I love being evil! Hee!
Tuesday the 25th I went up to Powell’s at Cedar Hills to attend the joint signing of Lilith Saintcrow, Ilona Andrews, and Devon Monk.
I got there nearly an hour early. It’s a two hour drive into Portland for me, and I was going to be arriving during the tail end of traffic. Plus the weather driving in from the Oregon Coast on a two-lane highway known for some of the most horrific and deadly accidents in the state wasn’t all that great, but I was determined to go.
And wow, was I glad I showed up when I did. Nearly an hour early and already the first three rows of seats were filled, and the rest were filling. Soon it was hot and stuffy with all the people there, but I didn’t care. There were three authors of my genre about to speak and sign!
I met up with my wonderful friend and fellow writer Skye Forbes and her tall spouse, over whom I shall not perv on my blog (except to say that he has really nice eyes…that’s not very pervy, is it? Let’s just say Skye is a lucky lady.). We sat and talked and saw some people we knew (Meljean Brook was there to support her fellow writers! She’s awesome, everyone, just so you know.) and talked more, then it was time for the writers to do some talking.
There was a Q&A (remember, this was just an appearance and signing, so no one read excerpts or gave any spoilers for upcoming works, don’t worry!) and then a giveaway/raffle of some swag, then the signing itself.
You’re wondering what my being evil has to do with all this, aren’t you? Well…I’ll tell you.
In addition to books for each author to sign, I brought evil gift bags.
I ransacked each author’s blog/site for stuff about them I didn’t already know.
(I also cornered Lili on her Twitter to ask her about her particular preferences for a gift I had planned for her under the guise of acquiring knowledge of how different coffee blends taste. Everything I said was true, Lili! I don’t know these things! I drink tea! Yes, I owned a coffee shop once, but just because I know how to make different coffee drinks and brew different blends doesn’t mean I know what they taste like! And I can’t ask my mother the coffee hound, because though she is a mega-coffee freak and weird about her coffee, if it resembles a coffee-like substance (i.e. Folgers, Maxwell House, Yuban), she’ll drink it. A remnant left over from her Army days. (Yes, my mother wore combat boots, and I’m very proud of that fact, thank you!) Even though she knows what “good coffee” tastes like and will grind her own beans in her expensive bean-grinding timer-capable coffee pot I bought her, she’ll still make a cup of instant. Why? Why?
Besides, now I know for research purposes and got to be evil at the same time. Two birds, one stone and all that. Anyway, I digress.)
Back to the eviltry. So I used my powers for evil here.
Ilona Andrews is actually two people – Ilona and her husband Andrew (who goes by Gordon just to make things easy). Ilona likes knitting and Gordon likes action figures and comics. Also, they have dogs that I want to hug, and I’m a complete animal person, so in their gift bag I put knitting things for Ilona, a treat from Harry & David for Gordon (I know jack about comic and action figures, and I’m sorry, I went the Man Route and gave him food. Yes, I know. Shut up. It was GOOD FOOD!), and treats for the pups. Yes, I spoil other people’s pets in addition to my own.
Lili Saintcrow is an awesome woman and brilliant writer. I can’t say enough cool things about her. She ROCKS. She also loves coffee and has recently had hair issues in addition to starting rock climbing. Well, what would you do with that information? I put hair things, a bandanna and some good locally-roasted coffee in her gift bag.
Also, on Twitter, there’s a little in-joke between me, Lili, and a couple other writers about evil cupcakes. I am in charge of evil cupcakes.
Well, again? What would you do with that?
I, being evil and in charge of cupcakes, brought Lili a dozen evil cupcakes. No, I did not make them myself. But that does not make them any less evil.
I surprised the ever-loving Hell out of Lili with those, and THAT, my friends, is what makes me evil. The look on her face was priceless when she realized I was “THAT DINA!”, and my place as Evil Gothic Goddess was assured. I love you, Lili. You’re the best.
On to Devon.
I don’t know a great deal about Devon (pronounced “De-VON”, not “Devin”). Her books are in my TBR (to be read) pile, and all I know about her is she’s a local awesome writer and I have a short story in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 with her.
This did not stop me from making her an Evil Gift Bag. Devon also likes to knit, so I put some knitting things in her bag as well.
Let’s get one thing straight. I know next to nothing about knitting, but I was assured by both Devon and Ilona that the things I’d chosen for their Evil Gift Bags were actual, usable, knitty-crafty things.
So there you have it. I got to be evil, I had books signed by all four wonderful writers, had a great time with conversation and meeting people, and was – for the most part – social. No beings were harmed in the event of Dina being out of and away from her Lair.
I know. I’m impressed as well. But there were evil cupcakes that needed delivering.
Then I drove home, two hours in the car, on that two-lane dangerous highway in the dark, through the rain and fog. I got home about midnight.
It was SO WORTH IT. So much evil fun, it’s taken me three days to recover and post this.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Here are some pics. Sorry for the messy posting – I’m still getting used to this blog thing. I’ll put them on FB too, just because I’m evil that way.
