Like many of my fellow romance writers, I traveled to the RWA 29th Annual Conference last week in Washington, DC. Overall, it was an amazing experience. The sessions were informative and the speakers inspiring.
Of course, there were a few experiences that stood out above the rest. The first being my dinner with New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak (her next release, The Perfect Couple, hits stores on July 28th!) and her agent, Kim Whalen from the Trident Media Group. I won this amazing opportunity through Brenda’s annual online auction to raise money for diabetes research, a cause that is near and dear to her heart. Throughout the entire meal, I felt like I was in a MasterCard commercial. It was as if there was a voice-over running through the entire evening:
Train Ticket to Washington DC - Forty dollars
Cup of Coffee in the Hotel Lobby – Three dollars
Dinner with Brenda Novak and her Agent - Priceless
Brenda, Kim and a second agent from Trident, Stephanie MacLean, who graciously agreed to join us, offered very insightful advice. I simply could not have started the conference on a better note.
Apart from dinner the first night, my conference highlights included the What Not to Write workshop, featuring Eloisa James and her editor from Avon, Carrie Feron. This look at writing don’t was both humorous and informative. I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch with the co-founders of Share the Love, Maya Rodale and Ann Bleakley. Share the Love collects gently used romance novels and passes them onto non-profit organizations that provide assistance to women in transitional periods of their lives—homeless and domestic violence shelters, prisons and recovery half-way houses.
Overall, RWA was a rewarding and perhaps somewhat exhausting experience. I am certainly looking forward to Nashville in 2010!
So glad you had a fabulous time at Nationals, and I’m sorry to have missed you there. Did you get an opportunity to pitch Flirting with Scandal? If so, how did it go?