Run Wendy Run

OK, I'm officially done. I've hit the wall, backed up to get a running start and hit it again. I'm just beat. Which makes me exceedingly glad I had no plans/invites/obligations for Friday night. I had a nice quiet dinner with Rosie, and now I'm up in my hotel room blogging, vegging, and letting my brain decompress. So, what did I do today? You know, before I ran straight into a wall? Well, let me tell you....

My voice is toast. It's getting to be slightly comical that every year at RWA I end up sounding like a poor man's Kathleen Turner, but there you have it. So I hit the bar this morning to get some Earl Grey loaded with honey and made my way to two Publisher Spotlights. The Kensington Spotlight was slightly disappointing for me because I was hoping for some tidbits on upcoming releases and/or new authors they had signed, and it was mainly all about their company and how to submit to them - which admittedly 99.9% of the audience was likely more interested in. Heh. But some interesting tidbits? They're the largest independent publisher that deals in multiple formats (so hard cover and paperback), and they've not only been making money, they've seen growth in recent years.

The other Spotlight I got to today was for Pocket, and that was very interesting, because they talked a lot about books/authors. Some big news? Anne Stuart will be writing a paranormal series for them under the name "Christina (Kristina?) Douglas," and Teresa Medeiros has a book scheduled for early 2011 entitled Goodnight Tweetheart (yep, told entirely in tweets/Twitter-style). The editors described it as "funny, witty and smart."

In the Big Pimpin' department - lots o' love for Meredith Duran - along with new-to-Pocket authors Carrie Lofty and Kris Kennedy. I was sitting next to Lynn from AAR and I'm amazed both of us didn't jump out of seats, squeee and start dancing in the aisle. Pocket has also launched Pocket After Dark - a social networking-style site where their authors and readers can connect.

There were a few publisher booksignings today, including Harlequin, Avon, Berkley and Pocket. I attended all four and picked up just a few books. Honestly, I scored the biggest haul for my Lil' Sis. There seems to be quite a few YA authors this year! I also picked up some books for friends and coworkers - even braving Nora's line (which honestly, was fairly reasonable) to pick up some signed books for our Noraholic ILL clerk in the office. I also happened to run into SandyM from TGTBTU before one of these signings and she must have thought me totally brain-dead because it took me more than a few minutes to realize that she was the Sandy that I "know" from TGTBTU. Geez Wendy. Where is your brain? Oh yeah, it's toast.

I then spent about an hour at a Carina Press sponsored cocktail party where I caught up with the fabu So. Cal. author, Zoe Archer, along with Samhain and soon-to-be Carina author, Vivian Arend, newly minted Pocket author, Carrie Lofty, and Dear Author reviewer Sarah Franz.

After all of this, my voice was even more shot than before, and tomorrow is another full day capped off by the Golden Heart/RITA award ceremony. For that reason, I suspect this might be my last blog post from Orlando. Which means a recap of the final day may have to wait until after I'm back in So. Cal. In which case, happy trails, safe travels, and I'll see you all on the other side of the world.