Say Goodbye To Wendy's Brain

I don't know why I always think that I'll be able to write semi-coherent blog posts while I'm at RWA.  I mean, it's not like I'm sleeping.  Also, every time I attend, no matter that I've been to these conferences several times, I always seem to hit Sensory Overload, and my brain starts to slide out of my ears.  I know Wendy Losing Her Brains isn't all that surprising (you're thinking, "Wow, Wendy has brains?  Who knew?) - but yeah, the conference really hasn't even started yet, and I've already hit maximum danger levels.  This doesn't bode well for everybody concerned since the Awards luncheon (did you hear?  I'm Librarian Of The Year!) isn't until Thursday.  Oh well, let's get crackin' and hopefully this will make some sense.

I hit the ground running yesterday with Librarians Day.  RWA always does a nice job planning this, and I'm not just saying that because I was presenting this year.  My topic du jour was Harlequin 101.  The best way to describe it?  Harlequin For Dummies.  Me and one of the editors, Mary-Theresa Hussey, talked a little bit about the history of the company, and then proceeded to walk through the category lines and talk about them step by step.  So for example?  The variety of settings in Harlequin Historical.  That Harlequin Intrigue is a wee bit heavier in the suspense department than Harlequin Romantic Suspense.  And, oh yeah - that the Silhouette name has gone bye-bye. 

Mary-Theresa and I were prepared, but I had never met her before, and she had never met me before.  We chatted over e-mail and got our ducks in a row, but when you're on a panel, without a moderator overseeing things, you never know if your styles are going to "mesh" well.  But I thought we did just dandy, and people seemed to like us.

The luncheon speaker this year was Julia Quinn (that's her in the picture), who did a lovely job.  She was funny and told us all a story about a reader letter she once received that made me cry.  I ate lunch with the lovely Trinity Feagen and Lifetime Achievement Award Winner this year, Sharon Sala.

After all this hulla-bullo, it was networking time!  I picked up quite a few items in the Librarian Goodie Room, which was picked clean within a matter of minutes.  I also got a chance to talk to several authors, like Michelle Willingham, Vivien Arend, K.A. Mitchell, HelenKay Dimon, Leslie Kelly, Jill Shalvis, and a whole host of others my brain is blanking on right now.

I then hit my room to drop off my stuff, then to connect with KristieJ and Nath who had arrived at the conference hotel.  Our grand plan this year was to avoid the line at the Literacy Signing, which went out the door of the hotel and down the street.  We hung out in the bar for a few minutes, then went down to the ballroom.  Now, we were in a ballroom - but it wasn't the world's biggest ballroom considering the hordes there (hence, no pictures, because I suck like that).  I picked up a few things for colleagues and myself - but there were a bunch of folks I missed just because of the sheer madness of the place.  I was very happy to meet Karen Templeton, live and in the flesh, and also Megan Hart. 

After all that it was time to hit the bar and hang out with folks for the second Blogger Bar Bash.  People came and went, stopped by to say "Hi!", and by midnight I was too pooped to party.  So back to my room where I managed to fall into bed.

Today is a big day for me, and hopefully I'll take some more pictures!  It was so nuts at the Literacy Signing that my camera never left my purse.  Sigh.  But I am having a great time, and enjoying the Librarian Love Fest, even if my brain is sliding out of my ears. 

(Note: sure enough, as the week wears on I get lazier.  Linkage on this post will happen....uh, after the fact.  I know, I suck.).