We at Lady Jane’s took our show–or rather Salon–on the road to the RT BOOK Lovers Convention held this year in Columbus, OH. The Special Salon was held on Saturday, May 1st, 7-9 PM at the Hyatt Regency. Thanks to the magic of conference director, Jo Carol Jones, a rather bland event room was festooned with red scarves, votive candles–and the va va voom that is the Lady Jane vibe. Though the venue changed, we had our usual fabulous lineup of great guest authors, in this case Sabrina Jeffries, Linnea Sinclair, and Delilah Marvelle. And bonus: thanks to the generosity of the Salon attendees, including Delilah who donated 10 signed copies of her latest release as giveaways, we collected more than $150 for Linnea’s pet (literally) charity, Persian Purebred Purrbaby Rescue, a Columbus, Ohio group that rescues and re-homes Persian and mixed-breed shelter cats. What fun we had! But don’t take our word for it. See what guest author, Sabrina Jeffries (A Hellion in Her Bed) has to say.–LJ

Ever since I visited Lady Jane’s Salon in New York as an observer last fall, I’ve been dying to go back.  Romance readings! A venue that looks like a cross between a brothel and an Italian granny’s bedroom! Free-flowing liquor!  Romance fans!  What’s not to like?

Unfortunately, I don’t live in New York City, so my first chance to attend the salon as an author giving a reading was at the RT Booklovers Convention in Columbus, Ohio, this past weekend.  The lovely ladies of the salon (waving to Maya Rodale, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Hope Tarr) and their debonair master of ceremonies (Ron Hogan) made do with swashes of red net and champagne to transform a hotel meeting room into the usual sultry setting.

I felt right at home.

The night started out well.  I’d showed up with reading in hand, had talked to Hope about the length of the reading (no more than 15 minutes), told her that it was really only about 10 minutes, pulled out my pages, and discovered that I’d lied.  Somehow I’d miscounted the length.  My reading was long.  Really long.  Twenty minutes at least, if not more. That’s when panic set in.

I didn’t want my performance to be too long, because nothing is as unnerving as watching people snooze while you read.  On the other hand, the scene I’d chosen from my upcoming October 2010 release—A Hellion in Her Bed—was the one I thought most interesting when read aloud.  Frantically I started cutting.  I had two people ahead of me, right?  Plenty of time to trim if I ignored the other readings.

But I didn’t want to ignore the other readings.  That would be just plain rude—and ultimately impossible for a romance lover like myself!  Ack!

In the end, I started cutting, got sucked into Delilah Marvelle’s reading, then Linnea Sinclair’s (both books promptly added to my massive TBB list), and then it was my turn.  I prayed my excerpt wouldn’t put people to sleep and headed to the stage to read.

Fortunately, the people who frequent Lady Jane’s Salon (even on the road) are incredibly wonderful and forgiving people who actually like and read romance (there wasn’t a snooty litfic critic in the bunch).  And apparently there is no such thing as too long with them.  People listened, laughed (at the appropriate points, thank God), and applauded.

It was wonderful.  (And the champagne was good, too.)

Thanks for a lovely time Lady Jane’s Salon.  I can’t wait to read again in New York in October.  And this time I promise not to panic . . . and to keep it to 15 minutes.