Laura Antoniou

Okay so a Laura Antoniou story...since I started reading a book by her last night.

Don't know who Laura Antoniou is...then you really need to pick up her books! They are beyond FAB! If you have a chance to hear her speak at an event - please do go and hear her.

Because I finished

The Crimson Petal and the White

...I picked up another book off my stack and it

The Academy

...the 4th in the Marketplace series.

The Academy

is a book I started several times and never finished. It has nothing to do with the book...it is just things got chaotic or busy and so I had to put it down. I am determined to finish it this time. And then I will be able to move on to The Reunion.

So my story about Laura Antoniou....

Many years ago I was a volunteer for Ohio SMART. It is an organization for education as well as a social gathering of like minded people in BDSM. We had monthly meetings of the board and volunteers. There were three people on the board of SMART. One of the people is someone I respect and am blessed to have learned so much from in regards to Owner/property type dynamics. Anyway she told me that they had booked Laura to come speak in August (meeting was in April - 2002). I think you could have heard my squeal of delight throughout Cleveland. So when they were asking for volunteers to do with things - like pick her up at the airport, make sure water was on the table and things like that - I was waving my hand madly. For me it was like meeting a rock star. I love her books and so couldn't wait to meet the person behind them.

One other volunteer and I were the people doing all the little extra things for that meeting in August so we were invited to go out to dinner with the board, Laura and Laura's wife Karen. I was nervous but thrilled that I had this opportunity.

A week or so before hand on the e-list for board and volunteers of SMART were discussing where to take Laura and her wife Karen to dinner. And it got pretty silly. One board member suggested a local steakhouse and one volunteer was appalled that they would take someone of such "status" to a steakhouse. He felt we should be bringing her to someplace much more expensive and elegant and that bring her to a steakhouse lacked class....showing her we lacked class. I had been on Laura's Marketplace yahoogroup for a while and from reading everything she wrote there I felt the steakhouse that the board and suggested was fine. I view Laura as a rock star but I felt from reading her words on her list that she was down-to-earth. I didn't feel she would be offended or think we lacked "class." But I stayed out of the argument. And dinner was great...conversation fantastic - witty as well as thoughtful. I just was blown away with her and Karen.

If you have an autographed book by Laura you will notice it is in purple pen. Last night I picked up

The Academy

and inside the cover there is Laura's autograph in purple pen and I smiled with fond memories. The first 3 books in the series I brought with me for her to sign when she was in Cleveland. And they were signed with

my

purple pen. After speaking she signs and sells books. She usually has a purple pen with her but this time it got forgotten. She was talking about it at dinner how they forgot the purple pens. And I picked up my purse, pulled out a purple pen and handed it to her. The look on her face was priceless...like damn that is service. It made me all gooey happy inside! Purple is my favorite color so when I had saw that pen I had to have it. So Laura used my purple pen to sign autographs while in Cleveland. She gave me my purple pen back after the meeting yes I did act like a rock star had touched something sacred of mine. It did have a shrine on my desk for a while. lol The pen exploded when it came over the mountains of Colorado so no more purple pen as a shrine.

I saw her speak again at Thunder and Master and I both agree if there is ever a chance to see her speak again...we will grab it. She is a fantastic speaker....funny, smart, down-to-earth. I have heard her do the same talk - twice and each time I come away with new things.

Her books are those that you don't want to put down. Although they are fictional...many of the feelings that she describes I have felt. They are novels not just smut. They do contain damn good smut though. And I am not even a big erotica fan. I don't like reading erotica because well my life has pretty hard to top at times for titillating erotica. The marketplace is fictional but as I said above I related to many things in the books mostly feelings and that kept them real to me. It felt it could be real although it is fiction. So I am glad I getting around to reading a book by her again.