The Year in the Review - The People and the Future

This is an aww shucks’ post. But I can’t not let the end of the year go – even though it’s already went.

For years I felt alone on an island of romance book-it is, but with the dawning of the internet, I found people. Yes, there were others out there like me; readers who bought purses based on the number of books it would hold rather than brand name, readers who bought more books than they could read and seemed unable to just stop doing this. There were others out there I discovered who read the end of a book before they got there – just to make sure there was an HEA, even though they were reading ROMANCE where it’s a given.

It was wonderful meeting these people online – but even better was meeting them in person. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet even more readers and authors in 2009. The first exciting meeting was when we had a Canadian Bloggers meet this past summer. It was held at Cindy’s and included Nath, Lea and Mary G (who doesn’t have a blog but does a lot of dropping in and visiting. Right from the first moment, there was that bond that all us romance readers share and in no time at all, it was like we had known each other for ages. It was wonderful fun and I hope we do it again this year. There is nothing quite like hitting a UBS with fellow romance readers and sharing buried treasures with them.

And then came the RWA convention in July. There are no words to describe the feeling of being surrounded with hundreds of like minded people. And best of all was meeting them and having a chance to catch up with bloggers/friends I’d met before. This was my third RWA Convention and the third time I shared a room with Wendy. Although this was only the third time we’ve spent time together, she is branded in my memory and I hope with all my heart that it isn’t the last time. This was the second year in a row that I shared a room for at least one night with Rosie and again, she is in my heart. When I met LisaBea again, it was like no time at all had passed and yep – heart too. There were other familiar faces there too that it was just

da’bomb to talk with again – Katiebabs, Amy, Jane, Angie and Candy and Sarah. All I have to do is close my eyes and I see these dear people as if they were standing right in front of me.

And then there were the new bloggers I met!! Barbara was a roomie this year and for those

who haven’t met her in person, she is as sweet and nice as can be. She’s on a (I hope) hiatus at the moment, but I’m looking forward to meeting up with her again when RWA heads to her stomping ground. And Aztec Lady was an honorary roomie and popped in. It was such fun to meet her in person after getting to ‘know’ her online. Her enthusiasm was infectious and the time spent getting to know her was such a special part of the conference as it was with Barbara.

Another blogger who gets a special shout out to is AnimieJune. I LOVE her reviews so when I noticed that she was planning on heading to Washington, I emailed to see if she was interested in meeting up. We did, a number of times, and thank goodness she is an organized person. Getting to know her better was such a delight.

The trouble with doing something like this and suffering from short term memory loss is the fear that I might miss someone. If I did, it’s only that the brain doesn’t always work at 100% capacity anymore and I will remember – probably right after I post this!

****ETA****

See - I knew this would happen! Although I didn't get to spend much time with them in Washington, I did get a chance to meet a couple of other bloggers!! Katie of Katidom and Mandi of Smexy Books. I really wish I had had longer to get to know them :-(

The Future – the people

And 2010 promises to be another grand year. I’m not sure if I’ve come out ‘officially’ yet, but I’ve two trips planned this year – at least – and maybe hopefully more. I’m headed to Columbus in April for the RT convention. I thought about going and then not going – but when I heard some bloggers were headed that way, and having enough vacation time left over from 2009 and the go ahead to carry it over, I decided, with encouragement from Ryan who said why not do what you really want to do, I figured why not?? I’m registered now and have a couple of roommates. It’s more of a party time than I’m used to – but hopefully I can pace myself.

I’m also planning on going once again to RWA, this time in Nashville. As well as seeing friends, it’s a great way to visit cities I never would have thought of visiting. I’m not sure who else will be going. I’m crossing my fingers that Wendy will be, thus making it four years in a row we can be roomies. She does look good in her little black dress!

And hopefully we will have some sort of Canadian Blogger get together. I’m always so happy/green with envy on hearing about the SOCal meets

I don’t make resolutions as I never keep them. But I do have ‘hopes’. They are simple this year

Read More!! Buy Less!!

I’m going to try and keep it equal this year – I hope to allow myself a new book for every book I read. Since I’ve already read 2 this year, I can buy 2. Although the real plan is to read more and make a dent in the TBR pile. It’s really starting to scare me – and that’s saying a lot!

Also, I want to read more of the neglected genres. I have a number of Medievals to read and a number of Westerns. I wasn’t really pleased with the low numbers of either – ‘specially medieval since I read a grand total of 0 medievals and I love that genre. I also want to read more books set in other times such as the time of Elizabeth I.

SciFi/futuristics. I have several in the TBR pile that I really need to get to; specifically Linnea Sinclair!! And werewolves books. Although I'm not a big vampire romance fan, I do have quite a few werewolf romance books (that just sounds silly doesn't it) I want to get around to reading.

I also need to get to work on the ‘library’ downstairs!! I have empty shelves there just crying to be filled. And I’ve been travelling with a new half book case in my car for months – just waiting for me to bring it and assemble it.

And I got to turn my calendar at work today. Not that it’s an exciting thing for most people at work – but when one has a specially designed calendar and this…is January’s picture, it’s nice to check the month out – frequently!