The weekend of July 19, 2024, through Sunday, July 21,
2024, romance authors swept the City of Norfolk off of its feet.
It was the 8th annual Sexy and Sassy Event
where over 80 romance writers celebrated the ever growing billion-dollar
industry by mingling with romance fans.
Each year there is a different theme, this year’s theme was Hot Hawaiian
Nights. The writers as well as fans
pulled out all the stops this year especially.
They brought out their leis, flower clips for their hair, Hawaiian
dresses and flip flops. This writer
learned that if you are single, the flower clip goes on the right side of your
hair, but if you are taken, it gets clipped to your left side. Dully noted!
Events included several socials, workshops, author panels, an Ohana
brunch and a huge signing event. Several
vendors were there as well, including the new Chesapeake romance bookstore, Novel
Grounds.
I attended with my sister for the first time, and we
had a blast. There were several local
romance writers there who included Hunter J. Skye, Nan O’Berry, Jenna Jaxon,
T.B. Bond, Dawn Ibanez, Allie Marie, A.R. Moler and the one who started the
annual event, Amy Marie.
My sister and I went for a couple of different
reasons. First, we went because we were
curious as we had never been before. As
a matter of fact, I hadn’t heard about this even until early last year when I
attended my first ever Chesapeake Romance Writers’ meeting. The event planner Amy Marie was there
speaking to the group about it and I had absolutely no clue about what they
were talking about. Thinking back to
then boy was I a newbie or what? Second,
we went to help support not only some of my writer friends, but fellow local
authors. We enjoyed conversing with and
getting to meet several new writers who included some of the following:
Kimberley O’Malley,
who not only writes romances but also has a wonderful cozy mystery series that
is a funny, quick read.
Sue Langford,
who had tote bags with the cutest sayings on them. I purchased four. Of course, one for me that said book babe and
one for each of the ladies at my work for their Christmas that I will fill up
with goodies.
Britt DeLaney,
who writes para-normal and sci-fi romances.
She offered the wrapped blind date with a book but mixed it up a
bit. With her blind dates with a book,
it wasn’t just one book you purchased, but the whole set. What a great idea!
Sidonia Rose,
who had her hubby working with her which I don’t know about you, but I find it
absolutely adorable. He seemed to be
just as invested in not only her writing but her writing career as she is. She writes sweet and young adult
romances. She also has some cute
notebooks with funny sayings on the covers.
(I know, every writer’s dream and downfall. Just what writers need, more notebooks!)
MaryAnn Jordan,
who has several different romance series with some great covers. Two books in her security agency series are
my Christmas gifts from my sister. If
only I can wait until December 25th to look at them…..I mean read
them!
Third, well where else would a bookaholic spend their
weekend? Fourth, my sister went looking
for not only her favorite romance author, Nancy Naigle but for Christmas gifts
for those on her list that love reading.
I showed her last October at another author signing event about
purchasing books directly from authors and having them sign them. She gave a
few of those signed books as Christmas gifts last year to some family members
and they absolutely LOVED them. They
even requested more.
While there were a few hiccups, overall, it was a fun event where we got to broaden our horizon on romance novels. There were authors there that wrote everything from sweet romances to hot and steamy ones with all types in between, including fantasy and sci-fi. The list of attending authors for next year has already started being posted. If you don’t see your favorite one yet, never fear because the list will increase with interested authors as the time becomes closer. It was a well-attended event, and it isn’t a stretch to say that I think that it will be even bigger next year. If you’re interested, here is next year’s line up, so far.
Save the date! In the meantime, go get a romance of your choice, gave a refreshing cold drink, and go have your own Hot Hawaiian SASSY time!
