(Ah, is it Monday already?)

Calista Fox–a lady who is an all around great person and a fabulous author–is having a reader appreciation month over at her site. She’s giving away autographed books, posting author interviews, and generally having fun. 🙂 Today, she’s posted an interview with Allyson James (and she’s giving away a free download of CATCH A FALLING STAR). On Wednesday, Calista will post the interview she conducted with me. In addition to the interview, Calista and I are giving away an autographed copy of EVERLASTING BAD BOYS (check her site on Wednesday for details!). But these aren’t the only prizes…If you visit Calista’s site for the rest of the month, you’ll find more interviews and lots more books.

Tomorrow night at 9 pm. Eastern time, I will be over at Coffee Time Romance, chatting with Jacquelyn Frank and Stella Price. Book talk, prizes…what more could you ask for at a chat? If you get a chance, do stop by.

And, final bit of weekly news…I’m blogging today over at Divas of the Dark. My topic? Promotions–the other side of writing. Because an author’s life isn’t just about writing; instead, promotion work is a big responsibility for authors.

The family and I went to the beach this weekend, so I’m still in recovery mode. I’m going to try and wake myself up a bit more–and then get to work organizing a few more mailings.

How was your weekend?

Update!!!!!! Update!!!!! Okay, so since I was at the beach (and catching an Elmo live show–don’t ask) I missed this news on Friday and as soon as I got the scoop, I had to come back and post. Because, you see, someone I know had a very, very good weekend…

Edie Ramer is a finalist in the American Title V contest!!! That is awesome! Congrats, Edie!

So I headed over to Books-A-Million to pick up a needed bundle of books the other day, and guess what I saw?  EVERLASTING BAD BOYS on their Recommended Reads shelf!  🙂

How very cool.

And speaking of recommended reads, Manda has selected the September pick for my book club.  She picked THE PRICE OF DESIRE by Jo Goodman.  This will be my first historical by Jo Goodman–and I’m looking forward to the read.

Anyone else have any good reads to suggest before I head back to the bookstore?

So I finished writing my latest paranormal romance (my white tiger story)–yay!  Now, I’m going to take this week to relax (um, when I’m not worrying about the story I just submitted), judge a contest, read, and get busy with promo work for MIDNIGHT SINS.

Ah, the promo.

My bookmarks and door hangers arrived last week…

Yep, my dining room table is still covered with the boxes.  Good thing we don’t have too many fancy meals at my house!

That would be my son’s hand, dipping into the bookmark box.  As soon as I opened the box, the boy started making piles for people he wanted to have bookmarks.

These are my door hangers.  The lighting makes them look a bit orange here (sorry, the bad lighting is my fault), but they actually have a darker, redish tint.  I’ll see about putting up a better image soon.

The folks who receive my newsletter have already had the opportunity to let me know if they’d like autographed bookmarks or some door hangers (and I will be sending those out this week!).  I’ve gotten an overwhelming response to these items, and I can only say–wow. Thank you!  🙂

If you’re not on my newsletter list (and, hey, why aren’t you?), you can request items by sending an email to info@cynthiaeden.com.

After I send materials to the wonderful folks who have requested items, I will start bundling bookmarks until I have 700 piles–those will be heading to the 700 “Bookstores That Care” (via RT).  I will also be sending materials to readers’ groups and, heck, anyone else who wants some!

So…my writing break week looks like it will be pretty busy, after all.

I want to send out my wishes for a very speedy recovery effort for those areas (and people!) who were hit hard by Gustav.  My prayers are certainly with you.

We didn’t get too much bad weather here–just some flooding and strong winds (winds that took down one of our trees).  I suspect things will pretty much be normal business here in Mobile, and I hope the normalcy can return to Louisiana and Mississippi soon, too.

First, I want to thank everyone who has emailed to check on me–please, don’t worry!  I am very safe. Right now, it’s looking like Mobile won’t get the brunt of Gustav. We are under a hurricane warning, but the forecasters are saying we will mostly just get some strong winds and rain.  I’ve got plenty of supplies so I’ll be fine.  🙂  But, really, thank you all for checking on me!

I got back from my trip to New Orleans yesterday.  I was having a wonderful time at the Heather Graham Writers for New Orleans event, but, unfortunately, the hotel closed around noon (due to an order from the mayor) and we all had to clear out of Dodge.  The staff members at the Hotel Monteleone were wonderful, and I found myself on the road and heading home within about twenty minutes.  And, by the way, the hotel is reputed to be haunted, but, unfortunately, I didn’t see the ghosts.  Maybe next time.

Friday night, we went to Muriel’s for a Victorian soiree.  I’ve been to New Orleans plenty of times in my life–so how is it that I’ve missed Muriel’s?  That place was awesome!  And I will definitely be heading back for another visit soon (um, once Gustav is gone!).  Muriel’s not only has a resident ghost–the place also has a seance room.  Too cool.  Heather Graham’s husband said that they hold seances once a month there. How can I get in on that fun?

But, in addition to all the ghosts, I also made some living friends, too.  🙂  One of the first ladies I talked with was the wonderful Barbara Vey from the Publisher’s Weekly Beyond Her Book blog.  Barbara had some of the best stories to tell!  She had me laughing throughout the night.  Here’s a pic of Barbara and I at checkout–and, yes, I will shamelessly admit that I stole this pic from her blog because I didn’t have my own photo of the two of us:

I was also met two fabulous ladies (Rhonda McKey and Josephine Templeton) from the Baton Rouge RWA Chapter.  Rhonda McKey recently finaled in both the Brava Contest and the Red Sage Contest.  The lady’s writing is smoking!  🙂  I expect to hear great things from Rhonda.  (Hey, you can read her Brava entry here–well, I tried to get the right link, but if it doesn’t pop up, you may have to scroll a bit because the entry is posted on the Brava forum.)  Josephine has a vampire novel out now from Whiskey Creek Press–it’s called FOREVER YOURS.  Ah, I do love vampire novels.

Here’s a photo of Barbara, Josephine, and Rhonda (taken at Muriel’s–hmmm…do you see any ghosts? Cuz…what is that white, blobby light between Barbara and Josephine?  A glitch from my digital camera or something more?):

While there wasn’t much time for me to chat with them (on account of Gustaz..Ah, Gustav!), I also visited with the phenomenal Kate Duffy of Kensington—and I had the chance to meet Kristin Mills-Noble, cover designer extraordinaire!  Kristin has designed all of my covers for Kensington. (Thank you,  Kristin!) And, for your viewing pleasure, here’s Kate and Kristin:

I really met so many great folks–James Goodman, Aleka Nakis, Cathy Maxwell–and a good dozen or two more.  Everyone was friendly and fun and I felt very welcome at the event. (And, yes, I would definitely attend again!)

Stay safe out there–especially if you are in Gustav’s path!