This was one of the best conferences ever, at least for me. I think the difference was that there were so many new people there. Internet media, like Jane of Dear Author, Wendy the Super Librarian, Kristie J and Sybil of The Good The Bad and The Unread, bloggers I’ve known and admired but hadn’t met yet, and I had a wonderful time getting to know them all. They’re all such fun, gracious and beautiful people, inside and out.
There were publisher PR people there, and booksellers, too. Tina Trevaskis of Borders is such a wonderful person, so full of knowledge and insight and just a great person to know. She knows everything about this business!
Readers hung out here and there, which made it great fun. I met Naughty Nikki (yes, that’s her name, honest :giggle:) and she’s just a blast. You can find her on Shelley Bradley’s blog and she’s such a sweetheart.
I had great intentions to attend workshops, and I was so busy that I didn’t get to one. I hate when that happens. But I did get to meet with all my editors and had a great meeting with my agent. And that’s really the purpose, at least for me, of attending this conference, is to get the chance to meet and catch up with the people I do business with. To discuss my work with my editors and agents, see where I’m at and where I’m going. Everything went well and I’m looking forward to the next year.
I love talking to writers, both pubbed and unpubbed. The great thing about this conference is networking. Writing is so solitary. We don’t often get the chance to meet face to face with others who do the same thing we do. No matter where we are in our careers, we’re all facing the same ups and downs, the struggle to plot, to finish a book, to do revisions, and it’s wonderful to chat with people about that. I really enjoyed meeting someone new every day, and to connect with people I’d only known online until I met them at the conference.
I met some new people, authors I’ve glommed and read and absolutely loved. Of course my shining moment was meeting Judith McNaught at the Random House cocktail party. A more gracious woman I’ve never met. She’s truly amazing.
Nora, of course, was there. I tried not to stalk her. It’s difficult. :giggle: She did sign a book for me. Squeee! Next year Angie and I plan to do a photo essay of Nora’s shoes. The woman has killer shoes. Maybe she’ll invite me to her cocktail party if I’m doing a running photog on her shoes. Heh.
I didn’t get to see Linda Howard. I’m so distressed about that. I really wanted the chance to cry and babble at her again. I’m sure she’d have loved that.
And I didn’t get a book signed by Carly Phillips. 😥 I think we might have been signing books at the same time, or else I was meeting with one of my editors or my agent when she was signing. I hate when that happens.
And Shelby Reed was at the conference and I didn’t know it! I’ve loved Shelby’s books forever and I so wanted to meet her! This is what happens when you go to a huge conference like this. You miss people.
But the RWA conference was a wonderful experience for me. I can’t wait to do it again.
I have lots more pics to put up, and I’ll get the blogger winner for all these books put up today. Promise!