Thoughts on RWA Conferences

Sorry I haven't been around with a new post last week. As most of you know, the RWA National Conference starts in a few days and I've been trying to get myself prepared -- mentally and physically. Definitely a toss up as to which of those is the most difficult!

This will be my first conference as a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! Okay, so technically my book won't be released for 65 more days, but still...

I've attended two previous RWA National Conferences and each was as different as I know this one will be. In 2005 I'd recently finished my first romantic suspense manuscript and I was a finalist in the Daphne du Maurier contest! I didn't belong to any local nor online writing groups. And just days before the conference I received rejections from the first two agents I'd queried. They'd both asked for partials and I had been flying high then really hit rock bottom when both rejected me. I think I walked around that conference pretty much like a victim of shell shock. I did receive my first editor request for a partial (ultimately rejected, but oh well), made some great contacts, all other writers.

At the 2006 conference, I was a Golden Heart finalist and on top of the world! I got to meet a lot of people face-to-face that I only knew online (including many of my fellow GH finalists who eventually became Banditas). People would see my ribbon and congratulate me, which was great, and my BFF who lived in Atlanta at the time got to attend the awards ceremony with me. I didn't win the Golden Heart (but my friend and CP Jo Robertson did!), but I still felt like a winner. I even met the editor to whom I would eventually make my first sale, though I had no way of knowing that at the time. As conferences go, they don't get much better. However, the post conference let down (and not selling my GH finalist manuscript) was a real B*TCH!

This year should be an entirely new experience yet again. This year I'll get to wear my "First Sale" ribbon and bask in the glow of being published! I'll get to schmooze with My Editor, My Publicist, and even My Publisher! I have even more online friends I'm looking forward to meeting face-to-face and I can't wait to hang out with all my Banditas. Who knows what other wonderful adventures are in store for me, but I can't wait to find out!

Don't worry, you'll all get a FULL REPORT when I get back!