Tag: Beatrice.com

Whirlwind Week!

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This past week has been totally Mad Hatter in the best and dare I say most Manhattan of ways. In just slightly more than seven days, I:

Received an award for Vanquished from The Beach Book Festival, the ceremony held at the iconic Algonquin Hotel. Thanks to Festival Managing Director, Bruce Haring for the splendid cocktails, canapes, and yes, chance to chat up my fellow honorees.

Hope and Beach Book Festival Managing Director, Bruce Haring, at the uber elegant Algonquin Hotel. Photo courtesy of Hayat Ali.
Hope and Beach Book Festival Managing Director, Bruce Haring, at the uber elegant Algonquin Hotel. Photo courtesy of Hayat Ali.

Attended a Beatrice.com multi-author reading at the Lower East Side bar, The Slipper Room emceed by my friend and fellow Lady Jane Salon co-founder, Ron Hogan. The theme was literature with adolescent protagonists. All four readers: Judy Blundell, Matthew Aaron Goodman, Theresa Rebeck, and Sung J. Woo were great and the five Bushwick Book Club musicians: Franz Nicolay, Susan Hwang, Dibson Hoffweiler, Tom Curtin, and Phoebe Kreutz kept the evening from getting too serious.

Saw some rockin’ live music from new-to-me band, Gordon Voidwell, performed in the back room of another Lower East Side watering hole, Pianos. I went on the recommendation of visiting Aussie friend, Greg, who’s obviously a lot more um…hip to the Manhattan music scene than I am. Props to you, Greg!

Gordon Voidwell and company at Piano's.
Gordon Voidwell and company at Piano's.

Attended a fundraiser cocktail party for The HIV Law Project. To learn more about this twenty-year-old (and counting) advocacy organization and the amazing work they do on behalf of those disenfranchised by their HIV-positive status, please visit the organization’s web site and yes, consider taking the opportunity to give whether that means money or time or both.

Last night, attended the exhibition, “Poison; Erika Keck & Christy Singleton” at Envoy Enterprises Gallery on Chrystie Street, Lower East Side with Scandalous Woman About Town, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon. Dubbed a “potent dose of visual venom” with the intent “to scare the f— out of you,” I’ll leave you judge the show for yourself. Let’s just say that for the first time in decades, I had the strong desire to sleep with my “blankie.”

In the midst of all this making-the-scene mayhem, I sat down and ate a whole steamed lobster. One and a half pounds. Every single bite. Myself. With yes, lots o’ melted…buttah!

Some weeks it’s good to be me. This was for sure one of them.

How’d your week go?

Hope

PS I’m rolling out my new Sizzling Summer Contest tomorrow, June 15th, so check back and find out how uber easy it is to enter.

Lady Jane’s June Salon: Quick Recap

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To borrow from the classic rock song, “Oh what a lady, what a night!”

Last night’s Lady Jane’s Salon was double the fun and then some. Marjorie M Lui, Wendy Corsi Staub, Diane Gaston & Amanda McCabe rocked the house, which was standing room only by the time 7:30 rolled around. In addition to four great and very diverse readings, connections were made, and yes, books were sold and signed to benefit Share the Love all while sipping signature Madame X cocktails with deliciously naughty names.

Many thanks to all who turned out not only last night but who have been our consistent supporters: Rob and Faygie from Romantic Times BOOKReviews, Romance Novel TV, RWA/NYC prez Karen Cino, and a host of RWA/NYC members including bloggers extraordinaire Scandalous Woman Elizabeth Kerri Mahon and Kwana Jackson. And then there was visiting VIP guest, Barbara Vey from PW’s Beyond her Book blog. We ‘heart’ you, Barbara.

Photos to follow later in the week…

Hope

What a Lady, What a Night!

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“What a lady, what a night…”

So the classic rock song goes and likewise so went last night’s launch of Lady Jane’s Salon, Manhattan’s first (and so far only) reading series devoted to romance fiction. The series, founded by Ron Hogan, Maya Rodale, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Moi benefits Share the Love, which reaches out to groups assisting women-in-transition build independent lives.

Hope chats with a guest during the meet-and-greet.
Hope chats with a guest during the meet-and-greet.

Forty or so attendees packed the elegant Victorian-inspired salon setting of Madame X in Tribeca. Distinguished guests included Carol Stacy, Publisher and Liz French, Managing Editor of Romantic Times BOOKReviews; Maria Lokken and Marisa O’Neill of Romance Novel TV; and Barbara Vey of PW’s uber popular blog, Beyond Her Book. Also on hand to clink glasses was Scandalous Women blogger, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon.

Foreground L-R: Bookseller and reviewer, Stacey Agdern and Barbara Vey, PW's Beyond Her Book.
Foreground L-R: Bookseller and reviewer, Stacey Agdern and Barbara Vey, PW

After a cocktail meet-and-greet, Ron took the stage as emcee to introduce Share the Love and Lady Jane co-founder, Maya Rodale. Maya spoke briefly and eloquently about her one-year-old organization’s mission to distribute gently-used romance novels to groups assisting women-in-transition, such as Women in Need (WIN), a domestic violence shelter located in Manhattan.

Guest author Andrea Pickens chats with the crowd.
Guest author Andrea Pickens chats with the crowd.

Award-winning author, Andrea Pickens got the party started by reading from The Scarlet Spy, the latest in her Regency-set historical series about a plucky group of young women trained as espionage agents. After a short break, during which Andrea and I signed our books, I read from Every Breath You Take…,my latest Harlequin contemporary release.

Books galores. The proceeds from all sales benefited Share The Love.
Books galores. The proceeds from all sales benefited Share The Love.

Last but not least, we made money for the cause as well as collected a cache of fabulous romance novels to be distributed to women working to achieve their own Happily Ever After beginnings. If that’s not sharing the love, I don’t know what is.

Next month’s Lady Jane’s Salon will take place on Monday, March 2nd, 7-9 PM at Madame X with romance authors Lauren Willig and Jenna Petersen as our guest readers. If you’re in Manhattan or passing through, I hope you’ll consider putting Lady Jane’s on your calendar.

Hope

Proudly Presenting…Lady Jane

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Once upon a time three romance authors and one blogger went out in Manhattan after attending one of the city’s many literary reading series. Amidst the pungent aroma of cigars and single-malt scotch the conversation turned to the sad fact that there exists no reading forum for romance fiction in Manhattan, the seat of the publishing kingdom. And that struck us–oops, them–as really rather sad.

Then one of the romance writers, we’ll call her Princess Maya, got this gleam in her eye. All, well, gleamy-eyed, she looked ’round the Round Table (okay, it was a booth, but…), drew a deep breath, and announced, “Jeepers, let’s start a romance reading series of our very own!”

Okay, she didn’t actually say “jeepers.” I’m totally making that part up but the rest, for sure, is right on the money. And within that 30 seconds or so of yes, sheer brilliance, Lady Jane was born.

Co-sponsored by Share the Love and Beatrice.com and co-founded by Maya Rodale, Ron Hogan, Leanna Renee Hieber, and yes, Moi, Lady Jane’s Salon is Manhattan’s first (and so far only) reading series devoted to romance fiction. The Salon will meet on the first Monday of every month starting February 2nd, 7-9 PM at the uber swank Madame X lounge in Tribeca.

The program format will be two author readers per evening with a short break between and a Q&A gab fest finale. Andrea Pickens and Yours Truly will be getting the party started in February; future authors TBA.

Admission is one gently-used romance novel or $5, your pick. All proceeds will benefit Share The Love, a non-profit organization that distributes gently-used romance novels to groups assisting women-in-transition. That we get to read our books and share the possibility of Happily Ever After beginnings with women working to build hopeful, independent lives is more than the best of both worlds. It’s the stuff of which real life fairytales are made.

For directions and other delicious details, please check out my Media and Events page. And for more juicy behind-the-scenes scoopage, please plan to stop by our live chat this Sunday, January 25th at Romance Novel TV.

Wishing you sweet dreams and candy-heart kisses…

Hope