When Sarah and I received our invites to the launch party for Girls' Night Out, the latest benefit anthology from Red Dress Ink, we were expecting the usual sort of book reception: a couple authors, some industry pros, and a few media representatives. We knew it wasn't going to be one of those nights when Sarah called me from in front of the night club and told me there was a line halfway down the block. Turns out there had also been a "Red Dress Ink Design Challenge," where contestants were invited to design a little red dress...and not only were they planning to unveil the winner at the party, they'd also invited five women from America's Top Model to join in the festivities. (I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognized any of them if I'd ever left the authors' VIP section, though; when it comes to reality TV, I'm more the Dog Whisperer demographic.) The room was packed, the music was loud, and they kept mixing the vodka with Tab, of all things. But, still, we had fun.

Top: Melissa Senate and Caren Lissner were among the first authors to arrive. Middle: Once Sarah and I figured out that we could check in with the media coordinator instead of waiting in the line outside the club, we quickly ran into Jennifer Sturman, one of RDI's first mystery novelists; Girls' Night Out contributors Lauren Henderson and Nicola Krauss check out the one-sheet of author photos. Bottom: RDI executive editor Margaret Marbury introduces the house's newest author, Poonam Sharma, to seasoned chick-lit/mystery novelists Laura Caldwell and Lynda Curnyn.