RWA Nationals ROCKED!!

I have to say that the trip was amazing. Every bit of it. (Well, except for the flight home, but I'll tell you about that later).

Holly Greenfield and I got to the hotel about 1pm on Wednesday, July 11th and were simply awed by the beauty of the hotel. It was an amazing hotel.

This is the view from the 10th floor hallway where our room was.
This is the waterfall that was inside of the hotel - absolutely beautiful!!

We definitely had some interesting moments to start off with - the first day, we hit the goody room and started stocking up on the great promotional items that all of the authors had in there - then came the Embarrassing Moment - you see, they had a room called the "Press Room" where there were tons of books laid out on the table already autographed. Well, Holly and I, being the newbie first-timers that we were, figured that they were for free! So, what did we do? We started loading up!! Yep, had a huge armload of these books in our arms when a woman came over to us and was looking at me funny. So, I said "These are for free right?" And got a shocking answer that no, they weren't! Oh Hell....back on the table they go, in the spots that they were in - and my face must have been about as red as a tomato! I have to say it gave Holly and I a great laugh moment once we got out of that room!!

Me and my best friend, Holly outside of the hotel. I was so glad that she was there with me - it definitely would not have been nearly as much fun without her!

The first night of the conference, there was a Literacy Booksigning that we went to with about 450 authors signing / selling books to benefit adult illiteracy. It was amazing! This pic below is only a hint of the amount of people that were there:
Sherrilyn Kenyon below - She is such a down-to-earth, friendly, and personable person.

Holly and I with Nora Roberts!!! That was definitely a highlight of my conference - I have always wanted to meet her. She is one of my favorite authors and an inspiration to all of us writers!

Me with Shana Abe below - I absolutely loved her book "The Smoke Thief" and just got the sequal to that called "The Dream Thief". Awesome novels that I highly recommend to anyone to read!

We also had a wonderful time with the gals from our local chapter, CNYRW. Kari Townsend and Barbie Jo Bogart (aka Barb Witek) were so much fun to hang out with! We had a blast at the bar and luncheons with them - you should just hear them and all the hilarious stories they have - if there's something funny that happens, you can bet it will happen to them! Here is a picture of Gayle Callen (published author for Avon and also a member of CNYRW) and Barb and Kari (soon-to-be published authors!):

If you want to here more about Nationals or learn more about the ladies I hung out with - check out these blogs:

http://www.hollyweeden.blogspot.com/

http://www.karileetownsend.blogspot.com/

http://www.irishbarbie.blogspot.com/

Continuing on:

So, we couldn't stay at this beautiful hotel without getting at least one trip to the pool! And considering that the temp was in the low 90's every day in Dallas, TX - the pool was a very refreshing experience. Here's a pic of me, Suemarie, Carol, (both members of CNYRW too - see there were a lot of us there!) and Holly enjoying the pool:

I have to thank Suemarie for all of the wonderful advice and tips that she gave Holly and I while we were at the conference. She was a wealth of info and readily willing to share! Thanks Suemarie!! Best of luck to you - I know we'll be seeing those books on the shelves soon!

OK - I'm going to stop for now. But come back soon - I'll have more about Nationals posted shortly and you won't want to miss the best part about my trip: Medieval Times and the HOTTEST knights around!!

It's almost time!

The hours are counting down - and fast!! Only about 16 hrs to go and we'll be on our way to Texas! I'm excited, nervous, scared, and happy all at the same time. First time to an RWA Conference - I'm sure it will be as wonderful an experience as everyone says. My main priority this time around is to attend classes to help enhance my writing. I know that I have a lot to learn so that I can write better.

AHHH!! This is going to be great - I promise to post pics and tell you all about it when I get back!

Failure

Have you ever had a day - week - month - where you felt like a failure? Yeah, I feel like that with my writing. I'm stuck. I was taking a good workshop with awesome templates to use, which helped, but now I feel like I don't have a clue where to go with my story and I can't get out of this funk. I don't know what to do with my characters. I get a few chapters done and BAM! My ideas are gone and I don't know what they should do.
Ugh. I don't know what I need. Maybe more writing reference materials to read up on - yeah, maybe that would help. My friend gave me a book titled "The First 5 Pages" that I've started. So maybe that will help give me a push - I don't know. Feel like the brain's blocked up and I can't get any new ideas to flow. Maybe I'll just bang my head against a wall until I get something.
OK - enough of the pity party.

Lake Placid Pics

Some pics of Lake Placid, NY. I love this place!

To the left is a waterfall along High Falls Gorge - the hubby and I took a hike through this. Very beautiful - but for those who are afraid of heights, stay away! The walkways are suspended over the falls and river.

Below is a pic of Whiteface Mountain - still has snow in May!


This is the little cottage that we stayed in. We've been here twice - the first time was in November 2004, and that's when Jake proposed to me! We love this place! Cathy, the owner, is the best hostess and the cottage is the perfect spot to "just get away"! If you're interested in staying here, just go to this website: www.thehighlandcottage.com

ME above - playing mini-golf.

My hubby, Jake, to the left. We had a wonderful time together.

Crazy life meets kids

So, even though my own normal, insane, hectic world continues to run at that pace, we've now hit the spring months where my kids lives and activities add even more insanity to my daily existence. T-ball, minor league, and softball have begun! And add in that we still have ballet practice for my little one, that all makes for particularly busy weeknights. Just got to love it! Does anyone else have the joys of chaos in their lives? I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So, on we go. The hubby and I took the much needed vacay for the weekend up to Lake Placid. Absolutely loved it! The weather was beautiful and the scenery was perfect. I did get a chance for some writing - actually started revamping an old WIP that I began a while ago. Lots of work left to do on that one. Conal & Riane have jumped ship for now, and Laena's slowly inching her way out of the shadows, but as my reality is chaotic, so is my writing style. I am definitely a "pantser" - constantly shifting gears, changing modes, with barely a set final goal in mind other than to finish a manuscript!!
RWA conference is getting closer and closer each day though and I can't wait to go! I know that Holly and I are going to have an awesome time and I'm very much looking forward to all of the workshops that we'll be taking and all of the wonderful people we'll be meeting. It's an exciting time and I know will be beneficial to both of us. Plus - having a nice vacation with my best friend is the best way to enjoy the time away from home. We haven't had a girls night since we were in high school - definitely long overdue! Hol - we're going to have sooo much fun!!

Lacking Inspiration

Well, the muse comes and then she goes. I haven't written much more than a couple of sentences in the past week, and I feel so un-inspired. I really need something to perk my brain back into motion!! But what?
Holly suggested a little weekend getaway, and I think she's right. I do need some time away - so Jake and I have decided that for our 1 year anniversary (May 13th - ahhh!!!), we're going to go back to Lake Placid and stay in the same cabin that he proposed to me in. I'm really excited to go back there! It is truly the most beautiful little cabin, completely furnished with electricity so it's not like we're roughing it in the woods. :) I can't wait - I'm taking my laptop with me so I can sit out on the deck and get some early morning, before the hubby rises, writing done. We're only going for three days, but I have a feeling those three days will brighten up my mood and hopefully, bring back my writing mind. I really miss it!

Crazy life

So, the new position at work is going well. Not too much has changed, so we won't spend much time on that boring subject. :)
I'm happy to say that my fickle Muse is back!! But she came back in a totally different form. Instead of pushing forward my historical WIP, she has decided that a new contemporary piece is calling for attention. Laena Gravari has appeared, a little broken down from her recent divorce from an egotistical cheating SOB, but returning home to Greece to renew her artistry and try to get ahold of her self-image. Of course, we have her old high school sweetheart that she left behind when her parents moved them to the States who comes into the picture. Alec Demarchis is a bit sour at Laene for leaving him and never communicating with him after she left - (not knowing that her parents had forbidden her from doing so). After some trials and interesting conflicts that Alec and Laena endure, love comes strolling along. Then the cheating SOB comes into the picture looking to beg Laena to come back to him - it'll be interesting to see how she responds.
So, for now, that's my work in progress. I really like these characters and feel that my voice may lie with contemporaries instead of historicals, but we'll see how it turns out. I don't want to abandon Conal & Riane, especially with their story only half told, so I'm sure they'll come out of hiding soon.