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    Monday, July 16, 2007

    Teresa Does Dallas!


    Good morning, dear friends! I just got back from the annual RWA conference in Dallas yesterday and have tons of pics to post. One of the best parts of the conference was getting to spend time with YOU guys, including Santa and J Perry Stone (pictured at left), Sara Lindsay, Keira, Kim C, Desiree B., and a host of charming others who made my conference a true delight. The signing in Plano on Thursday night was a great success and several of you hopped a bus or a car and came out to cheer us on.


    Of course Xtina Dodd will tell you that HER favorite part of the conference was when we had a fire alarm go off in the hotel (accompanied by the actual smell of burning electrical wires) and I stopped to put on lipstick before running out of the room. Hey, if I'm going to die, I want to look good while I'm doing it!


    Here I am with Authors at Sea cruise mate Barbara Vey, who is now doing the blog BEYOND THE BOOK for PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. We had a fun interview in my suite and could have spent all day talking about books. For more fun conference reports, check out her blog
    HERE





    Me and fabulous Pocket author Karen Hawkins hang out at the ROMANCE NOVEL TV suite. They did several fabulous interviews which you should be able to find on their site in the coming weeks and months. We even filmed a "Squawker Reunion" breakfast. Move over THE VIEW!






    The amazing Michelle Buonfiglio from ROMANCE BY THE BLOG was also there doing video interviews for her new LIFETIME affiliated site and got to enjoy our little Squawker reunion. Their make-up artist made me look ever-so-glamorous! (Although I was a little worried when she started talking about Mimi from the Drew Carey show.)



    Here I am with the always adorable (and talented!) Sara Lindsay, who traveled all the way to Plano, Texas from Dallas to support us while we spoke and signed.











    Here I am cuddling with Barbara Freethy and Candice Hern, two of my favorite pals to breakfast with.













    Xtina, Lynn Kerstan, Jayne Krentz and me at a gorgeous librarian hosted tea at the elegant Adolphus hotel. (And no, I was NOT stuffing truffles in my purse. Don't listen to Xtina!)








    I've known dear friends Jill Marie Landis and Kristin Hannah since I was twelve. Okay, so it only feels like it. Jill shared my very first conference dinner table in 1989, along with LaVyrle Spencer and Kristin is my rock whenever I need a cooler head to prevail.





    Here's Barbara Freethy, Victoria Alexander and Xtina chowing down at breakfast.












    Here are the Squawkers reunited for a pic! Silly Connie decided she'd rather go fishing in Alaska than hang out with us in Dallas but she was thoughtful enough to overnight a giant pic of her head so we could take it to interviews with us. On the first day the hotel LOST Connie's head so I was running around everywhere looking for it.


    In typical Squawker fashion, when Connie told us she was sending her head, I suggested that it "might be difficult to find a box that big" and Xtina replied with, "She's sending her head, not her thigh." That's right--just when you think you've gone as low as you can go, another Squawker limbos right under you!



    Here I am with the amazingly efficient Kim C., who made our lives so much easier by administering some of our Squawk contests for us.










    Three of my funnest (is that a word?) fellow Avon Authors--Sophia Nash, Jacquie D'Alessandro and Kathryn Caskie. Don't they remind you a little of CHARLIE'S ANGELS? (And if you see the elegantly refined Sophia anywhere, make sure and get her to tell you her mechanical bull story!)





    Hanging at the Avon Dinner with delightful Avon editors May Chen and Lucia Macro.

    Nobody loves a hot purse more than Xtina!












    Here I am with pal Julia Quinn. She looks happy here but she looked even happier the next night when ON THE WAY TO THE WEDDING won the RITA for BEST LONG HISTORICAL :)










    Here I am with Toni Blake at the Avon Family Dinner. Blondes really do have more fun!

















    Here I am enjoying breakfast with pals Suzanne Enoch, Stephanie Laurens and Christie Ridgeway









    Here's Heather MacAllister, Xtina, me and Eloisa voguing in our room before the RITA awards.














    Here I am with fellow Avon Author and Donny Osmond enthusiast Jacquie D'Alessandro (note her stylish alligator purse).














    Me, Lisa and Xtina after the RITA ceremony. Lisa was our RWA keynote speaker this year. She made us laugh, she made us cry, and she made us appreciate all over again how blessed we are to be able to write books we love so much.






    With Harlequin author Heather MacAllister, who just happened to be one of my roomies this year. Heather is the go-to girl for jewelry and shoe advice and I'm...well...not. I'm sure she got really tired of me asking, "Does this go with that?"







    Stay tuned! I'll be posting some more pics later in the week as they start to trickle in!

    43 comments:

    Terri Osburn said...

    Wow! These pics are great. Thanks for posting them so quickly. I think you beat just about everyone else. And I got to see some faces of names I've known forever but had not seen the lovely woman behind them.

    And that blue dress is gorgeous! So glad everyone had such a great time. I'm so jealous. Happy for you all but still jealous. *g*

    Anonymous said...

    Fabulous pics, Teresa! It was so great seeing you. I've managed to upload my pics and will e-mail them to you later today. Your RITA dress was SO gorgeous! We should have taken a pic of the back of it, too--so stunning!
    xox Jacquie

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Thanks Terrio! I wish you could have ALL been there for the party :)

    And Jacquie D., I'd love copies of your pics. I'll probably be posting more of them in the next few days.

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Oh and Terrio, you should ask Xtina how the built-in slip of that long cocktail dress kept rolling up and making a weird little pooch around my mid-section. (To go with all of my natural weird little pooches.)

    Toni Blake said...

    Good God, people. Here I sit bleary eyed in my pajamas at 1:30 in the afternoon and you guys are uploading pictures and doing blogs?? You are better women than I, I assure you ; )

    Anyhoo, thanks for posting the great pic, Teresa! I'm sure I have some, too - still in my camera, which is still in my bag, which is somewhere in my house I suppose ; ) Clearly, I require more of a post-conference recovery period than many of you hardier romance writing souls ; )

    But the conference was fabu! And I, too, was told about Mimi from Drew Carey too while the makeup-artist applied make-up from my forehead to my chest - a first for me, along with the fake eyelashes. Tres' Hollywood!

    Must go forage for food now ... but enjoyed the pics and blog!

    Kim Castillo said...

    Teresa, you are amazing!

    Thanks for sharing the pictures!

    And yes, everyone, ask Sophia about the mechanical bull riding AND her cowboy;)

    Hellie Sinclair said...

    I love your dress with the bronze under thingie and the black halter over...it was so gorgeous! (I liked the blue one too...but the black was my favorite.) And the shoes!!!

    Thanks for posting...these are all great pictures and makes me slightly less jealous I wasn't able to go. Though I'm sure you would have called security almost immediately. *sighs*

    Anonymous said...

    I love the pics, Teresa!! Thanks for sharing them. It looks as if everybody had a fabulous time! :)

    Unknown said...

    Great pictures! I am glad you had a fabulous time! Everyone looks so good!

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Yes, Toni, weren't the fake eyelashes wild? They fell in the sink when I was washing my make-up off that night and I nearly screamed, thinking they were spiders.

    Anonymous said...

    Teresa it was wonderful seeing you again! I only wish that my camera hadn't gone on the blitz. You look FAB, as always!

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    It was wonderful seeing you too, Haven! I should have gotten a pic of you with my camera. I had adored it two days before I left for the conference so I was still on a learning curve.

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Um, that would be "ordered" the camera, not "adored" it, although I actually am adoring it quite a lot.

    pjpuppymom said...

    Thanks for the pics, Teresa. Everyone looks gorgeous, as usual! Sounds like a rockin' time was had by all. Sure wish I could have joined you this year. I agree with Hellion. That black/brown dress you had on was awesome.

    Hugs.....

    Élodie said...

    Teresa,

    These pics are absolutely wonderful! It was so awesome meeting you this weekend at the conference!

    For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting the charming TM, she is the most gracious and kind individual on the planet (and cute as a button, too)!

    And darnit, how did I miss you after the RITAs on Saturday night?? You looked gorgeous in that dress!

    Smiles,
    Élodie

    Anonymous said...

    Great pictures, Teresa! Thanks for sharing them. Looks like you all had a great time in Dallas.

    BTW, love the black dress!

    twolilhahas said...

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing the pictures. I love the brown dress. Beautiful! I also love Jacquie D'Alessandro's white dress. She reminds me of Cinderella! So pretty.

    Teresa, spiders? That's too funny. I've never worn a pair of fake eyelashes, but I've always been a little curious about them. lol I see them hanging in little clear packages in Wal-Mart and wonder if I could actually get them on my eyes. That, and if I actually managed to get them on, would I feel too odd to leave the house with them?

    Toni Blake, sounds like you unpack like I do. Get home, drop the bags wherever I can find a spot, and pass out for a couple of days. Then when I start missing things...I check the bags!

    Anonymous said...

    It was such a pleasure to finally meet you Teresa!! Yes, that's me on the right with the fabuloso hair *w*.

    It was a great conference full of great information and I got to meet so many of my all time favorite authors - the Squawkers, 'natch! One more to go!

    I also have to make a roll call of all the ones I missed!! Next year in SanFran is all I have to say!

    Santa

    elsiehogarth said...

    Hi Teresa! Great pictures. Ahh to be a fly on the wall. Or just the walls. What great stories they would tell.

    One of the Ladies, from my Borders Readers Group, was the Librarian of the Year-Val Luna. The group was so happy for her and she said she had the time of her life.

    Elyssa Papa said...

    Love the pics, Teresa! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Anonymous said...

    Thanks for sharing the pictures, Teresa. All of you ladies looked absolutely fabulous! I'm sure a grand time was had by all.

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Hello Elodie, she of the gorgeous name! It was so very kind of you to come to the Plano signing too. You can't imagine how encouraging it is to look out at the audience during one of those presentations and see so many familiar faces :)

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    We miss you and your chocolate chickens, PJ!

    And twolilhahas, Jacquie D. calls that her "princess dress". She actually had to have it "depoufed" the first time she wore it so she could fit it into her conference suitcase. She truly is one of the most warm and delightful people I know.

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Elsie, I met Val Luna--the RWA Librarian of the Year--at the Avon dinner and was completely charmed!

    Gannon Carr said...

    Thanks for sharing, Teresa. All of you look beautiful and completely glamorous!

    Anonymous said...

    Teresa,

    It was great to see you again and catch up.

    Your pics are way better than mine. lol So, when I finally get my energy back, I plan to link this page to my blog.

    Christina, Jacquie, Lisa, etc., all the authors were great. Thanks for making a newbie (to RWA) feel welcome.

    Barbara Vey

    Anonymous said...

    Loved the pics, Theresa!

    That's Lynn Kerstan on the sofa next to JAK.....;)

    Missed seeing the squawker reunion...thank goodness for romance novel tv and connies extra head!

    Next year in San Fran!

    Rebecca

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Thanks Rebecca! I KNEW that was Lynn Kerstan, not Lynn Kurland but my brain hasn't quite recovered from the lack of sleep yet. Will fix posthaste!

    Keira Soleore said...

    What fabulous pictures. I second Elodie's comments. Teresa is ABSOLUTELY fabulous!! And so cute and bubbly. Just like her online personna. And kind. She didn't mind including newbies like me in conversations with bigwigs. So much fun, so much to learn.

    Anonymous said...

    Thanks for sharing all those great photos, Teresa! Your Rita dress was to die for! What a *gorgeous* color!

    catslady said...

    I'm really enjoying all the pics and stories to go with them - thanks!

    Anonymous said...

    Teresa,

    Not Theresa! Sorry about that!

    blush.

    Rebecca

    Voni said...

    Love love love the pics (and the funny comments! LOL!) . . . I'm so glad you're keeping a blog. Everyone looks like they had so much fun AND of course, now neat to play dress-up with good friends and company. I would've loved to have heard LK's speech too. Hearing about everyone's response to it doesn't surprise me at all.

    Anonymous said...

    What great picutres! Thanks for posting them. I too love the brown dress with the black overlay. Tres chic!
    NancyJ

    linda said...

    What lovely pictures Teresa; and I too loved your dress. It was so nice seeing everyone together again. I also enjoyed seeing what some of the authors looked like that I have heard of, but not seen.

    Thank you again!

    linda

    Anonymous said...

    Teresa - sorry it took so long to post... we've been in the edit room. Thanks so much for putting up the photos - they're great. It was wonderful to finally meet you in person! Maria and I didn't have much time to take photos and when we had our camera with us we were so busy meeting so many great people we forgot to snap photos. So - again, thanks!

    twolilhahas said...

    I just watched the romancenoveltv video. Love the back of that blue-green dress! It is just like the TONGUE IN CHIC dress! lol I love the internet, now I feel like I was there.

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Oooh, thanks for posting, Marisa! Meeting you and your fellow partner-in-crime, Maria, from Romance Novel TV was definitely one of the highlights of my conference. I'm heading over to the site to watch the Red Carpet video right now.

    For those who haven't seen it, it's www.romancenoveltv.com :)

    twolilhahas said...

    Teresa,
    I just had to take a moment to say how incredibly right you are about Gerard Butler's sexiness! I had no idea, but tonight I've been watching youtube clips of him and he is amazing!!! *Sigh*

    Anonymous said...

    Fabulous photos. It was my first RWA Convention and the very first author I saw was you. Probably a dreadful no-no to give you a big hug but I guess I just felt like I've known you for a long time. Thank you for being your gracious, sweet self (and for not getting that restraining order) LOL

    Clarisse/Millie

    Anonymous said...

    These pictures are fakes, aren't they?

    You simply CANNOT have the same look on your face in EVERY picture...

    It's simply impossible

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    Of course I can, beaten. I'm an only child. We always know where the camera is and how to look at it. If they were fakes, I'd be wearing Angelina Jolie's head...or at least her body :)

    Teresa Medeiros said...

    And the last time I checked, that "look" was called a "smile".