RomCon Tuesday – Ashley March and Jenn LeBlanc

For this week’s RomCon Tuesday Post we asked RomCon Newbies Jenn LeBlanc and Ashley March to tell us why they are coming to RomCon and what they are looking forward to most. Both Jenn and Ashley write historical romances and Jenn’s include pictures.

Why are you coming to RomCon 2011 and what are you looking forward to most?

Ashley March:

Besides the fact that I live near Denver and the location of RomCon makes it very convenient for me to attend, I’m going to RomCon 2011 because I want to meet readers. The national RWA conference also provides opportunities to meet and interact with readers through signings, and it’s true that most of the writers who attend RWA also read romance, but the focus of RomCon is on the romance reader. This interests me because my goal at RomCon is to help the readers to have fun and to make them feel like stars, not the other way around. And although I’ve only been published for less than a year at this point, the one thing I quickly learned as a published author is that there is no community more kind, supportive, or generous than the romance reading community. At the RomCon conference, I’m specifically looking forward to the Victorian fashion show. I think it’ll be so much fun to see some of my favorite historical authors dressed up! If you see me there, please don’t be shy–come and say hi. I look forward to meeting you!

Jenn LeBlanc

The easy answer to why I’m going to RomCon this year is to promote my illustrated romance The Rake and the Recluse. Boring answer right? Yes, now that the professional answer is out of the way here is why I’m really going to RomCon. Mancandy and romance. I’ve heard tales galore of the hijinks at RomCon last year, and I want to be part of it. I want the inside jokes. You know the ones, where I’ll wink at Ashley March and say “Remember when Kati and Jamie…” and she will giggle and say, “oh my, yes! And when Rita…” and then we’ll laugh like school girls. Here’s what I’m looking forward to: Meeting all the wonderfully crazy people I know from twitter. I’m flying Derek out to participate in all the RomCon fun and we are doing a highlander photo shoot with the winner of the Operation Auction cover shoot. I’m also set up to shoot some cover models (fingers crossed), I’m co-hosting the Historical Tea and of course there’s the meet n’ greet with myself, Ashley March and the Pervy Trinity for the winner of the #RomCon11 ticket contest. Let’s not even get started with the Chocolate Mangasm and Melissa Schroeder’s luau, because there are no words. I also hear that the Book Reading Gals have some tricks up their proverbial sleeves. Why do I want to go to RomCon? It is going to be EPIC. EPIC like 80s music is epic. I mean, man candy and romance, what could be better? I hope I get to meet you there as well, Jenn

After spending countless hours memorizing both traditional and simplified Chinese characters, perfecting her tones, and practicing her speaking with any Chinese native she could find, Ashley successfully graduated with a degree in Mandarin Chinese. She was determined to be the next best Chinese translator in the world… Then she discovered writing historical romances was as much fun as reading them, and her Chinese capabilities have never been the same. When she isn’t writing sexy, emotional historical romances set in the Victorian Era, Ashley stays busy trying to entertain her two young daughters, attempting to do housework, and hiking in the beautiful foothills of Colorado.

You can find Ashley on her site www.ashleymarch.com

Colorado, Canon, CJ, kids and curls.

Born and raised in a household of other people’s children in this beautiful state —very nearly with a camera in hand— I never left. I started my own family, got used to the curls, went to college, built a CJ, and started a business, all with a camera in hand.

I always had another passion; storytelling born from daydreams and nightmares. My fingers were never as quick as my mind, and no amount of practice got them there, so it was difficult and frustrating to have this inside me. When my second daughter was born her inherent traits kept me pinned— my only escape the keyboard. Spending my days in parenting chat rooms I got highly adept with one-handed typing and I can still type just about as fast with one hand as I can with two. It’s a great talent to have when engrossed in a scene and in need of a hit of caffeine. I recently finished my first novel but I quickly realized: I was born a photographer.

From the realization that someone ELSE would be shooting the cover of MY book my control-freak took over. What started as an easy cover shoot ballooned into this completely new kind of media, designed specifically for digital book readers.

I live and thrive off chaos and the constant flow of the creative process. I wear shorts and flip-flops year-round —much to the chagrin of my friends and family— and I am currently working on the illustrations for my second novel.

You can find Jenn on her site The Illustrated Romance