A Postcard from Reality

It was a wonderful 30 hours - and now I'm back. NJRW is just way too short for me. Too much fun crammed into a little over a full day.

I'm still wired from it. I had a blast, as I expected. After lunch at Bennigan's with DH on Friday, he dropped me off at the Sheraton and I checked in. I love the rooms at the Sheraton - they're very plush for a reasonable amount of $$. I registered and perused my conference packet and took a little time just to relax.

Then I attended two workshops: Secondary Characters and the Magic of a Series, and Writing a Partial that Sells. By then I'd gotten in touch with Kat Mancos from Star Crossed Romance and we were able to meet up with Jennifer Elbaum, Rene Lyons, Bianca D'Arc and Angela James of Samhain Publishing. I was so thrilled to meet everyone! We all took a quick ride to the Macaroni Grill where we met up with Stella Price for a wonderful dinner. Then back to the hotel for the Golden Leaf Awards ceremony and the fabulously chocolaty dessert reception.

Once the reception was over I was exhausted and totally jazzed, so naturally I didn't sleep well, but since I had to be up at 6:15 to make the breakfast presentation, it really didn't matter.

Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer were the keynote speakers for breakfast, and they were a hoot! We all received copies of their book, Don't Look Down, which I can't wait to read.

After breakfast I fit in the aptly titled, You Don't Have to be Crazy to be a Writer, but it Helps panel given by Victoria Alexander and then it was time for my agent appointment! I won't go into details at the moment, but it was a rousing success and I got a request for a full of my paranormal novella and a partial of Matchmakers!

After that I took a little break, then attended Zen and the Art of Publicity and Promotion with Jade Lee. After lunch, two more panels and then the Literacy Book signing. I was lucky enough to run into Liddy Midnight before the signing. In addition to the eight books I got for free, I picked up three more at the signing. [Cause my TBR pile isn't quite big enough to warrant its own zip code yet, but I'm working on it.]

After I said my goodbyes it was time to head back to reality. DH and the kids picked me up and transported me back to the castle where I returned to my role as Cinderella [before the ball]. LOL.

I have a ton of notes to turn into blog entries and much to do, but I'm completely energized by the whole affair. It was fabulous to meet so many Divas and Divas-To-Be [Kat, this means you!] and the ladies of NJRW are wonderful. [I'll be looking into joining up - it's on my To Do List, I swear!].

Well. Whew. Time to relax and regroup. Catch you later!