Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

RWA Day Four & Five: Lovely RITA

I'll be honest, the last day of conference is always a blur for me.  By this point exhaustion usually sets in, and any hope of memory retention is laughable.  I had every intention of getting up for the Kensington and NAL booksignings on Saturday morning.  Um, yeah.  My alarm went off and I so wasn't feeling it.  KristieJ, on the other hand, went.  I later saw what books she came back with and was happy to see that the ones she scored that I was also interested in?  Yeah, I had already purchased at the Literacy Signing.  So sleeping in until 9AM was the way to go for me.

Me and Sarah Morgan - Pre-RITAs
The one thing that stands out as far as the daylight hours is that I ran into Barbara Wallace - who was the last of the Harlequin Romance brigade I was really hoping to see.  She caught me as I was coming out of the elevator, so we were able to chat for a few moments.

I also, was as good as my word, and only shipped back one more box of books.  So that means Wendy hit an all-time best of shipping back only two boxes from conference.  They're getting delivered to my office - so all my coworkers can discover the depths of my addiction (too late).  In the end though it was the ebooks that did me in.  I just counted.  Yeah, 54 - between Avon and Samhain.  Brilliant.  Simply brilliant!

After shipping the last box it was time to get gussied up for the RITAs.  I had a cocktail party invite before hand, and after calling in reinforcements (Rosie - Kristie needed three hands to zip up my dress), I was ready to par-tay!  I finally ran into Smart Bitch Sarah and Angela James, and got my picture taken with the lovely Sarah Morgan, who later on in the evening scored her second RITA for the second year in a row!  She won for A Night Of No Return, which I read and enjoyed - and you all should read it too (says me).

I actually attended the RITAs with all my partners in crime - World Famous Authors, Carolyn Crane and LB Gregg, Rosie and Kristie.  We shared a table with Blythe and Lynn from All About Romance.  It was a good show, and I was so happy for Sarah Morgan and Karen Templeton for their wins (Karen has now won three RITAs in the same category so is officially in RWA's Hall Of Fame!).  

Party People!  Carolyn Crane, LB Gregg, Rosie, Kristie, and me.
Samhain had a post-RITA bash that I hear was off-the-chain, but I was beat - plus I needed to pack.  LB's flight was scheduled to leave about 30 minutes before mine and Rosie's - so we all shared an SUV to the airport.  Once at the airport, Rosie and I saw lots of other conference attendees milling about.  She ran into Sherry Thomas, and we actually shared a plane with Jill Shalvis.  

Our respective men arrived just as our luggage came down the conveyor belt, and we went our separate ways.  I managed to get unpacked (which, other than toiletries, was a simple matter of dumping my entire suitcase into the laundry basket!), and My Man, bless his soul, declared that we should order a pizza for dinner.

Since I have some brains in my head, I did take tomorrow off of work to recuperate, plus deal with minor details like laundry and grocery shopping.  It's back to the salt mines tomorrow, and bitter, bitter reality.

I had a great conference, met so many fantastic people, caught up with folks I had already "met" in previous years, and even learned a thing or two.  We're already talking about San Antonio next year. I figure by then I should be fully recovered from Atlanta.

10 comments:

w said...

San Antonio next year? Hmmm. Tempting. Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Is this the conference that is more reader friendly? Obviously since you, Rosie and KristieJ attend almost every year together it must be. So you received 54 ebooks that are pre-publication? Glad you have Monday off to recoup. Thanks for sharing your time there.

Phyl said...

I enjoyed all of your reports. Thanks for taking the time to do that. So glad everyone had a good time.

Wendy said...

Keishon: RWA is more "writer" and RT is both, but definitely more "reader." I haven't been able to swing RT yet (so am ignorant), but I like RWA from a professional, career standpoint and by this point I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who attend. Rosie and Kristie (I suspect) like it because over the years they've made similar connections.

The conference IS expensive. But if San Antonio is close for you - I recommend the Literacy Signing. Also, a couple of people just came in for the heck of it - didn't pay for conference, so didn't attend any "conference stuff," but hung out at the bar, met folks, arranged meetings etc. GrowlyCub and MsLizaLou on Twitter :)

I only got about 3 (?) books pre-pub. The upcoming Rachel Gibson (which I gave to Kristie cuz she's a fan), Mary Balogh, and an ebook at the Avon Impulse digital signing (that will be delivered to my email on release date). Most everything else is already "out." But RWA is a great way for me to get signed copies of favorite authors PLUS try new authors I'm curious about.

Wendy said...

Phyl: Consensus from folks I spoke with was that it was "a really good conference." Writers felt reenergized and I got my head wrapped around my job again (RWA always makes me "feel good" as a librarian since so many authors tell me how awesome librarians are! Easy to forget when the realities of public librarianship are so....uh, unglamorous).

w said...

Thanks for clarifying.I had assumed RWA was more in line with your interests and career. I wasn't sure what it offered readers. San Antonio is in my neck of the woods. I appreciate the advice and thanks.

little alys said...

Thank you so much for your wonderful and detailed updates about RWA. Makes me feel like I was there, except I wasn't, and really wanted to. Lol. Thank you for loving this blog so much and letting me gleam off of it. ;)

It sounded like a blast and I can't wait to see your book reviews. I also loved knowing all partying you and the other bloggers/authors are going to. It sounds so fun!

Ah, as for the Sarah Morgan book, I tried buying it from several places and they're already sold out...I got her other books though. :)

Please rest up! You're super the librarian but even super librarians needs rest.

AnimeJune said...

Sounds like you had another amazing time!! So jelly.

I've been getting WAY more into eBooks now that I finally have a *decent* eReader (my adorable Kobo Mini). So interested to learn that publishers are now handing out eBooks as goodies. A more cost-effective idea, for sure!

Wendy said...

Alys: Super Librarian still has a hoarse voice! Not sick though, and throat doesn't hurt - so I'm sure it will bounce back in a couple more days :)

Wendy said...

AnimeJune: I walked into the Avon signing saying to myself, "Well I'll look around and maybe pick up a couple of things...." Seriously, I was thinking like TWO books. Once I found out they had digital - I went crazy. Not every Avon author had ebooks, but the majority of them did. Samhain did about half and half. Half the authors just had ebooks, the other half just had print.

I'm really hoping next year more publishers offer the option. I still like and read print, but when the conference isn't local for me, getting ebooks is way more cost effective re: no shipping required!

nath said...

Look at you guys! You look great!!! :) Glad you were able to meet all the Harlequin authors you wanted to! :P Doesn't that give you an accomplishment feeling? LOL.