Welcome to A Cup of Tea and Sorcery’s New Digs!
It's here! It's finally here! Well, what do you think? Have you had a chance to explore? Did you find any gargoyles lurking in the basement? If so, scoot them out to the parapets ~ they have work to do. Silly gargoyles.
Thank you so much for being here today to help celebrate the launch of my new website. I couldn't be happier with it. I'm hoping next week I'll have another little surprise for all of you, but I think this is enough for today. Any more pink and sparkly and y'all just might burst.
And HUGE thanks to Laird Sapir of Memphis McKay Designs for her awesome work on the site. I can be a tad high maintenance, but she never once complained. Mwuah! Love you, sweet Lady.
Speaking of ladies… the final voting is in and you picked Razzie Tazzie as the teacup dragon's name! She'll henceforth be known as Lady Razzie Tazzie. Very fitting for a dragon of her sparkly caliber.
As promised, I have more RWA Swag for you! But first… my dirty little secret.
We have Kate Wood to blame for this, or, I suppose I should say thank for this new obsession of mine… You see, Kate is enamored of a certain Regency writer named Tessa Dare. Tessa just happens to be a member of our Orange County Romance Writer's of America chapter and one day she spoke at our meeting. Well, when she finished she gave away a few of her novellas titled, The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good, Mr. Wright and I happened to get one. Kate being the huge fan that she is, I loaned it to her thinking, “Meh. I don't read Regency.”
The next month Kate returned the book and as it turned out, I was in a slump with my projects. Since I don't read the genre I'm actively writing, I sought out something completely different. Regency was about as far from Romantic Suspense and Fantasy as I could get!
This little novella grabbed me from the first page and, if I'm not mistaken, I skipped making dinner that night so I could finish the book. No one was more surprised than I that I enjoyed a Regency romance!
Names like Julia Quinn, Eileen Dreyer, Elizabeth Hoyt, and Laura Lee Guhrke started creeping their way into my psyche. At RWA Nationals this year, I picked up a copy of Sarah MacLean's A Rogue by Any Other Name. When I got home, I read the book in two days. Again, I'm not sure I fixed dinner for the heathens in that time. I'll definitely be adding her to the list of fiendish authors who turned me to the dark side.
Granted, it's a dark side I'm happy to fall to when I need something fun to read. These books are not only well-written, the heroines aren't just dim-witted damsels looking to be rescued. They are smart and sexy. Yep, you read that right ~ there be sex in these books!
I'll be giving away three of the books I brought back from RWA ~ Julia Quinn's It's In His Kiss, Laura Lee Guhrke's Scandal of the Year, and Sarah MacLean's A Rogue By Any Other Name. See what I did there? This is my thinly veiled attempt to turn you as well. Even if you don't think you read Regency, give these a try. You might be surprised.
And now it's time for … RWA Swag for YOU!
We've got all kinds of cool stuff from door hangers, excerpts from Diana Gabaldon's not-yet-released book, to a travel wine sippy glass, and of course, Celtic Hearts buttons with some hot dudes and lassies in kilts. Yes, please!
I swear I wasn't trying out the wine glass when I took that picture. It's the only one of the bunch that came out blurry, hmmm… I thought about retaking it, but didn't want to upset the Wine Gods.
So here's the deal ~ I'll draw random names from all the commenters next Tuesday. That'll give everyone a chance to stop on in and play along. Again, don't despair if you don't get something this time. I still have a dozen or so books and a bunch more swag. Can you believe it? I'm telling you, RWA rocks!
Thanks again for stopping in at the new digs. Make sure you resubscribe to the blog and come back on Tuesday to read the conclusion of Our Summer Adventure.
From Lady Razzie Tazzie and myself, have an amazing weekend. Mwuah! Love to you all.
Love, love, love your new website, Tameri! I received my swag from the last giveaway! Awesome book and calendar and so much more cool stuff! Thank you!!!!! Yay for Lady Razzie Tazzie! She’s so adorable but also so dazzling!
Good for you trying a new genre. But then you’re one adventurous lady! Trying new things is the spice of life! Enjoy!
Hey Marcia! I’m so glad you like it. And yay for receiving your swag. Let me know what you think of the book…
Trying new things definitely IS the spice of life! Take care my friend. Love you!
The new website is gorgeous! And yay for Lady Razzie Tazzie!
And as for the reading… well, sometimes you have to step outside of your ‘written’ genre. You need to read different things than what you write to keep your creativity churning, and to get new perspectives. I read my own fair share of things I… can’t tell my mother about :D. Though lately my obsession has been manga (basically the original graphic novels). I will never write one of those because I can’t draw, but they feed a part of my muse that nothing else can, and none of the ones I’ve read could even be considered ‘high fantasy’, which is probably closest to what I actually write.
Totally Rebekah! I try to not read in my genre that I’m writing because I’m always afraid I’ll swipe something. Usually I go for historical fiction, but I’m so glad I found Regencies. I might have to join Beau Monde RWA Chapter just for the amazing party and outfits they have at nationals! I don’t know if I could write a Regency, but maybe someday I’ll give it a try.
Like you, fantasy is my first love and I’ll always write in that genre, but it’s fun to experiment. Right? 🙂
Oh, it’s SO fun to experiment! That’s mostly what I’m doing right now, as I’m taking a break from Catalyst and blogging. I’m trying to work in some more short stories (though they need to stop being fan fiction *pokes muse*), and I rarely write short stories that are fantasy. They usually end up being inspirational/Biblical/etc. And the occasional one that is buried so deep my mother will never accidentally stumble across it, lol!
That’s a great idea! Writing in another genre challenges the muse (when she’d not napping during fan fic breaks). Now I’m curious about the deep stories your mother should never see. 🙂
LOVE it! This is SO you my darling! I’m a big Regency fan – oh la, if you haven’t picked up any of Stephanie Laurens’ books (The Bar Cynster set, my dear, TOO divine), then you are in for a treat! Sending you hugs and squeals and glitter…
Hello Darling! I have a few Stephanie Laurens’ books from last year that I totally forgot about! Oh, my stars, I’m so excited now.
That might have to be my new sign off… Sending you hugs and squeals and glitter! Love it. Love you. Miss you!
Congrats on the new site, Tameri! It’s LOVELY, and absolutely suits you and your groovy work.
Thanks so much, August! It totally suits me and my groovy work. I love that. Laird is a magician. Truly, she is.
The new site looks amazing! Congrats, Tameri! And RWA…..love!!!
Thank you! I know ~ RWA… love!!! It is such a fabulous organization, but then to have that awesome conference on top of it all, priceless. I’m sad I won’t be in Surrey this year so I can see you again SOON, but it’s on the calendar for next year. And hopefully you’ll be in San Antonio, too. Double Elena time!!! Miss you oodles.
I love the new look!!!! So pretty. 🙂
Thanks Becca! I was hoping to have it up before you did your evals in our social media class. 🙂 I loved my old site, but this is so much more fun.
OMG I love it! LURVE it! Love the sparkly background and I love the name of your dragon. IT’s perfect, it’s you, and it makes me want to giggle and skip. I’m not just saying this to get swag either (really I don’t need it as I picked up my own hehehe). I just wanted you to know. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
Thank you my darling friend! I love that you want to giggle and skip ~ me too! Let’s skip together. Oh my gosh, we totally would, wouldn’t we? I’m giggling right now just thinking about it! Love, love, love you, too!
I love the new site, Tameri! It’s so pretty and shiny!! Here’s wishing you many happy posts and much traffic on this beautiful website! 🙂
Thank you so much Cassi! I’m kind of excited for it. Now I’ve got a sparkly new home to promote all my friends. Yay!
The website looks great!
Hi Georgie Lee! Thank you so much, love. I think so too. That Laird… awesome lass.
Purfect! I feel like I just fell into a vat of sparkly goodness that has your name written all over it. OH! It does. 😀 Cheers to Laird. She totally got you and your site. Your give away is pretty amazing, too. I like to read outside of what I write. It’s great for inspiration. You never know where your next idea may come from and it’s best to open up yourself up to anything and everything.
Love, love, LOVE your new site!
Thanks Debra! Yep, Laird nailed it. I just love the sparkles so much. I totally agree on the reading thing. I picked up a few biographies from the bookstore ~ something tells me they won’t be as saucy as the Regencies, but they should be interesting. I hope. 😉
Tameri,
The website is amazing, congratulations!! Love everything about it. So happy for you and excited to see more
Nicole
Thank you! I love it, but you already knew that. Next stop, book publication!
Love the re-design. I’m going to poke around as I’m doing about the same thing now. I do love the sparkles.
Thank you so much, Nancy! I’m encouraged to learn a little CSS now so I can get a little fancier with my posts. Laird did an amazing job, I need to keep up the fabulousness. Have fun investigating!
Love the new site, Tameri! I’ve always enjoyed regency romance, but haven’t read any recently. You just reminded me how much I like Julia Quinn’s books, so I imagine I will like all the authors you mentioned too!
Thanks Coleen! If you like Julia, then you’ll like the ones I listed. Oh, and Stephanie Laurens like Christine mentioned. There are so many great writers ~ I need a separate day just for reading!
Love the website! Congratulations!
I’m *still* bummed I couldn’t hang out with everyone at RWA this year. 🙁 But I’m glad you had a great time!
Oh, yes, I’m a huge Tessa Dare fan. Historical Romance is actually my go-to genre most of the time, as like you said, I don’t want to read too much in my Paranormal Romance genre when I’m in the middle of drafting. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Jami! I was super bummed when I realized you weren’t going to Nationals. It just wasn’t the same without you! Next year in San Antonio! Tessa rocks. She’s super sweet and her stories always make me happy. That’s so cool that you’re a fan. And that your go-to is historical fiction. I’m digging G.W. Gortner right now. Got any recommendations?
Tessa Dare’s critique buddy, Courtney Milan, is another Historical Romance author I enjoy. She’s also a super-genius about self-publishing. You might have seen some of the workshops she did at RWA on that topic.
Courtney started with Harlequin (in their single-title HQN line) and struck out on her own when contract negotiations fell apart. I’m a fangirl of Courtney in general, just for her keen insights into situations. 🙂
Courtney spoke at the PRO retreat at Nationals and I totally agree that she’s a super-genius. I made the most notes in her workshop. And I loved that she was so honest about her experiences and how she feels about traditional publishing. It was refreshing.
Great new update on your site! Hugs!
Thanks! I’m a little bit smitten with it, if you can’t tell. Hugs back atcha!
LOVE your new website, Tameri! It looks as gorgeous as its owner – and as sparkly!
I also love your energy from the RWA conference. It’s always fun being surprised by a new good book!
Awww, thank you so much, Jess! You’re so sweet, I just love you. It IS always nice to be surprised by a good book. After reading your post today, I pulled out all my Jane Austen books and am going to try to read two before the month is out. Then I’ll integrate them into my reading and have the rest read by the end of the year. I’m super excited to re-read them!
The new site looks fabulous! And I agree, Tessa Dare is a great author. We’re lucky to have her in our chapter.
Hi Julia! Thanks so much. I try not to get all giggly and fangirl when Tessa is at the meeting, but it’s kind of hard now that I’m a huge fan. 😉 Although, we have so many stellar writers that every meeting I get a bit giggly!
Yay! I LOVE your new digs girl! Isn’t Laird the best to work with? She did a fabulous job, but I can definitely see your hand in this. This new site is soo you! You must be so happy Tameri. Congratulations! 🙂
Hi Karen! Thanks, love. Laird is magical for sure. I am over the moon happy!
LOVE the new site! IT’S GORGEOUS!!!!
Thanks Lissa!
GORGEOUS site, Tameri!! I love it. And, you know what? I’m a huge Tessa Dare fan too. I’ve read all of her Spindle Cove books and keep coming back for more. 🙂
Tessa rocks. I need to read the Spindle Cove books ~ that’s next on my Tessa list! Glad you like the new site.
So sorry I’m late to the ball, but just wanted to say congrats on the new web site.
It is jolly fine looking and jolly pink, which brought a smile to my face – as this might be the most pink I’ve ever seen in one go 🙂
(Grips ManCard close to chest 🙂
Wishing you much success as you move forward and upward 🙂
Pink rocks! Seriously, if you saw my office, you’d have to squeeze every drop out of that man card! Thank you so much for your support, Mark. I wish we saw each other more than super infrequently. You should move to the mainland. Or I should move there. Naw, you should move here. 🙂
Beautiful site Tameri. I love how it’s professional and all about fun at the same time.
Okay, I’m so late to the party, but I love your new place. It’s gorgeous.