Saturday, August 12, 2006

RWA National Conference in Atlanta

This year's conference was a blast!

First, because of my sale of Heartstone to Triskelion Publishing, I was able to sport a First Sale Ribbon on my badge--that alone made the conference great, LOL. But I'm getting ahead of myself...as usual {g}

I arrived on Wednesday and when I checked in, the only room they had available for smokers (yes, I know I should quit but that's not the point of today's blog) was on the concierge level. I've never had a room on a concierge level before so when the hotel registrar said I needed a security guard to let me into my room, my first thought was--Huh? Okay. Not every day that I get a 'police escort' to my room but then she discovered that the software that encodes the room cards was working again so I didn't need the 'escort' after all. (Crushing my sense of importance too, lol)

After I unloaded my luggage, I went down to the conference registration area when I ran into an old friend--Shirley Hailstock. Shirley and I have known each other for quite a while. We met originally on an Internet BB for writers, People Together Network (actually, it's not just for writers--there are lots of other rooms for chat but I hang out with the writers). As we're chatting, I hear my name mentioned, turn around and voila! It's Kat Mancos, one of my fellow FF&P crit group members and Star-Crossed Romance Blog member. Small world, she knows Shirley too! (Shirley and Kat are both members of the NJ chapter). As we chat, Kat accompanied me to the registration desk where I ran into Skylar Masey, another member of Star-Crossed! Skylar was working the desk so I didn't get a chance to actually chat with her and, unfortunately, that continued throughout the conference.

Kat and I trundled over to the Goody Room where I picked up my Conference Bag and the darn thing was filled with books! About 18 lbs worth (this is a book lovers dream, let me tell you! LOL) I made a quick detour to my room to drop off the books then met Kat and her friend Tara down at the Champion Bar and Grill for lunch. Our waiter, a school teacher working a summer job at the bar, confessed he was a writer too and we all chatted about writing for awhile until he was forced to return to work.

After lunch, I returned to my room since I needed to unpack and get my clothes ironed (even things that don't wrinkle usually need a touch up after being crammed into a suitcase and the one thing you don't want to be around 200+ other women is mussed {g}). When I finished, I contacted the desk to see if my friend Patti O'Shea had checked in. She had so we chatted on the phone then decided to grab a bite to eat (back to the Champion, lol) before the Literacy Signing.

Continued on the next blog

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