End of Day Two (or is it day three?) of RWA

It is now Thursday, or I think it is. The past few days have been a whirlwind of nerves, excitement and fun. I started my day having breakfast again at good old Denny's with Rosie, Wendy the Super Librarian and Lisabea. This time I had some eggs instead of their french toast. I have a bad habit of drinking too much coffee and I can say I now know where all the hotel bathrooms are.

I went to my first publishing signing that was only open to the RWA attendees. It was the Harlequin Blaze line and I met Leslie Kelly and Hope Tarr, who has written the first historical romance under the blaze line (and the books were free!).

The very first luncheon of RWA I would be attending is the Keynote Luncheon that featured Victoria Alexander as the guest speaker. The food there was excellent and Victoria was an amazing speaker. She had the whole room laughing and clapping at the same time.

After the luncheon I went to go see Nora Roberts speak and she opened the floor to ask questions. I was in awe!! Nora Roberts was honest, funny and simply amazing. Her own writing method is wonderful. She thinks of writing as her job, where she writes six to eight hours an day, Monday to Friday. And when someone asked her the best way to write, Nora simply said, you sit your ass in your chair and just write. RIGHT ON!!

I spent most of the afternoon talking with various other authors such as Victoria Dahl, Lorelei Long and a few more reviewers and bloggers. As I was chatting, Ciaralira noticed, Pocket historical romance author Meredith Duran (she is the author I am sitting next to in the picture above) who wrote the wonderful book, Duke of Shadows (which I reviewed here *G*). Ciaralira and I quickly went over to Meredith and we chatted with Meredith for almost an hour. Meredith is another wonderful author I have had the pleasure to meet this week. She is also working on her P.H.D. and has two books coming out back to back next year. WOW!

I decided tonight would be a bit more relaxed so Alys, Kristie and I had a wonderful dinner at a great steakhouse. I also made sure to give my daily call to Christine, like I have done everyday this week to give her all the information she is missing. (I miss my Jersey blogger pal!)

We came back to the hotel and had a few drinks at the bar and as I was sitting there, I saw Linnea Sinclair and her husband. Again, Linnea is truly one of the most precious people I have ever met. She chatted with Kristie and I about her books and even Kate Douglas stopped by to join in. (BTW, Ana and Thea aka my Powerpuff Gals, I mentioned you both to Linnea. I told her, I hope all our reviews of her books and posts can make a difference and help her with PR. Linnea is so very grateful. And Jace, Linnea mentioned you and how much she loves your blog and the lovely bookmark you sent to her) Not only did I chat with Linnea, but I also talked with Mr. Sinclair and since both Linnea, Mr. Sinclair and I are from New Jersey we had some good laughs and talked about various sites and landmarks we have visited in the state. We also talked about Jersey accents, of course I don't have a Jersey accent, thank god!

It was close to midnight and that is the, "turning into pumpkin" hour for me. Up to the room I went to get ready for bed and some Friday fun at RWA. Tomorrow there are mass signings, a great luncheon with speaker, Connie Brockway and another wonderful author I have been waiting years to meet, and that is Meljean Brook, who Lisabea, Ciaralira and I will try very hard not to be too fan girly when we meet her. I hope I don't embarrass myself and trip over my own two feet*G*

Katiebabs (KB)

more to come tomorrow...