Aloha to the Maryland Romance Writers (MRW) Fourth Annual Online Auction

The Maryland Romance Writers (MRW) are hosting the Fourth Annual Online Auction:

This auction benefits the Maryland Romance Writers (MRW) chapter of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and its programs which promote excellence in romantic fiction and advance the professional interests of career-focused romance writers. To learn more about MRW, visit marylandromancewriters.com.

Check out what I donated:

Social Media Review from Popular Romance Bloggers (link):

Three bloggers, Kim Lowe (SOS Aloha Book Blog), Danielle Gorman (Ramblings from the Chick), and Kimberly Rocha (Book Obsessed Chicks) will independently review the winner's digital imprint - author website, social media, and author pages - to offer their feedback to the author's branding, reader appeal, and overall cohesiveness. Kim Lowe will compile their feedback and offer a one hour consultation.

Military Appreciation Gift Set (link):

US Flag flown over the Air Force Memorial (Arlington, VA), Air Force lanyard, Army Magnet and Pin, Coast Guard Tote Bag, Navy SEALs DVD, NSA Ballcap, NSA logo golf balls, Pearl Harbor Map, Pentagon Magnet, and Military Ducks

Pacific Rim Gift Set (link):

Hawaiian souvenirs (Aloha Pencils, Flower Hair Clip, Silk Lei, Slippahs magnet), Mount Fuji Magnets, Pearl Harbor Map, Jake Shimabukuro coozie, South Korean Magnet, USS Missouri "Mighty Mo" Golf Balls, and Military Ducks

Always Alba - A Sample of Scotland (link):

Albannach CD and bottle coozie,Brass "buck" decoration, Doune Castle leather bookmark (film location for OUTLANDER and MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL), Historic Scotland coffee mug, and vintage photographs from Victorian Scotland.

The auction ends on Monday, October 23 ... check out all the items available at this link.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Next week ... the Baltimore Book Festival!

Aloha to Beach Blanket Bingo, Tracy Solheim, and SMOLDER

I have started packing for the RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia!  Kim Rocha (Book Obsessed Chicks) and I are hosting Beach Blanket Bingo:

Join Annette Funicello (Kim Rocha) & Frankie Avalon (Kim Lowe) for a special edition of Book Cover Bingo. Expect spontaneous singing, dancing, & flirting with lifeguards inspired by the beloved 60s film. Readers will join sun loving authors at their favorite beaches and compete for the book laden gift baskets ... perfect for the sand and surf!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 2:45pm – 3:45pm
Location: LL2/Exhibit/Reader Level
Room: Grand Hall West, 3

Kim and I invited 26 authors to join us, including Atlanta local Tracy Solheim:

Tracy Solheim, a military brat who now makes her home near Atlanta, began her writing career as a teenager when she penned a column in her town's local newspaper. Then, it was on to journalism school and a brief stint with NBC sports. After spending nearly two decades writing reports and testimonies for Congress, she delved into fiction. She lives in the suburbs with her husband, two teenagers, a Labrador retriever who thinks she's a cat and a horse named after her first novel. When she's not writing, she enjoys photography, cooking, and reading. A frustrated sports writer, the books she loves to read--and write--feature athletes and the women who capture their hearts. See what's she's up to at www.tracysolheim.com.

Tracy is know for romance set in the sports world and small towns ... but roared onto the scene with a smoking hot romance, SMOLDER:

Former Army Ranger, Sam Gaskill, is starting over in Glacier Creek, Montana - far away from the plains of Texas and the memories of his late wife. Taking charge as the new captain of a squad of smoke jumpers should provide him with enough adrenaline to chase away the ghosts from his past. Until a sexy, green-eyed temptress with a sassy mouth enters the picture…

Laurel Keenan, champion horsewoman, couldn’t wait to escape her hometown. But instead, an ailing mother and an unplanned pregnancy landed the impetuous dreamer right back on her father’s ranch. Laurel has managed to lead a quiet life with her young son—until she sets eyes on the tough guy with the sexy ass.

Sam already failed one woman; he won’t trust his heart with another. And Laurel is determined not to risk her heart—or her son’s—on another thrill-seeker. Can their slow burn lead to a love that lasts?

Glacier National Park

Public Domain (link)

For the month of April, I am giving away a box of books from authors attending RT. To enter the giveaway,

1. Readers - do you have any advice for authors at conventions?

2. Comments are open through Sunday, April 30, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I will be offline from Monday, May 1 - Sunday, May 7.

4. I'll post the winner on Sunday, May 8.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to Weekly Winners, Beach Blanket Bingo, and Christi Caldwell

We have winners from last week's posts - Dani, Denise, and Sharlene win a book choice from my convention stash.  Please send your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

I am also a winner - the RT Booklovers Convention (link) selected my proposal for a beach party in Atlanta!  My cohost will be Kimberly Rocha from Book Obsessed Chicks (link).  Our theme is BEACH BLANKET BINGO, inspired by the 60s movie of the same name (link).  I plan to dress as Frankie Avalon and Kimberly as Annette Funicello.  We will, in fact, play book cover bingo.  

We invited 20 of our favorite authors to host a table ... and I will introduce you to those authors between now and next May (it will be here sooner than we expect).  Kimberly recommended our first author - Christi Caldwell:

USA TODAY Bestselling author CHRISTI CALDWELL blames Judith McNaught’s “Whitney, My Love!” for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and pick up her laptop to try her hand at romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections, and she rather enjoys torturing them before crafting them a well deserved happily ever after!

Christi makes her home in southern Connecticut where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances, chasing around her feisty seven-year-old son and caring for her twin princesses in training!

Christi recently celebrated the release of THE ROGUE'S WAGER, Book 1 in the Sinful Brides series ...

London, 1821

Lord Robert Dennington, the Marquess of Westfield, has long reveled in the freedom afforded him as the ducal heir. He knows he must someday do right by the Somerset line, but he’s in no hurry to give up his carefree existence.

Helena Banbury is a bookkeeper in a gentleman’s gambling club, adept at analyzing numbers and accounts but helpless for lack of influence. She’s never belonged among the nobility on the gaming hell floors, but neither does she feel completely herself among the men who run the Hell and Sin Club, despite the fact that they are family. The once-illiterate girl from the streets wants more than the gilded walls her protective cage can offer.

When Robert mistakenly enters her chambers one night, Helena is forced out of her predictable life and thrust into the glittering world of Society. Will the charms of the marquess prove more perilous than any danger she ever knew on the streets?

Christi's favorite beach is Bald Head Island, NC (link).

Bald Head Island is a two-mile journey across the Cape Fear River from Southport, North Carolina and the site of Old Baldy, the state’s oldest standing lighthouse, circa 1817.  You can reach this subtropical island only by passenger ferry or private vessel. Amid the island’s 12,000 acres, you’ll find 10,000 untouched acres of beach, marsh and maritime forest preserves and intimate neighborhoods that respect the natural beauty of the surroundings.

"Old Baldy" Lighthouse
Released to Public Domain (link)

What's your favorite beach?  One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Sunday, November 13, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Monday, November 14.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Bald Head Island marina with "Old Baldy" in the background

Released to Public Domain (link)

Celebrate Romance Every Day - RWA, Joy of Writing, and RomVets

This past week, I realized how lucky I am to be part of the romance community.  Kimberly from Book Obsessed Chicks (link) nominated me as a romance "cheerleader".  I lunched with Kati from Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance (link) - we enjoyed Polynesian food at the Taste of Aloha (link). I made lunch plans for next week in Washington, DC, with Melissa, a librarian extraordinaire.

I also received confirmation the Romance Writers of America (RWA) accepted two proposals I submitted for this year's national conference in San Diego (link): 

The Joy of Writing with Cathy Maxwell, Anne Elizabeth, and Julie Rowe

Romance publishing offers exciting opportunities for self publishing, small press, traditional publishers, and a combination thereof to cater to the individual author. The romance industry can also be a cut throat business from negative reviews, stalled sales, and an oversaturated market. Three author stand out as perpetually positive by focusing on the Joy of Writing. Bestselling and award winning writers Cathy Maxwell, Anne Elizabeth, and Julie Rowe share how they focus on their passion for romance while drowning out the negativity which creeps into every author’s life. Each author came to romance publishing by a different road yet they share the same appreciation of the Joy of Writing. Moderated by book blogger Kim Lowe, the authors will engage in a round table discussion of looking beyond book sales as a measure of success and celebrating the creativity process that is the Joy of Writing.

Reporting for Duty - An Intimate Chat with the RomVets: Grace Adams, Tamara Argyle, Heather Ashby, Elizabeth Langston, Caroline Lingaitis, Kim Lowe, and Anna Richland

Military characters dominate romance novels. They have stormed romantic suspense, moved into small towns, battled paranormal creatures, and defined history from Medieval Times to Victorian Era to WWII. A group of women veterans have turned their swords to pens to write romance novels – the RomVets, www.romvets.com. Three Air Force veterans, two Navy veterans, one active duty Navy surgeon, and one Army veteran/Rita winner will share our military experience to ensure military characters are accurately portrayed in any genre. RomVets are also military spouses, brats, and parents, so we offer an extra dimension into the lives of those who serve – airman, marine, sailor, seaman, and sailor. We will teach writers to how to decipher the military’s acronyms, identify ranks from the five services, and safely carry a weapon. 

As the Pointer Sisters sang, "I'm so excited". I am truly blessed to be a romance reader! If you met any of the above bloggers or authors, what would you ask them? One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, February 13, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 14.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Celebrating Romance Every Day

Lucky guards my convention stash

Celebrate Little Victories - RWA Conference Panelist

The RWA National Conference invades Times Square in New York City from July 22-25.   The conference hotel is the Marriott Marquis, opposite the Armed Forces Recruiting Station.   Featured speakers include (link):

- Barbara Freethy

- Julia Quinn

- Nalini Singh

- Jude Deveraux

- Lisa Kleypas

... and me!  RWA accepted my panel proposal, A Tale of Two Bloggers - Candid discussion of how to promote your book (and have a life):

Bloggers are called the online gatekeepers to readers. Two book bloggers, Kimberly Rocha and Kim Lowe, offer their perspective on what works (and what flops) in promoting romance books and author brands. We’ve posted reviews and we’ve hosted blog tours. We’ve hopped over to other blogs for cross promotion. We’ve participated in launch parties on Facebook and character chats on Twitter. We’ve seen it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly – on social media.

We have also attended industry events – RWA National Conference, NJRW Conference, Barbara Vey’s Readers Luncheon, and the RT Booklovers Convention. We’ve attended panel discussions about marketing, only to find that authors miss the main ingredient – what readers want. We know what readers want because we are readers. We interact with readers every day as “trusted advisors” through our blogs.

We created a Power Point presentation to highlight the indispensable aspects of promotion – author website, social media, and face-to-face interaction. We will use the presentation to guide the discussion, giving us the flexibility to engage in a lively discussion and answer any questions from authors. 

My partner in crime is Kimberly Rocha from Book Obsessed Chicks (link).  What out New York, here we come!   

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about what you think is a good way to promote a book to readers - blogs tours?  guest posts?  author interviews?  excerpts?  giveaways?   Facebook?  Twitter?  Pinterest?  something else?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 7, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 8.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

NY Guardsment on duty during Thanksgiving in NYC
in front of a book store no less!

Celebrate Little Victories - Kimberly Rocha, Book Obsessed Chicks, and My Book Crave

Celebrate Little Victories is a special feature I host on Saturdays to appreciate the joy in my life.   Today I celebrate Kimberly Rocha - she has endless enthusiasm for romance books!   I met Kimberly at Lora Leigh's RAW (link).  Actually, we didn't meet but we bumped into each other at the dance party.   Here she is line dancing at the Western Roundup:

We actually met at the NJRW Conference one month later - we sat at the same table for lunch.  It was then I realized we both attended RAW.   While Kimberly was taking pictures of fabulous authors, I was ogling the delicious dessert:

I joined Kimberly for dinner along with several readers and authors, including Cathy Maxwell and Elizabeth Hoyt. Kimberly's enthusiasm was infectious ... we laughed through dinner.

I briefly chatted with her at the start of the RT Booklovers' Convention in New Orleans ... the crowds swallowed us up!

We finally hooked up at the RWA National Conference, finding each other in the same lines for publishers signings. We also chatted in the lobby in between workshops.  I enjoyed watching Kimberly work the crowd - she had many a fan girl moments.  Then again, Kimberly is a positive force in Romanceland.   She is the founder of Book Obsessed Chicks (link) with a review blog and book club (that has expanded to several cities).   Kimberly is also working with MyBookCrave (link). Her hard work has paid off with a new column at Romance At Random to share her love of Western Romances (link).   Congrats, Kimberly!   

I thank Kimberly for being a joy in my life!   Do you have any friends who share your passion for romance?  One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash.  Comments are open through Saturday, August 16, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 17.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

A country truck to honor Kimberly ....

Celebrate Little Victories

Today I was scheduled to drive to Long Island for the Book Obsessed Chicks (BOC) 4th Annual BBQ on Lido Beach (link). Unfortunately, my husband's shift schedule is a challenge so I will have to cancel.  I am sad to miss Kimberly Rocha - she is the very definition of a romance enthusiast.   She is one of the creative forces behind MY BOOK CRAVE (link):

What are you hungry for today?  Whether you are shopping for a bestseller or a buzzed-about book, looking to discover something new, or looking for a few bargains - MyBookCRAVE has it all.

A smorgasbord of choices!Every day we comb through thousands of new releases, hot titles and bargain books. General fiction, mysteries and thrillers, romance and woman's fiction, fantasy and more. Choose your reading interests and update them whenever you like - MyBookCRAVE has you covered!

Join me in signing up for MY BOOK CRAVE at mybookcrave.com.

My new feature, State of Romance, for USA Today's HEA Blog is going strong.  Each week I spotlight romances set in the designated state:

Week 1 - Hawaii at this link

Week 2 - Nevada at this link

I encourage you to use #stateofromance on Twitter to suggest romances set in each state!

I am also spotlighting organizations which serve military families on my travel blog, ALOHA ON MY MIND, between Flag Day and Independence Day:

Matthew Freeman Project at this link.

Soldiers' Angels at this link.

Are you celebrating any little victories?

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Keeping Warm with Avon Romance

Good morning!   Another artic blast forced the county schools to open late this morning.   My kids still wake up on time ... so they enjoy unexpected time on the XBox!    That gives me extra time to roam the net.

Yesterday was Super Tuesday for Avon Romance with the release of several fan favorites (link):

Cathy Maxwell and Tessa Dare will be answering Q&As with on Wednesday, January 29, 12 pm at Avon Romance (link).   I've already submitted my question and you can, too, at the link.

Cathy and Tessa discussed rogues in their own Q&A at this link.

Over at The Romance Dish, Cathy shares her thoughts on happiness (link) with giveaweay for THE BRIDE SAYS NO.   The Romance Dish also offers an excerpt from Tessa Dare's ROMANCING THE DUKE (link).

Cathy gives an intimate interview with The Book Obsessed Chicks (link) with giveaway for THE BRIDE SAYS NO.

I save the best post for last .... Cathy investigated the love lives of romance authors for Happily Ever After at this link.  

Loch Tay, setting for THE BRIDE SAYS NO
Public Domain (link)

Don't forget my own two giveaways for Cathy Maxwell:

Book review of THE BRIDE SAYS NO (link) - leave a comment for a chance to win a copy - winner's choice of format.

Burns Night with Cathy Maxwell (link) - leave a comment for a chance to win a Scottish throw blanket  to keep you warm along with a hot Avon Romance!.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City