I had met HelenKay Dimon when she was in conversation with Tessa Dare last year and while I hadn’t read any of her books at that time, I was interested in what she was talking about. Then Avon sent me an arc of her recent book and I was hooked.
When I saw that HelenKay was coming to Mysterious Galaxy, I was absolutely going. Added bonus was that Alisha Rai was going to be there!
Alisha’s upcoming release The Right Swipe did get pushed back a month, so we weren’t able to get copies, but she did say on IG that she would be giving an arc away. Jess and I were ready to win and share it.
HelenKay and Alisha came out right at 7p and with a small crown in attendance, it turned into more of a friendly conversation than a structured author talk…and it was fabulous.
I will say right now that this isn’t even close to the entire thing. There were so many topics {everything from process to celebrating book release day to earthquakes} and everything sort of flowed. That did make it a little more difficult to type while it was happening, but I finally just gave up because these two ladies are so charismatic and I was having fun just listening.
A: this is your 419th book?
H: I have no idea. I know that people know that, but I don’t know what my number is. I think it’s sort of because this is the one I wrote 3 books ago. I’m always a little off.
A: does it get easier for you?
H: not even a little. I was naively hopeful. The only good thing is that it falls into a pattern. It starts out shiny and new, then I would rather do anything else, then I don’t know how to write.
A: I think the first few chapters are the hardest. Every word needs to be shiny and new and perfect. Then somewhere around the middle, it’s just whatever.
H: I did think it would be easier. The process has just become more convoluted. It’s such a mess. In theory, every book gets better, but is it really? Or is some nasty reviewer going to say I’m just writing the same book over and over again.
A: did you go to the photo shoot for this book?
H: no, I haven’t evern been invited.
A: I just showed up.
H: they emailed me a portfolio of models to look through. It started from man in underwear to man in swim trunks to man in tux. I had to pick one. I just got the fitness set of models and I told them it was in December, could they put a shirt on him. And they say, no we cannot.
H: you fought hard for your covers?
A: yes, I did.
H: you’ll notice that with romantic suspense that it’s always a guy with a bare chest. I even pointed out that the title had the word “her” in it, but they didn’t want a woman on the cover.
A: seeing a guy with an unzipped sweatshirt and no shirt? That would catch my eye. Why doesn’t we have a shirt? Did someone take it? Can he not afford it?
A: for this cover, this isn’t the model that it was supposed to be. The guy I picked canceled at the last minute. He was huge, like 6’7”. They had to put her on a stool to make the shot look right.
H: they’re always so excited. They’ll email me and say that all of their friends saw the cover.
A: one of the previous men was so excited. He did meal prep and messaged me to tell me that his clients saw it. He asked for a signed copy and I sent one and he put it on his Instagram. He was just so excited.
H: do you pick your titles?
A: yes. I wanted to call the new one Tap that App and usually they’ll humor me, but this time it was a no. The second was is called Girl Gone Viral.
After so many more funny stories and great conversation, the signing part started. I got to HelenKay and told her that I did have an arc, but didn’t notice anyone named Roy. She laughed and said she was relieved. She looked at the differences in the cover {the arc is glossy and finished copy is matte with raised letters} and we commented on the cover model again.
Jess asked Alisha about the arc giveaway and she quickly got some post-its and made a little raffle for HelenKay to pull the winning number from. I asked both of them if they accepted bribery and HelenKay started laughing and said that she liked how direct I was being.
Alas, I didn’t win, but I did thank both women for being at the store. I told Alisha that we would see her for SDCC and the panel that she was going to be on. {Hooray romance panels at SDCC!}
I love that MG is getting more romance authors and I can’t wait to see who else will be showing up because I am definitely here for it.
If you haven’t read anything from HelenKay or Alisha, I highly recommend their books!
This sounds like such a great event! I love how it ended up being a talk on a variety of topics and I’m so glad you shared some of them in this post! I’ve always wondered about the process of selecting models for romance covers! I think it’s awesome that the Alisha’s model wanted a copy of his own! Also, I love the fact that Tap That App was an option as a title. I think it’s super clever and I’m kinda disappointed it was shot down!
This event was a lot of fun and it was great to hear something a little different than all of the other events.
Thanks for reading and commenting!