I spent the weekend at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling writer's conference. It was a fast paced, fun filled time. I was able to check in the moment I got to the Deerfield Hyatt. The staff was outstanding. The service was great. I registered and received a thick packet with lots of goodies from the conference sponsors, Office Depot, Pepsi, Quaker Oats, Books by SourceBooks, Harlequin and Avon.
I met friends I've known for years from all over the country and ran into Barbra Vey from Publisher's Weekly and five of us went to lunch together. You can get Barb's view of the conference at her blog http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/200025620.html
Unfortunately, no pictures of me, I was too busy volunteering to do any drive by videos. Sigh. But she is a wonderful person, outgoing and super smart.
It was fun to dress up and wear my name tag stating that I was a published author and a committee chair. (I was in charge of the audio visual.) We taped the entire conference so that if you missed anything you could purchase the tapes for later listening and inspiration.
Great workshops started at 2:30 p.m.. By 5:30 p.m. we had a family sit down meal with editors and agents. The food was to die for. The company lovely, I sat with author Patricia Rosemoor and Daniele Egan Miller from the Brown and Miller literary agency. Following that were more wonderful workshops, a reception for local librarians and booksellers and the grand finale a chocolate reception with a menu entitled Death by chocolate!
I went to bed late and could barely sleep. I had run into Erin Niumata who was my Editorial director at Avalon Books-she was the wonderful editor who let me keep the first naked man in an Avalon romance. (If you remember, it was a scene from A Wanted Man. If you haven't read it yet go to www.avalonbooks.com or www.bn.com and order it. You'll be glad you did.)
It turns out that Erin is no longer editing but has become an agent at Folio Literary Management. We had a drink together and discussed my work. It was one of those kismet moments.
Next week, I'll blog about all the great stuff that happened on Saturday. Stay tuned.
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