What Do You Love About Spring?

I LOVE Spring. I was born at the end of March, which in Chicago can be an iffy time of year—sometimes it’s still snowing, other times it is gorgeous! We’ve been given an early Spring in Chicagoland this year, and it has been wonderful. Here are some of my favorite Spring things:

1. Everything is in Bloom! Trees start to bud and open up, flowers begin to come out of the ground, grass is green… now, my sinuses and allergies don’t always love this part, but it’s nice to look out the window near my desk and see everything looking pretty.
2. Cabin Fever is OVER. I don’t know about you, but after so many months of dreary cold weather, it is such a relief to be able to do things outside. I get to walk around to run errands, or meet up with friends at a coffee shop. Even driving with the windows down seems like a new experience!
3. Holidays! Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Graduations… Spring is a great time for holidays, all of which are a little less intense than those during the Fall and Winter. I love giving fresh flowers as gifts, and these are great occasions to do so. And I’m not going to lie, I’ll be going to the grocery story this week to get all of that Easter candy that’s on sale this week :) But I do think Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs should be available year-round!
   
   
4.  Spring is a great time for “new” things, and Sourcebooks is launching a new online readers club called Discover a New Love. A great place to bring authors and readers together, and helping reading discover great books at a great price. Barbara Vey of Beyond Her Book will be blogging regularly, and hosting parties and chats with our featured authors. Please take a look if you haven’t already! You can see our official press release at this link: http://bit.ly/Ir00xs.
   
5. CONFERENCE SEASON BEGINS! So many great conferences happen in the Spring, celebrating the entire publishing industry.

• This week, there’s the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago (where I am right now!)—run by RT Book Reviews, and so much fun! Sourcebooks’ home office is outside of Chicago, and we like to call ourselves Chicago’s Sexiest Publisher. We have a spotlight, a bookseller party and some of our authors will be coming out to see the Naperville office in person! I hope to see many of you there.
• I’ll also be at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling Conference at the end of the month. A great local chapter in the Chicago area, and a lovely conference all around. I’ll be giving a spotlight presentation and mingling with a bunch of great authors.
• In early June there is Book Expo America, the awesome publishing conference in New York City, celebrating all kinds of books! It’s a great showcase of what publishers have coming out later in the year, and emphasizing new trends and ideas in the industry. Sourcebooks will have a booth, and a lot of great things in store.
• In July, we have the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Anaheim, CA, a fabulous time devoted to all things romance—from aspiring authors to international bestsellers, this conference impresses me every year with the devotion and drive of romance writers from across the world.

What are some of your favorite things about Spring? Leave a comment and I’ll choose a random winner who will receive a signed copy of Everything I Know About Love I Learned from Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell. Please leave an email address I can reach you easily if you’re chosen as the winner, who I’ll pick on Monday, April 16!