All Together Dead is the seventh book in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampires series. I loved the first four books, liked the next two. This one, though it doesn’t stand alone all that well, I loved: 4.5 out of 5.

Being surrounded by all varieties of undead, changeling, and preternatural beings has gotten to be nothing out of the ordinary for Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Still, even she has her limits. Betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must now not only deal with a possible new man in her life–the oh-so-handsome shapeshifter Quinn–but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit in Rhodes.

The summit, which has attracted undead power players from all over the central U.S., is sure to be a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. With secret alliances and backroom deals the order of the day–and night–Sookie must decide what side she’ll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe . . .

All Together Dead offers an intriguing glimpse into vampire politics. The wedding and court cases are interesting. Harris does a wonderful job of world building. The mystery is good, too, multilayered. I picked up on the significance of the luggage pretty early, but there are several other nice surprises.

The relationships also take an unusual turn in this book. Sookie’s relationship with Quinn deepens. I wasn’t sure I liked him in the previous book. In this one, I have to admit I’m warming up to him a little. I like him, but I’m still an advocate for Eric.

Speaking of which, Sookie and Eric’s relationship also gets a boost, although it’s not in a way I expected. It should be interesting to see how that affects things in different books. I’m a little nervous that something bad to come might be foreshadowed in this book. I’m not sure I can take the thought of it right now. So I’m taking comfort in this recent interview Q&A with Harris.

MediaBlvd> Will Sookie’s unresolved issues with her former vampire lover, Eric, continue to come up, and do you see there ever being any resolution to their issues?
Charlaine> He is certainly going to be in the series, and he’ll keep on being in the series, at least for the foreseeable future. But, I’m not sure how their relationship is going to develop. He has a lot more issues with it than she does.

Now it’s a wait for the next book in the series . . .

I’ve been on a reading marathon since I returned from RWA. Hey, I have to read some of these books I’ve been getting, right? I picked up Suzanne McMinn’s Secrets Rising and got a quick, compelling read: 4 out of 5.

Keely Schiffer is having the strangest day. There’s the skull in her rose garden and she receives a gift from her dead husband. Then an earthquake hits, and Keely’s trapped with a handsome, gun-toting stranger.

Detective Jake Malloy heard that nothing bad ever happened in the town of Haven, but this so-called R & R has turned into a nightmare. Except for being stuck in a dark cellar with a sexy woman till help arrives. For Keely and Jake, near-death stokes hidden fires, but the earthquake seems hell-bent on stirring up all the people of Haven, past and present . . .

Secrets Rising (love the title) is a story that moves quickly. The set up is good, and I enjoy the way Jake and Keely are trapped in the cellar together. The action starts quickly and keeps on going.

What I enjoyed most was the chemistry between Jake and Keely. The tension between them when they in the cellar is amazing, and it leads to a great consummation scene.

The second half of the book slows down a bit as the mystery takes center stage. The story kept my interest, but it doesn’t have the same tension as the first half.

I closed the book with the sense that Jake and Keely’s relationship is just beginning. There’s a lot they don’t know about each other. That doesn’t diminish the feeling that they are a couple that will stay together. This is the first book in a new series. I’m interested in seeing what happens in the next one.

I’ve posted about the RWA conference at my alter-ego’s blog. Here, though, I’ll post about the literacy signing. I arrived in Dallas the day before the signing. I love that extra day of quiet and settling in before the signing and the bustle of the conference begins. I headed down to the literacy signing area half an hour before the signing started. Yes, I had the cart.

It always seems like such a long wait to get inside. This year’s crowd was pretty lively. They cheered and applauded when they caught sight of authors entering the signing. Finally, the doors opened and off we went . . .

Suzanne McMinn took this picture of me shortly after the signing started. I was a bit worried about the fact that this year’s signing would be two hours instead of three. I found that I did a lot of racing around, especially at first, because I wanted to make sure I reached as many of my favorite authors as possible.

Here’s a picture Alison Kent took of Wendy and me. I guess I needed one picture where my eyes are closed, right?

I had a good time, but I ended up buying fewer books than I anticipated. In some cases, I decided to try and get books at the publisher signings. In other cases, the books I’d hoped to get weren’t available. For Erin McCarthy, for instance, I wanted to get You Don’t Know Jack, but either she’d sold out before I got there or the publisher didn’t send it.

With other authors *cough*Jill Shalvis*cough*, I had to chase them down to buy their books. I tracked her down, though. She didn’t escape me.

So, here’s what I ended up with:

• Exit Strategy: Kelley Armstrong
• Howling Moon: CT Adams & Cathy Clamp
• Wild Thing: Alyssa Day, Marjorie M. Liu, and more
• Passion for the Game: Sylvia Day
• Rising Moon: Lori Handeland
• Passionate Ink: Angela Knight
• Secrets Rising: Susanne McMinn
• The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever: Julia Quinn
• Fanged & Fabulous: Michelle Rowen
• Shadow Hawk: Jill Shalvis
• Smart & Sexy: Jill Shalvis
• Catch a Mate: Gena Showalter
• Visions of Heat: Nalini Singh
• Risking It All: Stephanie Tyler
• The Seventh Key: Evelyn Vaughn
• Stray: Rachel Vincent
• Nate: Beth Williamson

The books listed in purple are the ones I’ve already read so far.

And I imagine you want to know this year’s total. It was the lowest I’ve spent: $196.17. I was ready to spend much more than this, but I’ll save that for next year.

Demon’s Delight is an anthology I picked up at RWA. It’s a solid read, though I found myself wishing a couple of the stories were longer.

From MaryJanice Davidson . . . Can a witch and a witch-hunter find common ground . . . without killing each other first?

From Emma Holly . . . A beautiful scientist in the realm of the Demon World falls in love with a human male she has experimented on–and is changed forever . . .

From Vickie Taylor . . . Zane is hell-bent on danger–the more he eludes death, the bigger the rush. Then he awakens from a near-drowning not only alive, but in the caring arms of a beautiful angel. But the ethereal Rosemary is driven by her own desires–and full of surprises.

From Catherine Spangler . . . Meet Rachel, hooker and vampire, plying both trades after hours until she meets Gabriel on the night shift. He’s an angelic emissary on a mission to prove Rachel still has a sould, and to save it. But she offers him a mortal temptation he never expects . . .

I loved the concept of MaryJanice Davidson’s story, “Witch Way.” The hero and heroine are destined to battle each other until both die. Unfortunately, neither one wants to do it. The premise is intriguing, and I enjoyed the interaction between Chris and Rhea. However, the story could have used another 20 pages or so to make the romance more convincing. I was a bit disappointed in the love scene as well.

The next story is Catherine Spangler’s “Street Corners and Halos.” It was lovely to watch the wounded Rachel heal. Her backstory was intriguing, which made her a character I wanted to read about. The resolution did seem a bit too easy; however, I liked spending time with the characters, and I plan to see what else Spangler has written.

Emma Holly’s “The Demon’s Angel” comes next, and it’s set in the same world as the story I loved in Hot Spell. “The Demon’s Angel” is plenty hot, and I loved the hero. Once again, though, I would have liked to see what Holly would have done with another 20 pages. Harry and Khira have such a complex relationship simply because of the way they meet. I would have liked to see this dealt with a bit more.

My favorite story was Vickie Taylor’s “Angel and the Hellraiser.” Rosemary is an angel who is set to save Zane . . . if she can. At first, he appears to be a classic troublemaker; it’s soon clear that there’s more to him than that. Rosemary has a lot to offer him. In a nice reciprocity, she needs to learn something from Zane as well. This story brought tears to my eyes at one point. It was very nicely done.

Demon’s Delight was a quick read with a nice variety of stories. They averaged out the book to be 3.5 out of 5.

I’m horribly late in responding to being tagged, but I’ll go with the better-late-than-never principle. The rules:

• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here goes:

1. I’m having a serious case of writer’s block. I’m starting to work past it, but it’s tough going. I like having written better than writing. I wonder if that’s true of all writers? It’s kind of like exercise, I guess, which is always better once finished.
2. I’ve changed my mind about MySpace. When it first became popular with authors, I didn’t see the point. Now, though, I know my page has helped people find my stories who wouldn’t have done so otherwise. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to question it.
3. My house is a black hole when it comes to library books. So far this year, I’ve had to pay to replace two, and overdue books are common. This week, I broke the cycle by finding a DVD. It only took me a week and a half to locate. Ha! It doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve put four more books on hold at the library today. Obviously, decluttering is an ongoing process for me.
4. Speaking of clutter, I have hundreds of scrapbook pages that I need to put into albums. My problem: I need more shelf space for my scrapbooks. I may go to the newly opened Ikea and see if I can find anything that will work.
5. I watch a fair amount of TV, but most of the time I watch programs I taped. I’m not familiar with most shows on right now. The only one I make a point of watching is Medium.
6. I’m not losing weight even though I’ve been exercising. Frustrating. I’m trying to watch what I eat a bit more than usual (gotta take baby steps), and we’ll see if that has any effect.
7. I love getting mail. I think this is a holdover from the days when I was requesting autographs through the mail, but it still something a part of me looks forward to all day, even though I get mostly bills these days.
8. I collect magnets when I go on trips. I always get one (or two or three) to commemmorate my travels.

I’m not going to tag anyone, because I’ve seen it go around so much I’m not sure who’s left. If you want to do it, please do! Then comment here and let me know.

I’ve been looking forward to Sydney Croft’s first release, Riding the Storm, so you can imagine how excited I was to get a signed ARC at RWA. I started reading the book the evening of the RITA awards, and I had a fleeting thought of missing the ceremony so I could keep reading. How’s that for a compliment? (I attended the ceremony after reminding myself that the book would be waiting for me afterward.)

He can summon lightning at will. Emerge unscathed from the center of a tornado. Strip a woman down to her barest defenses through the sheer force of sexuality. He’s gorgeous, dangerous, and the target of parameteorologist Haley Holmes’s latest mission. Haley has been dispatched to the Louisiana bayous to investigate the phenomenon known as Remy Begnaud–a man with a gift he never wanted: the ability to control a storm’s fury.

But even a woman trained in bizarre weather phenomena has no defense against the electrifying power of the ex-Navy SEAL. Haley’s job is to seduce Remy, gain his trust–and help him harness his extraordinary gift. But who will protect her from this voracious lover who’s introducing her to a new world of erotic thrills . . . and from her greatest fear of all: falling in love with this magnificent man, then having to betray him . . .

Riding the Storm was different than I expected. I figured it would be hot, but this book was scorching . . . in a good way. It grabbed me from the beginning and kept me reading. One thing I especially liked was the hint of deeper feelings right from the start. Yes, Remy and Haley are swept up in lust and other motivations, but there’s an undeniable emotional component from the start. That said, the I-love-yous came a bit early. Or maybe I wanted them to know more about each other before they reached that point. Ultimately, though, I finished the book feeling like Haley and Remy had a good foundation to build on.

The ACRO world is fascinating, definitely one I’ll enjoy revisiting by rereading this book and reading upcoming books. There are a couple of subplots, and I was just as intrigued by the Annika and Creed story as by the main couple. In fact, when I finished the book, I raced to Croft’s website to see if they take the spotlight in the next book. They don’t (ACK!  ), but I have faith we’ll see Creed and Annika again. If not, well . . .   Not that I’m threatening, or anything.

This book was very good: 4 out of 5.

I’ve been reading some of the buzz about the upcoming book in Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series. I’m not sure I would call myself a fan of the series since I’ve only read one book–Indelible–but the book, and one character in particular, stuck with me. I’ve since bought three of the other books in the series (one is even autographed), though I haven’t read them.

So when I read about two readers’ responses to the newest book, I decided to read the spoiler at Slaughter’s site before reading any other books in the series.

What I read broke my heart.

Even as I write that, it sounds a little crazy. I read the book almost three years ago, and I definitely don’t have the emotional attachment that long-time readers have. On the other hand, it says something to me that I grieve so much over something that happens to a character I read about three years ago. Slaughter writes memorable characters, no question. But I doubt I’ll ever read another of her books.

As a writer, I understand the need to write about things and events that readers might not appreciate. I get that. I also get that I am not her target audience, because she’s going someplace I, as a reader, can’t follow.

I’m back from this year’s Romance Writers of America conference. Yes, I know . . . I’ve posted so infrequently the past few months that you might not have known I was going. Well, I went, and it was fun. However, I wasn’t nearly as extroverted as I wanted to be. I’m going to blame work for keeping me so busy until the day I left. I didn’t have time to practice being an extrovert.

One of my favorite quotes from the conference was this one from the chat with Nora Roberts.

Writing saves you from having to talk to anyone. It’s wonderful.

I didn’t take as many photos this time around (I was too busy being an introvert), but I’ll post some soon. In the meantime, I’ll start gearing up for next year’s conference. Maybe if I start this extrovert thing now, I’ll be ready by next July.