Category Archives: Contests

Happy Birthday to Me!

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‘Twas a beautiful day in Portland, sunny with a playful breeze. I headed downtown on the train to meet some book friends, because what better way to spend a birthday day than hanging out with book friends?

Delilah MarvelleWe started out at Powell’s City of Books (because what better way to spend a birthday day than hanging out with book friends at Powell’s?) and found most of a shelf devoted to writer friend Delilah Marvelle, including her new release. Since Delilah like most of our writer friends are at the Romance Writers of America national conference — and we are NOT there — we decided to drown our sorrows at Cacao.

Cacao-drinking-chocolateWe ordered a flight of drinking chocolates: dark chocolate, cinnamon chocolate and spicy chocolate. (Because what better way to spend a birthday day than hanging out with book friends drinking melted chocolate bars?)

If you haven’t had a drinking chocolate, be very, very careful. You have to build up your strength for such an endeavor. Novice chocolate consumers might be knocked into permanent loopiness. Luckily, we romance writers/readers are experienced chocolate consumers so we just got giggly and made the Cacao pusherman take our pix. We look a little flushed, don’t we?

cocoa-drinkers

Pictured from left:

Lily Santana

Melia Alexander

The Birthday Girl!

newspapersTo walk off our chocolate, we headed over to Cargo, an import shop that is a sensual delight perfect for loopy romance writers. There is incense, wild colors, pretty fans, and gorgeous fabrics. I bought myself a birthday present of old Lebanese newspapers. I’m going to rip them up and make decoupage beads, I think. I like the decorative font and frayed, yellowed paper.

I also got my hair cut, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, so I’ll wait to post pix of that part of my birthday adventure.

Tonight, I will eat birthday cake and contemplate the next year. Who do I want to be at my next birthday?

Since I was at Powell’s, I of course had to buy some books (because what better way etc?) and I figured, hey, I’ll do a giveaway from my birthday. I’ll be pulling a name from my mailing list, so sign up in you haven’t yet. I’ll pull at winner after I get back from Authors After Dark and maybe there’ll be some New Orleans goodies too!

Happy Birthday to me!

 

Jessa at #RT2012

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Crossposted from Silk & Shadows

Currently working on: Stealing Easter candy from careless children
Mood: Sneaky

This week I’m at the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago. If you aren’t attending, you can follow the fun on Twitter at #RT2012.

If you are my XY reading this, thinking, “I thought you said it was work?”, see all the work:

This picture doesn’t even show the big box of books coming with me.

If you ARE attending RT, I hope you’ll come find me and say hey. All Silk & Shadows (and JessaSlade.com) readers who come hey me (let me know you read the post here) will be entered to win an RT schwag bag. Readers at home, leave a comment here about your favorite memory of meeting an author, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win too.

My RT schedule is all over the place, but you can for certain find me at:

Wednesday: Linnea Sinclair’s Intergalactic Bar & Grill, 4:45-5:45 p.m.

Thursday: Ebook Expo, 4-6 p.m., Grand Ballroom

Friday: Humor writing workshop (What? You don’t think I write humor? We shall see!): SPRINKLING SMILES INTO SAD (SEX, ACTION & DRAMA) SCENES with Dee Brice, Ashlyn Chase, Marcia James, Delilah Marvelle and Jessa Slade, 11:15 a.m.

Saturday: Giant Book Fair, 10:45 a.m.-2 p.m., Grand Ballroom

I’ll also be at all the evening parties, of course, probably dancing. If you see me limping during the days, you’ll know why.

Also also, I’m taking part in a “stalk the author signature” game with Ann Aguirre, Tes Hilaire & more. Come find me for your game sheet and signature. Someone will win an e-reader, a basket of books, and more.

If you’ve wondered about attending a romance reader convention, here are three useful tips:

  • Bring an empty priority mailing box from the USPS, already filled out with your home address so you can mail your books back to yourself. You can pay online and drop the box at the hotel business office, easy-peasy. Books are crazy heavy, and you’ll be going home with more than you might expect. At least that always seems to happen to me ;)
  • Bring cute shoes AND comfortable shoes. You can wear the cute shoes the first day while you still care. On the second day and every day thereafter, you can switch to the comfortable shoes, because by then, you’ll be friends with everybody in the hotel and they’ll be in their comfortable shoes too. Heck, bring your slippers.
  • Stay hydrated. I know, you think, it’s not like we’re lost in the desert. But those hotels are big enough that you can march for days. Bring a couple chocolate bars too.

You can never go wrong with extra chocolate bars.