I’m home and a flipping loser, at that. (Don’t worry, I’m not sore, this was a joke between my husband and meJ)  The lovely Lenora Bell won the historical GH category, and as she and I have been critique reading each other’s manuscripts, I couldn’t be happier for her. That girl is going places, and I plan to hang onto the hem of her cute little dresses to the top *wink*.

What I loved

While I wouldn’t call myself wildly extroverted, neither do I cower at the thought of talking to strangers, so I thoroughly enjoyed all the social time. For me, the best part was mingling with a slew of published authors, hanging out with my Golden Heart® Dreamweavers, and meeting two other Badgirlz for the first time.

Another highlight was spending one on one time with my agent, Kevan Lyon. She gave me a to-do-list a mile long, words of encouragement, and generally got me pumped up about my burgeoning career. Hey, if she has faith in me and my writing, I should have the same.

The Rita/GH award ceremony was funny and touching and inspiring. Even my husband drank the Kool-aid! He left totally pumped about romance writing. It was extremely well done, and I would encourage any conference goers to hang out that extra night and attend. It didn’t hurt that I was at a VIP table next to Eloisa James, Sarah MacLean, and Kristin Higgins.

What I didn’t love quite so much

I’ll not sugar coat it—I was very disappointed in the workshops. As someone who thrived in academics, I looked forward to learning new things I could apply to my writing and focused on the Craft and Marketing tracks. Most of the information was geared toward beginning writers or was just plain logical. Maybe I picked poorly.

The novella workshop was motivating, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t already know. “A novella should be the most intense slice of your characters’ lives.” That was my takeaway. Oh, and somehow worm your way into an anthology with a NY Times bestseller if you want to kick your career up a gearJ. Simple, right?

Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips had a very entertaining chat. The takeaway that stuck—“Your writing voice is like your accent. You can’t hear it, but everyone else can.” Also, I was encouraged by the fact neither one of those women plot their books! Both are panster-extraordinaires.

I learned the most from Laura Kaye’s marketing workshop. Funnily enough, she brought 30 copies of her material thinking no one would come (she was up against Nora). The room was jam-packed. The main takeaway was to use your Twitter and Facebook. And, she covered Tribrr, which I’d never heard of but will be investigating.

My Overall Impression

Because I was a Golden Heart finalist, my convention was probably different from a typical first-timer. I had a ready-made tribe of GH finalists who had already become friends over a Yahoo loop since the announcements in March. I also attended some pretty special functions (Caroline Linden’s cupcake party, I’m looking at you!).

Will I go again? Most assuredly. Will I go every year? Most assuredly not (unless I hit the NYTimes Bestseller ListJ). It’s expensive, people! And, it’s exhausting. I have young kids and working out babysitting is a hardship. (Thanks Mom!) My plan will be to alternate years at the most, and on my “off” years attend the GRW’s Moonlight and Magnolias mini-conference. I’m sure most of you have mini-conferences that are within driving distance.

Side-note

Not being much of a clothes hound, I didn’t really notice much of what people were wearing. Except for the ripped denim shirts of the mingling prepubescent “Cowboys” at the Amazon party. Seriously, did anyone else feel like perv? Anyway, I digress…I do have to give a shout-out to my fellow Badgirl Elizabeth Michels (Sourcebooks author of The Regency series Tricks of the Ton). After a very late night together in the hotel bar, I ran into her smiling self around 11AM the next day dressed in a sparkly sundress and 3-in+ high wedge sandals while I was stumbling around nursing sore feet and a headache. It was impressive.

Any other first-timers out there? What did you think of the conference?

The 2014 Romance Writers of America (RWA14) conference in San Antonio is a few days away. This will be my first time attending, and I’ll be going in style as a Golden Heart® finalist (a contest for unpublished authors). Last year was the first year I was even aware of the conference, and it was right down the road from me in Atlanta. I went to one event—my brand-new agent’s cocktail party. Since she lives on the west coast and I live on east coast, I thought we might never meet face to face, so I took advantage. I remember wandering the hotel floor feeling horribly out of place. As I passed a writer of a book I had recently finished on the way to the bathroom, I had the thought that I wasn’t a ‘real’ writer.

But, pour a couple of drinks down my gullet, and it was all good. Except for the fact, I couldn’t find my car later, but that’s a different story…

This year, my calendar is jammed packed with workshops, coffees, dinners, parties. Not only will I be a GH finalist, but both manuscripts that finaled have been contracted by Samhain Publishing and will be released next year. Contrary to my strange dreams of mom jeans and dancing like Elaine Benes amongst So You Think You Can Dance contestants, I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and socializing.

I’m ‘helping’ my fellow Badgirl Elizabeth Michels at the Literacy Signing, and by the glory of alphabetization, she’ll be next to Courtney Milan. Not to mention all of the other authors in the room. I’m going to try to be cool. Probably won’t succeed. Don’t judge if you see me babbling incoherently and being escorted out by security!

In addition to the signing and seeing my agent again, I’ll meet a couple of the other Badgirlz (Jeanette Grey, who is up for a Rita!, and Brighton Walsh) from our Badgirlz blog, AND I’ll finally get to meet the other Golden Heart® finalists.

With the scoring changes, we are about half the size as groups of past years. I like the intimacy of the Dreamweavers. It’s tradition for each GH class to pick a name—my fav, Chicks with WIPS didn’t make the cut:). We have a yahoo group that we post to regularly. We cheer each success and commiserate when those inevitable rejections roll in. I’ve been truly inspired by their life stories. An added bonus has been the expansion of critique partners from the group. The experience has been a lovely and wonderful.

On the night of the awards, someone will be named winner in each category. Although, I don’t think any of the rest of us will feel like we ‘lost’. All I’ve done is gain from being a finalist, and I believe all the other Dreamweavers would say the same. In fact, my fingers are crossed one of the other historical finalists will have their name called Saturday night. Perhaps, the winner will hook an agent or nab a publishing deal from one of the final judges.

And, I have another confession to make…I dislike jewelry. Not on other people, mind you, just on myself. I’ve had a weird aversion since childhood. Here, let me stretch out on the couch. See, it all started when my dear mother forced me to wear a necklace to church…

Well, it’s neither here nor there how it started. I don’t like metal. I don’t have my ears pierced, my watches have always been sporty, plastic watches, and in fact, the only jewelry I own/wear is my wedding ring. When I told my wonderfully supportive college girlfriends that the ‘prize’ for winning the GH was a necklace, they busted out laughing hysterically at the irony. Which only cements the fact that someone else should win. Someone who will want to wear the lovely necklace. I’d honestly prefer hanging the runner’s up certificate on my wall and congratulating the winner on getting a book deal.

Now on to packing and making sure my family has something to eat while I’m gone. See you in San Antonio!