My 2008 RWA Nationals Experience

Be prepared to sit back and read a while!

I arrived at San Francisco on Tuesday an hour late due to plane difficulties. After a wild ride in an airport shuttle van, I found myself standing in a 10 x 10 room with a single bed, sink, and closet. My toilet was down the hall in a small (just a little larger than the toilet) room and the shower was down the hall in another little cubby hole. The toilet and shower were shared with three other hotel patrons. My cousin and her daughter from Santa Rosa came and took me out to dinner in Little Italy. As I waited on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, three people tripped over my feet and one lady hit me in the leg with her shopping bag. And the sidewalk at those times was not crowded! I tell you there were more people milling the streets there than I've seen in my life other than when I've been at Disneyland!

Wednesday morning, I placed my freebies in the goodie room and stowed my workshop paraphernalia in the room where I’d be speaking. Then I headed down to the ballroom to help set up for the literacy signing that night. I folded name tags, hauled books around, and met Yvonne, a nice woman from the Sacramento chapter.

An hour before my workshop, I left the set-up to grab a quick snack and something to drink at the Starbucks in the Hotel. There I met Sarah from Iowa. Her mother lives in Bend. Later in the day as we passed in the hall, she introduced her sister who was at the conference with her.

At my workshop, I plied the attendees with chocolate and filled them with info as well as making them participate in the process. Those who came up with a character trait first received a gift. Afterwards several approached me and said they learned a lot and a couple more stopped me later in the conference and said they enjoyed my workshop.

I spent the afternoon helping with more of the literacy set-up, then in the evening, I attended the signing as an author. I was excited to sit next to Samantha James. I know her and she is a lovely person. Unfortunately, she ended up not attending the conference due to health reasons. However, I was only lonely( I was on the end of a table) for brief periods. Chapter mates Barb, Deb, Jen, Eli and Kendra stopped by. Hearts Through History members Kris Kennedy (who won a Golden Heart – way to go Kris!!) Christine Johnson (who was up for several Golden Hearts), Marline Urso, and Denise MacDonald. And a friend I hadn’t seen since a conference in Vancouver British Columbia, Jenny Anderson stopped by, also Regan Taylor, Joan Swan (also up for a Golden Heart- you so should have won!) Leah Vale and Lisa. And I was visited by Rose City members Darla Luckenbaugh, Maggie Lynch, and Lynn Jordan. Plus Wild Rose Press Editor and Kelly, andWRP authors Helen and Viola. I sold eight books and had a great time! I'm not sure what was up, but when I was down to two books, I borrowed two of Samantha's(You know those regencies are thick and sturdy books) to prop up my book and some man took a picture of me using her books. So Samantha, if he tries to use it to blackmail me, I know you are a sweet person and had you been there, you would have loaned me the books. I rounded out the night with a gathering of MWV attendees.

Thursday started bright and early for me with the Hearts Through History breakfast and annual meeting. I was a guest author on their panel. I enjoyed talking about what I write and the house I write for. Afterwards several people told me it was an inspirational talk. I spent the remainder of the day attending the PRO retreat. They had a panel of agents and I was glad I was there. Four of the five agents on the panel are actively looking for westerns. Woo Hoo!

Friday morning started with an agent appointment and finding out my editor appointment had been canceled because the editor couldn’t attend the conference, BUT those who were scheduled to meet with her will be given directions on how to get a full to her. Anyway, my agent appointment went well. She was nice, easy to talk to and loves horses! We had a bond immediately! I told her about my publishing history and briefly the two genres I’m working on. She told me to tell her about the project I was the most passionate about and I, of course, launched into the historical western series. She exclaimed, “I love mysteries!” So… I tweaked the pitch to sound more mystery, which it is as the heroine is looking for someone and she requested a submission. I slid her an Outlaw candy bar which she thought was quite clever and her parting shot. “Now I miss my pony from when I was a girl.” Because my editor apt. didn’t pan out they let me select another open appointment. I selected an agent from someone’s proclamation she likes historical and you’ll find out how the Saturday appointment went after Friday is over. The only entertaining or interesting workshop I attended on Friday was the Dorchester Spotlight. Leah Hultenschmidt and Chris Keesler, editors at Dorchester, are a crack up and thoroughly amusing! That evening a group of Wild Rose Press editors and authors met, visited and some even hung out long enough to have dinner together. It was enjoyable. And after a glass of wine was the first night I slept half way decent.

Saturday, I attended some valuable workshops- Save The Cat! A workshop by Blake Snyder, screenwriter, about writing for screen plays and how the structure fits writing a novel and one on “Theft of Creative Property with Nora Roberts, an attorney, Jane Litte, and Dr. John Barrie who has built a computer program that scans university papers and finds plagiarism. It was a interesting topic and should have had a lot more people in there.

My agent appointment this day didn’t go so well. Yes, the agent does represent historical, but not westerns. She doesn’t even like them. But we had nine minutes to chat about other things and I gave her a candy bar at the end and she thanked me profusely, saying she could use the energy. I went to the nearest mall and had lunch at the food court and who should stand next to me waiting for her food, but the agent I pitched to the day before. I made a comment about them letting her out and she pointed at me and said, “I visited with you yesterday and you made me lonely for my pony.” Then we talked about other things, her food arrived, and she left. But I scored one more time to make an impression. After she left, Linda Needham showed up and we sat and chatted while I finished and she ate her lunch. Then we walked back to the hotel together and had a lovely chat.

That afternoon I ditched workshops and bought Ghirardelli chocolate for the dh and my friend Karen, sour dough bread for another friend, and a couple shirts at Old Navy. I walked into the Fourth Street Deli and Bar for dinner and Patrice, Vicki Lyle’s daughter, and her friend, Viola, were sitting at a table and invited me to join them. We had a great time visiting. Then we realized the time and hustled to our rooms to get beautiful for the awards ceremony. I met Deb and we stood in front of the doors waiting when Kendra and friends arrived. Kendra’s friends disappeared and Eli showed up saying she’d save seats for us since she was sitting with the Golden Heart finalist, Joan Swan. We found the reserved seats and had a wonderful time watching the recipients and the funny Powerpoint presentations between groupings. There were only two finalist that were westerns. I told Deb- I think it’s about time a western won a RITA- so you know what my next goal is! As soon as the ceremony was over, I hightailed it to my motel as I had a 4 am wake up call to get to the airport for my 7am flight. But of course, I didn’t sleep well and ended up with three hours of sleep, getting up at 3 am and writing this blog in long hand on a pad because I didn’t want to use the energy to open up the computer!

But that my friends is my conference experience in a nut shell- and I am proud to say, I talked to more people than I usually do and felt I put myself out there more. Which was my goal. If you went to Nationals how was it for you? If you didn't go what would be your goal when you do?

Oh, and I schmoozed with Pat Pritchard/Alexis Morgan. She likes road trips and is open to speaking to our group at a meeting. So when Lisa gets back, remind me to tell her!