HelenKay Dimon

I’m leaving for San Francisco this afternoon.* I’ll be at the RWA conference all week and, depending on the internet access, will blog from there. In the meantime, here’s the photo of me in front of Iron Man at Comic-Con last weekend. Forgive the quality. It’s from a cellphone.

*Someone is staying at my house. I have a dog, an alarm system and a nasty whip-your-ass Neighborhood Watch group. So don’t even think about it…

I survived Comic-Con. Huge numbers of people, unbelievably long lines, interesting costumes, several barely dressed women, other women dressed as Disney characters (no, really), a guy wearing only a codpiece and a cape, sightings of cast members from Eureka, The Office and the upcoming movie, Terminator Salvation, and a Lou Ferrigno sighting where he was signing autographs for $30 a piece. That last part was kind of disturbing. But I survived and quite enjoyed myself.

Today is the get-everything-ready-before-going-to-RWA day. I’ve got bills to pay, packing to do and a host of other things. So, naturally, I’m blogging instead of doing the last few chores I need to do before taking off for San Francisco tomorrow. I did manage to get out all of the contest prizes and other items I needed to mail. So, if you’re waiting for something from me, you should have it within the next week.

For anyone going to RWA, I’ll be at the Literacy Signing on Wednesday and on a panel called Romancing the Internet: Simple Ways to Boot-up Your Writing Career by Blogging on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. I can also be found anywhere near a coffee shop, so that’s another place to look. Stop by and say hello.

For everyone not heading out to RWA, check back here for a contest…

I am ignoring the traffic and crowds and heading to the San Diego Convention Center for a day of Comic-Con. Never been there before. And, no, I will not be wearing a costume. Never going to happen. In fact, it will take a significant amount of self-censorship for me not to make fun of those who do wear costumes. It’s just never agood look for adults outside of Halloween. Even then…

I will try to get into the Terminator Salvation screening – yeah, me and the other 100,00 attendees. There are a ton of other spotlights, workshops and screenings happening with more on Sunday, the final day of the conference. I’m hoping to make it to the screening of Fringe, J.J. Abrams’ (Lost) upcoming show, but I bet I lose steam long before 4:15 p.m. Will never make it to the evening Wolverine screening. No way. Too lazy.

The good news is that Paris Hilton was there today when I wasn’t. I’m kind of hoping she’s back in L.A. now. There’s going to be enough weirdness without her presence.

I’m a fan of romantic suspense author Penny McCall. She writes sexy adventure with a lot of humor, which is not easy. Her upcoming release is called ACE IS WILD. Don’t have it yet, but I plan to get it this weekend.

Here’s the copy:

When beautiful clairvoyant Vivienne Foster starts having visions of the murder of hotshot U.S. Attorney Daniel ‘Ace’ Pierce, she can’t just sit back and do nothing. Which is how she winds up at a charity bachelor auction where he’s the top attraction, hoping a loaded .38 will make him see the light.

Pierce assumes that the woman holding him at gunpoint is crazy. But when she later saves his life, even a skeptic like Daniel has to take notice—not that he could ever ignore a beauty like her.

I love how her publisher has branded her covers. Check out McCall’s previous releases, ALL JACKED UP and TAG, YOU’RE IT!, to see what I mean. Very nice.

Anyone else thinking about getting this one?

Findings from a British survey earlier this year as reported in the Daily Mail:

Women stop reading serious literature and turn to ‘chick-lit’ after having children, research suggests.

Mothers were shown to swap novels and non- fiction for lighter reads including celebrity autobiographies by the likes of Victoria Beckham and Jordan.

Sixty per cent of mums admit they read a lot less than they did before having children.

More than half – 51 per cent – prefer chick-lit or “anything that doesn’t take much effort” and only 8.5 per cent choose non-fiction.

I don’t find this to be either a good thing or a bad thing, but it did make me chuckle. I just got this vision of women having babies and then losing the part of their brains that allowed them to read anything written before 1992 or with a chick on the cover. Weird.

The article actually contains some pretty common sense info. Nothing negative. It points out how it’s good for kids to see mommy reading and enjoying it. Ah, how refreshing.

Did everyone else know that Brenda Jackson hit the NYT with a Kimani Romance? In getting caught up on my reading of Romantic Times, I saw this huge fact. Somehow I missed it before now.

And why, you ask, is this a big deal? First, category romance (Harlequin/Silhouette series books) rarely hit the NYT. I think Nora did it first. Maybe Linda Howard did it as well. Point is, not many category romances achieve this goal, so it’s a huge deal. Second, according to the Harlequin press release I found on the subject, Jackson is the “first African-American novelist to achieve such a milestone with a genre romance novel.” Being the first matters, but so does the fact this will never again be a never-happened-before issue.

How many times can I write “huge deal”…well, let’s try one more time: this is a huge deal. So, let’s highlight the NYT bestselling book and her current release, shall we?

IRRESISTIBLE FORCES is the NYT bestseller.

The copy goes like this:

One week of mind-blowing sex on a beautiful Caribbean island. Of all the business proposals financial tycoon Dominic Saxon has heard, Taylor Steele’s is definitely the most tempting. All Taylor wants in return is for Dominic to father her baby. No strings, no commitments…just a mutually satisfying arrangement. Make that very satisfying. For a man with no intention of marrying again, it sounds ideal.

Taylor wants a baby, not a relationship. And sexy, intelligent Dominic seems like a man with perfect genes. Turns out, Dominic has perfect everything. Their “procreation vacation” is a whirlwind of sensual ecstasy. But when it’s over, will either of them be able to say goodbye?

Her current release is JUST DESERTS. This is a July release, which means it’s out now. The copy goes like this:

Learning that her estranged husband has passed away is the biggest shock of Danielle Timberlake—Foster’s life—until she learns that she wasn’t his only wife. Though Danielle and Marc were separated, she believed they were about to reconcile and start a family. Rocked by betrayal, Danielle sees her dreams slipping away. Until her brother’s best friend, Tristan Adams, offers support, comfort—and a chance to have the child she’s always wanted. Danielle is drawn to Tristan’s strong, sensual nature, but she wed Marc in haste and regretted it. Is she about to repeat her mistake? Or will a marriage of convenience turn into the soulful union she’s always longed for?

Mega Congrats to Ms. Jackson!! Well done.

If you are the creative sort, this might be for you…

SHOMI (the Dorchester fantasy fiction line) and Stephen King – yeah, that Stephen King – are teaming up on a book trailer contest. Your job is to create a fabulous book trailer based on your favorite SHOMI book. King will pick the winner. That winning book trailer gets unveiled at a screening in New York City and at a theater in the winner’s home town.

Kudos to the very smart people at Dorchester for coming up with this bit of promo brilliance. Other people spend money (ie, not the publisher), the SHOMI books get read, and the SHOMI books and authors get the promo. If I had one of those clapping GIFs, I’d put it right here.

Here’s the official announcement. Go forth and film…

I’m at Access Romance today talking about my weekend booksigning and answering any question you have…well, to the extent I know the answer.

I’m off to the Los Angeles Romance Authors monthly meeting. I’m speaking on an author panel with Jina Bacarr, Charlene Sands and Fronnie Lewis. We’re talking about writing and blogging. Will report back…

I thought I would bore you with what I’m reading post-deadline. It was either that or go off on how much I hate most reality television. I will spare you the diatribe and stick with the books.

In addition to DANGEROUS TO TOUCH by Jill Sorenson and PLEASURE UNBOUND by Larissa Ione, which I’ve mentioned previously, I’m going to read these:

1. DEATH ANGEL by Linda Howard. Honestly, I’m skeptical. I read the first chapter and wasn’t hooked. But I love Howard, so I’m pushing forward.

A striking beauty with a taste for diamonds and dangerous men, Drea Rousseau is more than content to be arm candy for Rafael Salinas, a notorious crime lord who deals with betrayal through quick and treacherous means: a bullet to the back of the head, a blade across the neck, an incendiary device beneath a car. Eager to break with Rafael, Drea makes a fateful decision and a desperate move, stealing a mountain of cash from the malicious killer. After all, an escape needs to be financed.

Joining forces with the FBI, supplying vital inside information that only she can provide, Drea finds herself working with the most dangerous man she’s ever known. Yet the closer they get to danger, the more intense their feelings for each other become, and the more Drea realizes that the cost of her new life may be her life itself—as well as her heart.

2. THE LONG WALK HOME by Will North – Something about the description grabbed me.

When forty-three-year-old Fiona Edwards first sees the lanky backpacker striding up the lane toward her award-winning farmhouse bed-and-breakfast in the remote mountains of North Wales, she’s puzzled. She’s used to unexpected strangers, but few arrive on foot. The man to whom she opens her door is middle-aged, unshaven, sweat-soaked . . . and arrestingly handsome. What neither of them knows at that moment is that their lives are about to change forever.

On the day he finally reaches the summit, Alec is caught in a vicious hailstorm. As he struggles to descend, he stumbles upon the body of a man he recognizes from a photograph at the farm: it is Fiona’s ailing and reclusive husband, David, and he is close to death.

3. THE SUSPICIONS OF MR. WHICHER by Kate Summerscale – This speaks to my love of true crime reading.

Sometime in the wee hours of June 29, 1860, in Road Hill House in Wiltshire, England, Saville Kent, a child of three, was taken from his cot beside his nursemaid’s bed and murdered. His body was discovered hours later in the servants’ outdoor privy. His throat had been slit and his chest bore a deep knife wound; there were cuts on his hands and signs of smothering. An open drawing-room window might have suggested that the culprit had entered from the grounds, but police investigation showed that to be physically impossible. It was clear, alas, that the murderer was one of the family members or servants who slept in the house that fatal night.