Another great review...

This time from the lovely Bonita Oteri at Gilded Serpent.

Here's an excerpt:

"...author DeAnna Cameron deftly peels back the layers of Gay Nineties society and affords a richly descriptive and fascinating glimpse into the life, times and giddy excitement of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. ... The overall carnival excitement, curiosity and wonder of the Chicago Fair visitors is infectious. The pages teem with the unbridled enthusiasm and hope of our still young, shiny and new pioneer nation."

To read the full review, click here.

More photos from the Laguna Beach book signing...

The O.C. Register photographer who attended the book signing and belly dance showcase at Laguna Beach Books on Sept. 4 put 17 of her photos together in a slideshow on the newspaper's Web site.

You can check them out here:
http://www.ocregister.com/photos/belly-book-laguna-2565186-beach-books/pid2565203

Even if you have an agent...

...this is a great list of things to avoid in your writing, or at least what to do only after very careful consideration because as you know, I believe there are no hard and fast rules in writing :-)

http://bewarne.com/content/blog/what-agents-hate2009092/

Giving THE BELLY DANCER away...

If you'd like to toss your name in the hat for one of a few free signed books, head over to Goodreads. The contest closes on Oct. 8.

Here's the link: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway.

The books are arranged by contest close date, so scroll down till you see October 8.

The Belly Dancer

reviews: 10
ratings: 63 (avg rating 3.83)

Catching up after a busy Labor Day Weekend

Friday was one of the hottest (and most humid!) days of the year here in Orange County, but the Cameron clan had a very cool time at the booksigning and belly dance showcase that Laguna Beach Books hosted for us.

The event took place on The Old Pottery Place's brick terrace overlooking Coast Highway and the beautiful Pacific Ocean, with the lovely Danielle Bauter (you might remember her from this interview) starting things off. After her introduction, I gave a short reading of THE BELLY DANCER and then the real fun began with live Middle Eastern drumming and lots and lots of belly dancing.

I was thrilled that so many friends came out for the event, especially Diane and Mara (who also danced!) who took great care of my little belly dancer while I manned the microphone and signed books, and my multi-tasking husband managed the sound system and drummed.

Here's a peek at the evening:

The darling Taide was our first dancer for the evening

Irma Garcia followed with a great tribal fusion pieceThen it was IrinaXara, who adds a touch of Gothic flair to her tribal fusion performanceAnd then the always spectacular Sooz and troupe Azuluna, with special guest Soy, performed traditional American Tribal Style as the sun started to set Sherrie followed with a sassy tribal fusion solo

Then Mara dazzled the crowd with her awesome Egyptian cabaret style

And Shanna, who came all the way from L.A., followed with another awesome Egyptian cabaret number

And Ninyshenka wowed us with her graceful dancing Next up was Tivka, who danced to a lively Middle Eastern number

And then JJ & the Habibis, a local Laguna Beach favorite, ended the night with a big troupe number

Then on Saturday afternoon, I had the pleasure of signing at the Borders store in the Village at Orange shopping center with three OCC/RWA chapter mates: (from the right) Susan Squires, Debra Mullins and Tessa Dare. Standing is the amazing Maggie Rahm, who coordinated the event for us. She's a book-selling powerhouse!

Writer's Digest and my query for THE BELLY DANCER

If you're looking through the query letter examples in the latest issue of Writer's Digest, you'll find mine for THE BELLY DANCER on page 32.
My wonderful agent, Ellen Pepus, was kind enough to submit it for the feature titled "Real Queries That Worked," compiled by Jessica Strawser.

Thanks, Ellen!