RWA, Texas Style

Hard to believe I've been home from Dallas for over a week. The national RWA conference takes place once a year and is the biggest gathering of Romance Writers in the country. I have no idea what the final tally was this year, but there had to be at least 3,000 members there. I went to my first conference in NY in 2003 and since then I've traveled to Reno, Atlanta and now, Dallas. Next year will be extra special because RWA is coming to my hometown--the beautiful city by the bay, San Francisco.

So what's the big deal? Why take a week off from family, spend over a thousand dollars, and visit Dallas IN JULY.

Take a peak at the wonderful pictures taken by fellow Diva, Candice Hern, in the series of posts from July 12th-July 18th on the diva blog and you'll understand why. There is simply no better opportunity to hang with fellow authors (old and new), meet industry professionals (book buyers, librarians, reviewers), get face-to-face time with your publisher and agents, and, as always, learn. Whether it's learning about the industry or sharpening your craft, conference is chock full of informative workshops. This year I didn't have time to attend all the workshops that I wanted to, but the ones I did hit were great. The bookseller's panel in particular was worth the price of admission. :)

This year I also had the special pleasure of signing my very first book. Ballantine brough in pre-release date copies of my first book, HIGHLANDER UNTAMED, for me to sign at the literacy event and the publisher giveaway. It was one of the high points of my career so far.

I'm already looking forward to next year!