Have another Margarita

It's the fifth of May, otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo. This is a fun holiday, because, like St. Patrick's Day, it's largely an excuse to drink

. . . except the weather is warmer and daylight hours are longer.

I went to a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday night, after returning from a day at the Slam Jam exhausted. My husband "forgot" to mention he'd accepted an invitation (he does that a lot). But it was fun, and I actually found myself downing pomengranate martinis, which were quite tasty. I've never had a pomengranate in my life until then.

Speaking of the Slam Jam, it was wonderful to see my fellow writers, some of whom I met for the very first time. I got to meet colleagues whom I've communicated with online, on the phone, or both, like LaConnie Taylor-Jones, Gwyneth Bolton, and Celeste Norfleet (Celeste and I share the same wonderful agent, who will be taking five questions late next week).

Deatri, Dyanne, Barbara, Ann and possibly others whose names I can't recall put together a wonderful event. I do admit to being a little taken aback when I saw that the size of the panel for the author session I was scheduled for with my good friend Sean Young had doubled to include two additional authors, so that didn't go quite the way I'd planned. I was only there for the one day, so I don't know if additional authors were squeezed into other author sessions or just ours; but I do understand that these things happen when planning an event of this size, and I stand by my initial impression of a job well done. I'm just glad I got there in time. I had to pick up an important certified letter from the post office and went to the wrong one (in this area, every two to five minutes of driving puts you in a different town). But hey, when you're moving, you want to know what day your inspection/reinspection/closing is scheduled for, and I wasn't willing to wait until this morning to find out.

The marathon author signing gave everyone a chance to schmooze (not snooze, folks). I was tickled when two authors brought their entire collection of Bettye Griffin romances for me to autograph, and honored by those who purchased Once Upon A Project, both readers as well as my writer colleagues Gwyneth, Celeste, and Donna Hill. I approached sister authors Marilyn Tyner and Alice Wootson singing the Irving Berlin classic, "Sisters," and they surprised me by knowing the entire song, right up through "Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man." I guess we're showing our age, Lord help us.

I didn't stay for the Emma Awards (instead of going to bed early, I was sipping those pomengranate martinis) and don't know the winners, but I do know that my friend LaConnie won Favorite Debut Author. Congratulations to LaConnie and all the other winners and nominees!

Happy Cinco de Mayo to all of you! I've got one more weekend of book promotion this Friday and Saturday, and then I can turn my attentions to other things, like packing, since M-day will be less than 2 weeks from now!