Another LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT-inspired Word of the Week…

Word of the Week:  Rebooty — 1. A booty call made with an ex. 2. A renewed relationship with an ex.  (i.e. After they broke up, Joe still called Kate for some rebooty on weekends.)

(Hey, I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying it happens…& it happens a lot in LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT. )

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I promised a recap of the RWA conference in Washington, D.C., so here it is…  One caveat, however:  I am not promising to remember everything about the week all at once, so I may have to slip in a few updates here & there throughout the following weeks.  Especially if people start sending me extra pictures from the conference that I want to share.

The very first day of conference started with a bang, I’m happy to report.  I hooked up with Lori Foster for lunch, & we had an absolute blast.  Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in my presence knows how much I adore Lori, both as an author & a person.  So it was great to be able to spend some quality time chatting with her.  We talked about writing in general, the upcoming benefit book, cats & kids, & friends, &…oh, just everything.  And might I mention that the meal I shared with her was the most delicious I had the entire time I was in D.C.—a super-yummy crab cake sandwich that I spent the rest of the week waxing poetic about & praying I could get another.  Sad, I know, but it was really, REALLY good, dang it!

After lunch, I had the honor of schlepping all over the hotel with Lori, too.  (”Schlep,” by the way, was my word of the week.  I used it almost constantly, even in instances when it didn’t really mean what I wanted it to mean, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself! )  Lori had stayed in a different hotel the night before due to overbooking, so she’d just checked in that morning & hadn’t yet found her room or gotte her bearings.  I, however, had been there a full day already & gotten lost at least eight times, so I knew where everything was—even if I’d only found them by accident. LOL  So when she wanted to take her luggage to her room, I knew which direction to head…when she needed to pick up a box at the shipping office, I knew I’d run across it the day before while looking for the Goody Room…& when she needed to find the Goody Room, well, I’d gotten lost a few times looking for that, too.  It was fun, & I had nothing better to do until the Literacy Autographing, anyway.  (But for the record, even if I had had something to do, I still probably would have skipped it in order to spend more time with Lori. )

When it came to the Literacy Autographing, I didn’t dress up or go overboard this year.  (Sorry, folks!  If you were hoping to see me all dolled up in an evening gown & heels…well, you were SOL, cuz I went the blue jeans route.)  I was channeling Mistress Heidi, however, with my sex red devil horns.

(A reader & Heidi)

(Heidi, Lori Foster, Michelle Buonfiglio, & our very own Darling Becke Martin)

(Heidi, Jules Bennett, Gia Dawn, Lori Foster, Brenda Jackson, Ann Christopher)

The signing itself was great.  This year, I was lucky enough to sit between my beloved Elizabeth Bevarly (we’ve sat beside each other every year since I got published & woe to the author who dares attempt to come between us! ) & the adorable Jules Bennett (who recently became a fellow Desireable).  So we had fun!  We probably talked more to each other than we did to readers.   But lots of people came over to talk about TANGLED UP IN LOVE & the “Chicks with Sticks” trilogy, & to get their own autographed copy of Book #1, which was really rewarding.  (Fingers crossed this means folks will flood bookstores on August 4th to pick up Book #2. )

Thursday morning, my BFF Karen Anders & I ran into another of my favorite people, Harlequin Intrigue author Delores Fossen, & ended up talking for quite a while.  We talked so long, in fact, that I kind of missed out on an invitation to do breakfast with Lori Foster, Jayne Ann Krentz, & a few others.  I know, I know!   I really, really wanted to be there, & I meant to go, but…there were extenuating circumstances, I swear!

But even though I missed what promised to be a fabulous breakfast, I did manage to meet up with two more very good friends for the Keynote Luncheon—Virginia Kantra & Colleen Thompson.  We had a really good chat, despite being interrupted halfway through our meals by keynote speaker Linda Howard. *vbg*  Kidding, of course.  Linda was hilarious!  I wish she could be the Keynote Speaker every year, because I swear she’s the best we’ve ever had.  I’m so super-happy I didn’t have to miss the luncheon this year, as I often do because her speech was downright hysterical.

After lunch, I had a short meeting with Silhouette Desire Senior Editor Krista Stroever.  We’d never met before, so it was nice to put a face to a name & chat a bit about the line & my upcoming books for them.  (My own Desire editor, Diana Ventimiglio, had planned to attend the conference for at least one day, but had to cancel at the last minute.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get together with her next year!)  I also attended a Desire Author Meet & Greet later in the conference, hosted by Krista, where I was able to reconnect with friends like Maureen Child & Cathy Mann, chat even more with Liz Bevarly & Jules Bennett (I’m not sure, but we may actually qualify as a cult now *vbg*), & meet Emily McKay for the first time.  (Turns out Cathy is a huge animal lover & Emily is a huge environmentalist—both traits I share in spades—so I have a feeling some quality BFF-building time is in our futures. )

Thursday evening was my very first Kensington party, which I was really looking forward to.  No, my editor wasn’t going to be there, but I was still up for some free drinks (hey, take it easy, I drank diet soda the whole night ) & meeting some fellow Kensington authors.  Since I didn’t want to go alone, I hooked up with our own Darling Marilyn Brant beforehand & we arrived together.  Once there, though, I discovered that I actually knew more Kensington authors than I’d realized—ran into Jeanne Adams & Terri Brisbin &…okay, my mind is drawing a blank, but there were other familiar faces there, as well as folks I got to meet for the first time!

Straight from the Kensington party, I hustled my butt to the Kiss of Death Chapter’s Death by Chocolate/Daphne du Maurier Awards ceremony because my BFF #2, Sharon Wray, was up for an award in the Single Title Romantic Mystery/Suspense category for her manuscript, Guardian’s Gift.  I am going to digress for a moment here to tell you that I absolutely adore Sharon; she is one of the sweetest, funniest, most special people I’ve ever met.  And just before RWA, I had the privilege of reading the opening chapters of her book, which I adored.  I don’t know why she isn’t published yet, because she is truly gifted, but I am making it my life’s mission to rectify that fact.  I talked her up with editors & agents galore at the conference & I am making a prediction right this minute—by the time Nationals roll around again this time next year, that girl will have signed her first book contract. And if I have anything to say about it, it will actually happen much, much sooner than that   But as I said, I digress.  I am thrilled to share the news that Sharon did indeed WIN the coveted Daphne Award for Guardian’s Gift.  First Place, thank you very much.  I could have predicted as much…& I kind of did …but I’m super-happy that I was there to see it happen!

Friday morning dawned much too early for me.  I was determined to get up in time for continental breakfast—hey, it was free food; or rather, it was food included in my conference fee, I thought I should at least take advantage.  But I don’t sleep very well at conferences, so waking up at 6am after getting only a few hours of toss-&-turn sleep each night does not for a lovely Heidi make.   And yet I dragged my tired butt out of bed when that *&^%$! alarm went off & got ready for another long day.  Met BFF Karen & we lurched like zombies toward the coffee & orange juice, then coordinated our plans for the day.

I had lunch with my St. Martin’s Press editor, Rose Hilliard that afternoon, & spending time with her was—as always—wonderful!  She’s so chipper & upbeat, it’s contagious.  She also treated me to my second favorite meal of the week, lobster ravioli at a cute little Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel.  Yum-my! We had no trouble filling the two hours we were together, either.  We caught up, she raved about KNOCK ME FOR A LOOP, & we discussed possibilities for my next project.  We came up with so many cute ideas, it’s hard to choose, but I definitely came home with a couple of strong starts for future proposals.  (i.e. homework )

The St. Martin’s Press & Harlequin parties were also Friday evening, so there was some fancy dressing-up for those.  For the St. Martin’s cocktail party, I met Lori Handeland in the lobby & we took a taxi to Ardeo Restaurant.  It was a quick ride, but we both agreed a little too far to walk in heels.   The party was of course packed, loud & in full swing by the time we arrived.  But also, might I mention, fun.  They always are.  They didn’t have their signature drink, the St. Martini, available this year, which was a small disappointment, but I recovered quickly. *vbg*  Got to chat a bit more with Rose, with Jen & Matthew & Anne Marie & Monique (all SMP folks), & Michelle Marcos (another sister cat lover!), P.C. Cast, Cherry Adair, Barbara Vey, &, oh, probably many more who are slipping my mind at the moment.

From there, Lori & I hopped yet another cab to the Harlequin party, which was being held at the Ritz-Carlton.  Well, one of them, anyway; I guess there are three or four in D.C.  I have to admit, the Harlequin parties are always way too loud for me.  Parties always are, but Harlequin’s is exceptionally loud & I just can’t stand it, so this year, I came up with yet another of my brilliant ideas & took…drum roll, please…ear plugs!!!  That’s right!  And, ohmigod, did they save my life.  I could still hear everything, but it was muted & I didn’t leave the party with my ears ringing or wondering if I’d just taken another giant step toward permanent hearing loss.

At the party, I ran into Leanne Banks & my former Silhouette Desire editor, Melissa Jeglinski, then found a table & tested some tasty desserts with BFF Karen.  We danced a bit, made the rounds, & then—yes, I admit it—cut out early.  It’s just too late a night for me, especially on top of everything else, & once you’ve danced through a couple songs from the 70s & seen a few familiar faces, there really isn’t much more to do.  I know, I’m such a party pooper.  But have I mentioned that I was running on about six hours sleep for the whole week by that time?!?

Continental breakfast again Saturday, which meant another early morning.  (No, I am not willing to sacrifice food for sleep, apparently.  And if you’d tasted the (wholly unhealthy, I’m sure) blueberry & black forest pound cake they were serving, you wouldn’t have, either.)  (Short bit of irrelevant trivia:  did you know that pound cake got its name from the fact that it takes one full pound of nearly each of its ingredients to make?  We’re talking one pound of sugar, one pound of butter…but ten pounds added to your ass after eating it!  Sigh.  Life is so unfair.)

Then I attended a Silhouette Desire Focus Group, which was really a lot of fun, but too much to describe.  Got to see some of my fellow Desire authors again, though, & learn more than I ever thought I would about them.  And vice versa, I’m sure.

I also got the chance to sit down over coffee with Mindy Klasky, whom I’d been trying desperately to hook up with all week.  I’m so glad we both finally had a free block of time because we had a lovely chat.  We were also evacuated from the hotel when the fire alarms started going on, & had to stand outside while the fire department came to check it out.  Once we were allowed back in, I admit to being slightly distracted by the gorgeous fire fighters lingering about.  Mindy may be married & not the least bit interested, but I undid an extra button or two on my blouse & was seriously considering a timely swoon in order to get a little mouth-to-mouth.   I’m telling you, we do not have fire fighters who look that good in my neck of the woods.  They were, in a word…inspirational.    (Bet you thought I was going to say , huh?  They were that, too, believe me!)

Later in the afternoon, I got to participate in my very first publisher-sponsored book signing.  This is basically where the publisher provides a couple hundred books for each of its authors attending the conference & we sign them for readers/conference attendees.  And the books are FREE!!!  This time, instead of the devil horns, I wore my halo.  (Hey, what’s our motto around here?  That’s right—sometimes naughty, sometimes nice.  And I had to give the nice equal attention or naughty might have taken over completely.   There is at least one picture circulating out there, so as soon as I get my hands on it, I’ll post!)

I have to admit, I expected the giant signing to be a lot of work.  I mean hundreds of people were lined up outside the doors a good hour before it actually began.  But it turned out to be a blast.  I was inundated with readers who had either already read TANGLED UP IN LOVE (the title SMP was giving away on my behalf, by the way) & wanted an autographed copy…or had heard about the “Chicks with Sticks” trilogy & were eager to check out the first book…or saw my halo & line of readers or hear us laughing & had to come check it out.  Very cool.  I “sold out” of books & handed out plenty of postcards for LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT, telling everyone to “watch for it August 4th!!!”

Question:  Could I be more of a shameless promo hussy?

Answer:  I do not think so.

My “Shh…I’m reading/Shh…I’m knitting” doorknob hangers were a HUGE hit, too!  Not just at the Literacy Autographing & SMP signing, but in the Goody Room, as well.  I can’t tell you how many people commented on them, asked for an extra for a friend, etc.  And since I’m getting really low, I should probably order more before I run out completely!

Last but not least was the Golden Heart/RITA Awards Ceremony Saturday night.  I didn’t dress up too much this year, just a pair of black dress slacks & satiny red top.

(Heidi & Jules Bennett—again)

The presentation was quick & fun, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you who won what.  I do, however, remember meeting Harlequin Historical author Christine Merrill, who was sitting in the row behind mine.  When Marilyn Brant, who was also in the next row back, introduced me as “the New York Time bestselling author Heidi Betts” I sort of snorted & rolled my eyes, saying, “Yeah, because I was in the anthology with Lori Foster, Lora Leigh, & Cheyenne McCray.”  To which Christine quickly replied, “Oh, so you carried them.”    You’re absolutely correct, Christine.  You also just shot to the top of my list of favorite people & the check is in the mail.

After the ceremony, I made a point of finding a few people so I could either congratulate them, commisserate with them, or simply say goodbye, since I never see anyone again before heading home Sunday morning.

And that, in a rather long nutshell, was RWA 2009—from my perspective, of course.  The only thing I can think of that’s left to report is who I missed chatting with because they weren’t there—Susan Andersen, Kathy Garbera, & my agent come most immediately to mind.  The next time I see them, there will be lectures & promises extracted for their attendance next year in Nashville.