I’m back! I have soooo many things to do but I have to tell you all about the conference first.
I finally uploaded RWA pictures and I didn’t realize how few I had. But, I do believe they are sufficient enough to tell you the story of my wonderful trip. I decided to do a two blog thing on RWA nationals. One will be the recap (what you are reading now) and the second will be author pics (and my crazy fan girl-ness pictures). Okay. Here we go.
The first day we were in D.C. Deanna got gum stuck all over her BMW window. Here is a picture of the gross-ness. 
This is what the room looks like. Aren’t they comfy looking? FABULOUS Marriott beds.
We settled in and explored the hotel after that. This is what the lobby of the Marriott looks like.
This is what the outside of the hotel looks like. It’s actually much bigger than this. I know, crazy, right?
We had dinner and went to bed early. Wednesday, we registered early morning. We had breakfast with Susan Lyons. We ended up catching up with other writer friends for most of the afternoon. Deanna, I, Kat Mancos, Theresa, Sandra, and Liz Bemis had lunch at a Lebanese Restaurant that was soooo good. The service kinda sucked but the food was great!
Then we had the literacy signing. This was the line for it. MAD HOUSE. I could barely see or understand what was going on. There were over 200 writers signing!
This is Deanna and I as we wait in line. Notice the ribbons I have. You can’t see the pink one but it says ‘First Sale’ as I sold my novella to Wild Rose Press. It’s an adult paranormal story that I wrote under the pseudonym ‘Tess Quinn.’ I’ll keep y’all posted.
These are the books I picked up at the signings.
After that, we headed to the Liberty States Fiction Writers Dinner. This is me and Anne Carrole (who writes sexy cowboy stories! Check out her website at annecarrole.com).
This is the table I was sitting at. Deanna is taking the picture. There is another table behind us as well.
The next morning I first met with my YATeenLit group from our Yahoo message board. That was GREAT. What a fab bunch of YA writers! After that, we saw Janet Evonovitch. She was the opening speaker of the conference. I thought she was really funny. She started the whirlwind adventure of workshops that was halted for an hour while we saw Linda Howard speak as the Luncheon speaker. Right after Linda ended, we started up the whole workshop routine again which led to dinner and then the Midnight Madness Bazaar where me and Mitzi Flyte (writing as Maci Carter who’s novella comes out in the fall!) sold night shirts for our Pocono Lehigh Writer’s Group. We sold all but four! After the bazaar I crashed for the night in an exhausted heap.
The next day, Friday, was the continental breakfast in the morning where I met the YA RWA group before heading over to do workshops.
Here are Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips doing their workshop. It was one of the best ones at the conference.
I went to a bunch of book signings throughout the day. For lunch, we saw Eloisa James speak. Deanna and I then went to more workshops and signings before having dinner with Juli Heaton, Tina Gabrielle, and Monica Liming. We went to Meda Terra where I promptly got sick and had to leave early. Don’t worry. I was all better by Saturday morning, the last day of the conference. I had workshops and signings all day and I even pitched! I met up with MK Mancos and Roni Denholtz for lunch and then had dessert with Deanna, Anne Carrole and GH finalist, Dianne Gerber. The workshops ended and then Deanna and I got ready for the GH and Rita Award ceremony.
Here is a picture of the setup of the award ceremony. Gorgeous, isn’t it?
The GH went by so quickly I didn’t even have a moment to blink! Then, the Rita’s started. Anne Stewart was the MC and she was hysterical.
Rosemary Clements-Moore took home the Rita for best YA book.
Nora Roberts took home the Rita for best book with Romantic Elements.
And Tera Lynn Childs took home the Rita for best first book with ‘Oh.My.Gods.’
Overall, it was a wonderful night and a fabulous ending to the conference. We ended up hanging out with some Jersey girls after the show. We cracked open a bottle of champagne and toasted Dianne for her success in finaling in the GH contest, and we cheered for all of our future success. Come Sunday, Deanna and I parked ourselves in the lobby which was where we could get free internet. We watched Nora Roberts walk by and we even sat with Margie Lawson for a while. Deanna finished her query letter and I finished a news article for a deadline I had. A productive end to a productive conference.
Next year, the conference will be held in Nashville, so Deanna and I don’t know if we’re going to go. I know that we’ll make it if I sell my YA, though, so keep your fingers crossed for me!
Hope you enjoyed my story by pictures! Trust me: it was so much better in person.
<3Nisha
