. Or maybe some coasters. That would be unique, wouldn’t it? I certainly have enough crochet thread leftover in the house and they shouldn’t take all that long to make. It’s something I’m considering anyway. What do you think?

Have a good weekend!

Stacy

 

Convention, Swag, and a Funny (and maybe a rant thrown in)

I had a really nice time at the Lori Foster Reader/Author Get Together. I mainly hung out with author Nickie Asher and had lots of fun with her. It was also nice seeing lots of writer friends and meeting new readers (somehow, hanging with someone made it a whole bunch easier to do). I might have even generated a couple of sales. Whoo hoo!

Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures. Oh…except this one from a boardroom ran by some writers (mainly Darynda Jones, Robyn Peterman, and Macy Beckett - there were others, but those are the authors I remember).

 

 

They had some condoms for the taking (don’t know why but I’m sure it had to do with someone’s book) and by the last day, they got used as balloons. Had lots of fun batting them back and forth across the table.

And you thought they only did strange stuff at RT? Ha ha!

What’s really great is that next year I’ll be attending as an AUTHOR and I’ll be able to sit during the book signing and not sign any books! J (In case you didn’t get the joke, that’s because my books will only be available digitally.) I’ll be able to sign something, though (provided people are interested), I just haven’t decided which way to go. Probably book cover cards or something like that. Book marks would seem strange to give away, because where are you going to put them on your e-reader?

Doesn’t mean I won’t have them, because I still plan on taking some to Dragon*Con and I’ll probably have leftovers. There, I’d rather promote myself instead of just my book. Still need that moon shot, though. Next chance: June 23 (which also happens to be my mother’s birthday). Here’s hoping the weather cooperates. Apparently, the moon will. I heard that’s when it’s closest to Earth. Ooh, BIG moon shots. I’m almost drooling.

Hey, want to see something funny?

My husband loves his Diet Coke. When we go to a restaurant, he usually asks for a Diet Coke, a refill for that Diet Coke, and a refill for the refill (he downs them pretty quickly). Our local Bob Evans knows to just give him 3-4 at a time. Well, when we were up in Michican, we visited the Bob Evans near our hotel and he pretty much ordered that every morning. On the third morning, the waitress wised up and gave him this.

Notice the straw? Yep, that was included. We all had a nice laugh.

Would you believe he finished it? Of course he did. He felt he had an image to uphold.

Have you noticed some blogs seem to have only Google+ comments? I really do NOT want to have to remember another sign-on just to comment, so I won’t comment. Is there some reason you can’t have multiple sign-ons? Have you heard if blogger is changing? I sure hope it’s not! Because if that’s the case, I might as well switch to Word Press. I already have an account with them.

So tell me, what’s your beverage of choice for breakfast? Mine’s coffee with LOTS of cream. Yum!

Stacy

 

 

Do You Like Swag?

I ask if you like swag, when maybe I should ask if you know what swag is. I looked up the word and this is what is listed on dictionary.com:

 

1) a suspended wreath, garland, drapery, or the like, fastened up at or near each end and hanging down in the middle; festoon. 2) a wreath, spray, or cluster of foliage, flowers, or fruit. 3) a festoon, especially one very heavy toward the center. 4) a swale. 5) a swaying or lurching movement.

 

That kind of surprised me, because not one of those mentions JUNK. Yeah, that's what I think swag is.

But swag is (are?) those items authors give away. You know, book marks, magnets, pens, trading cards, post cards, etc., etc., etc.

As a reader, swag never did anything for me. I keep the pens (of course I have way more than I know what to do with), I eat the candy (but couldn't tell you who I got them from), and use the note pads (those get used the most, actually), but mostly the stuff I get from conventions ends up in the trash.

So color me surprised when my daughter's friend gushed over all the "free" stuff that was being given away at Dragon*Con. I looked over all that "free" stuff and wasn't too impressed (not a pen or magnet in the bunch!). I can only imagine how she would react at a readers' convention. Still junk (to me), but way better for sure!

Anyway, what do you think of swag? What's your favorite kind? Do you like to collect it? Do buy books based on them? I never have, but then again, I'm strange and I know it.