I'm back!
Thank God. I won't lie to you. As much as I enjoyed the conference, this was not the greatest year ever...at least not for me. It was pretty much Murphy's Law from start to finish.
For starters, I shipped four boxes of books to the conference hotel for both the Librarians' Day Luncheon Wednesday morning & the Literacy Autographing Wednesday night. They arrived Thursday afternoon--just in time to be of absolutely no use to me. I ended up leaving them there until the end of the week, then shipping them right back home. :-P Then I left my credit card at one of the check-out tables after the Literacy Autographing & didn't realize it was missing for about two hours. By then, the room had cleared out & was being cleaned. Thankfully, the card was waiting for me at the registration desk the next morning. I didn't sleep well all night worrying, but it was there & I didn't have to spend all Thursday on my cell phone--paying roaming charges, no less--reporting the card lost &/or stolen.
From that point on, I was convinced I'd been cursed by a voodoo priestess or some such & barely wanted to leave the hotel room. And maybe I shouldn't have, since I ended up sick on-&-off the rest of the week. I wasn't the only one, tho...I ran into several friends & a few strangers who said they didn't feel well or were having equally bad luck. We don't know if it was the water, the altitude, or what, but we all spent the week feeling very "iffy." Personally, I think it was a cosmic thing, with the stars out of alignment or some such. To top it all off, our last flight was delayed by two hours, so we didn't get home until 2am. I dragged my bags inside, said hello to the kitties, & fell into bed until 2pm. I didn't expect to sleep that long, but I'm not the least surprised.
Even with all that, I had a nice time. The conference itself was great fun. I didn't do many workshops or luncheons, but I got to do dinner with my editor, breakfast with my agent, and hang out with friends. I actually attended the the GH/RITAs this year, which were fabulous. The theatre where the ceremony was held was really comfortable, with a little more room to stretch out than when it's just a bunch of chairs lined up next to each other. :-) And I am thrilled to report that several of the authors I was rooting for WON!!!
Congratulations to Pam Poulsen, fellow WRW member & friend, who won the Golden Heart for Paranormal Romance with her manuscript, SAPPHIRE DREAMS. This girl is a shining talent just waiting to be discovered...I mean, she's been a Golden Heart finalist something like four times & I predict she will sell a book very soon.
Congratulations to Sophia Nash, another WRW member, who won the RITA for Best Regency Romance with her book, A PASSIONATE ENDEAVOR. I don't know Sophia well, tho we sat next to each other at the Turn the Page pre-Retreat booksigning in May & she seems like a very nice lady. I'll have to be sure to chat longer with her at the next Retreat & see if I can get some of her great talent & luck rub off. :-D
Congratulations to Lori Handeland, who won the RITA for Best Paranormal Romance with her book, BLUE MOON. Man, can this girl write! I love her books. She was also kind enough to help me out with some football research for my February 2006 Desire, SEVEN-YEAR SEDUCTION.
Congratulations to Laura Kinsale, who won the RITA for Best Long Historical Romance with her book, SHADOWHEART. I don't know Laura, tho I think it would be the thrill of a lifetime to meet her in person. However, we have a brilliant agent in common...yes, that was my agent, Richard Curtis, up on stage accepting the RITA on Laura's behalf. Such a funny guy, & in case you were thinking he was only that supportive & complimentary of his star authors...it ain't so. He's that enthusiastic about all of us. :-)
And last but not least...in fact, I saved the best & most exciting for last...a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! to BARBARA MCCAULEY, fellow Desireable & sweet, wonderful woman, who won the RITA for Best Short Contemporary Romance with her Silhouette Desire, MISS PRUITT'S PRIVATE LIFE. I read this one & it was greeeaaaat. I told her Wednesday night at the Literacy Autographing how wonderful it was & that she was going to win. I don't think she believed me, but for once my predictions came true. :-D She really does deserve it. And just so you know, that was also my editor, Melissa Jeglinski, up on stage with Barbara. She deserves it, too; she's amazing.
Okay, that's part one of the conference report. I have lots more to say, but I haven't unpacked enough yet to find my notes & don't want to forget anything. When I do find my notes & get the chance to put the happenings & my thoughts in order, I will definitely post them.
In the meantime, I have a ton of work to do. While I was gone, the contracts for my most recent deal with Silhouette and the copy edits for SEVEN-YEAR SEDUCTION arrived in the mail. Wouldn't you know it! So I need to read over both as soon as possible & get them sent back. Not to mention unpacking, catching up on e-mail, & getting back to my writing!
