This week is the 35th anniversary Romance Writers of America
conference. This year it's being held at the New York City Marriott Marquis in
Times Square. (No, that's not the Marriott, but it's NYC!)
Each year RWA holds a huge conference in a different part of
the country. Around 2,000 romance writers and industry professionals, including
editors, publishers, agents, and various people offering all kinds of services
to authors, as well as experts in many different fields attend. Wednesday night
is the yearly Literacy Signing.
Readers love this and start lining up hours early to be able
to buy signed books and perhaps even meet their favorite authors. The proceeds
from the book sales go to ProLiteracy Worldwide, Literacy Partners, and
Literacy Assistance Center. There were around 480 authors signing this year.
Here I am with the wonderful Katherine Garbera.
Writers get together with their publishers. Here
are a group of us who are writing the Amalfi Billionaires series for Tule
Publishing. Our editors are on either end. Left to right: Lindsey Stover, Mimi
Wells, Katherine Garbera, Eve Gaddy, Nancy Robards Thompson, and Danielle
Rayner. Not pictured: editor Kelly Hunter and author Kathleen O'Brien.
We had a fun and productive meeting, discussing titles,
covers--that's always fun--marketing and more.
There are also specialty chapters that get together and have
a small conference of their own before everything really gets started. Here's a
fun picture from the Beau Monde conference, where all things Regency are learned
and discussed.
When I go to conference I spend a lot of time talking with
friends, plotting with friends, eating with friends, discussing the business,
going to workshops, going to parties and generally having a good time.
Lenora Worth
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Julia and Lenora are two of my friends who plot with me
regularly. Although, according to them, when we plot one of my books, their
function is to throw out ideas and mine is to shoot them down.:)
I'm very fortunate to have a large number of writer friends.
My friends and I can plot anywhere. In our rooms, in the bar, in the lobby, at
a restaurant, on an airplane. Sometimes airplanes are hard, however, especially
when plotting a suspense and not wanting to say things like, "And then the
bomb exploded". It can be fun to see the person sitting next to us looking
at us in horror and probably thinking, "OMG, what's wrong with these
women?" Especially when we say, "That person just needs to be killed
off but I don't know how to kill him yet." Or "when in doubt, just
kill someone off." Or "when in doubt, add sex." And a lot of
other variations on those themes.
One of the best things about conference is that being around
writers revitalizes me. There's an energy that arises from a conference with so
many creative people that's hard to explain. When writers get together like
this, the ideas fly everywhere. I'm sure if you were to walk through the lounge
and listen to snippets of conversation you would hear everything from
discussions about werewolves and shape shifters to alpha heroes and hot covers,
to where the Inspirational market is headed to questions about which market is
hot and which one is dead, and everything in between.
The final night of the conference is the presentation of the
prestigious RITA Awards for published books and the Golden Heart Award for
unpublished manuscripts. The RITAs are the Oscars of Romance Fiction.
Come Sunday most of us will be headed home refreshed,
replenished and rarin' to get to writing--after a good night's sleep.
2 comments:
Sounds like a grand time had by all thanks for sharing
We did have a good time, Diana!
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