RWA Overview

I'm now home safe and sound from one of the best conferences ever. I couldn't possibly explain to you how much I learned or how tired I am this morning. Both are equally overwhelming. I have great stories to tell and will most likely be blogging about them all week, but for today I wanted to give an overview. Let me take you back to the beginning...

I'm a die hard Dumb and Dumber fan and had to take a picture as we were flying over the Rockies. The scene in the Rockies where Harry had an extra pair of gloves the whole time Lloyd's hands were freezing kept coming to mind. I know, I know, I'm a dork. I'm well aware. Here they are:




This was the entrance to the Swan and Dolphin hotel where the conference was held:

Beautiful, isn't it?

I lost my voice early in the conference (Day 2, I think) and it's mostly due to the fact I spent most of my time on the lobby trying to network over the raging sound of this:


A short walk from the hotel was the Disney Boardwalk. Shops and arcade games lined the boarded street as well as restaurants and dance halls.


I even ate dinner one night with two friends (Hi Pamela Fryer and Vanessa Kier!) at Disney Brewery. Disney. Brewery. Two words I would never have expected to see together. The food was great and our server was from Antioch! Great to meet someone from my neck of the woods. Here's the waterfront view we had from our table:


Nora Roberts was the keynote speaker for the first luncheon. Lisa and I got slammin' seats thanks to awesome line-stalking skills. This is us a little blurred:


And this is proof Nora Roberts has sold her soul to become a romance writing Goddess. She's seriously glowing. When I ran into her a few days later I showed her the picture. She thought it was hilarious and said she's no God. I bet there's a few in the industry who beg to differ:


I was invited to a Doughnut Party hosted by Carolyn Jewel who was up for two RITA's at the award ceremony. For those of you who don't know what a RITA is, it's like the OSCARS but cooler. A RITA is won by votes from other published writers. In other words, your book has to be the best of the best in its category and is voted on by probably the most critical people in the business. It was great to meet a handful of nominees, chomp on some sticky, sugary goodness and drink margaritas from sparkly plastic cups. It was awesome. Here's two of my party crashers, Adrienne Miller and Monica Newcomb (both writers and great people):



And there's no way they're that innocent, fyi. I'd show you the picture snapped right after this one but Blogger officials may shut me down. I'm totally joking, but not about the fact that we had a blast.

This week I'll post more pictures of other author friends and late-night happenings (boy, are some of the stories C-R-A-Z-Y) and more from the RITA's. Have a great Monday! Mine will be filled with sleep, sleep and more sleep...but after this conference I'll dream big. *grin