Fresh Fiction goes to SF and the RWA Conference...
Our main objective on this trip was the annual Romance Writers of America
convention in San Francisco. We arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon
and spent the rest of day relaxing and getting ready to go-go-go. We closed down
on Saturday night after FOUR JAM PACKED DAYS!!! I'm not sure how to cover it
all, so I'll just try to hit some of the highlights.
The Fresh Fiction team met, some of us
for the
first time face-to-face, and had dinner before the big literacy signing on
Wednesday night. We were all in pink -- except for Gwen who had an incident with
a tire and "gup-covered" luggage at the airport -- so we were easy to spot! And
had our gold name tags! I think was a first no one forgot theirs (since I'm
usually the culprit, I've gotta mention this triumph!). From dinner it was off
to the signing, a MASSIVE crowd in the main ball room!
We
missed the long lines but arrived by 5:50pm so no one had left as they tend to
do when they've sold all their books, or don't have any to sell. We've gotten
smarter over the years and have our lists all ready so we can cover most of the
authors. So if we missed any, we're sorry, we did try really really hard! And
then of course, our first catastrophe of the night struck. The battery on Gwen's
camera gave out. As it's one of those rechargeable ones, we had to rely on
Mindy, Faye, and Tanzey to carry with the rest of the evening. I'd type up a
list of authors I saw, but that would take the rest of the space. So check out
our RWA photos on Flickr and get an idea! Also we're missing some names for the
photos, if you can help us match them up, we'd be grateful!
After the
signing, and YES THEY TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS ON US, we went up to the bar to
regroup. Tanzey and Suan headed for bed as they'd been at the librarian meetings
all day, but Gwen and Mindy went to a few parties, Sherrilyn Kenyon's,
the Romance Bandits and another they can't remember. Faye and I rested at the
bar -- do NOT ever get a green tea tini, it tastes worse than bad cough syrup --
and chatted with authors.
Faye, Tanzey and Suan
joined the fabulous Nancy Berland team
for dinner! They are all TRULY a delight to work with. Gwen, Mindy and I went to
Famous John's Steak House where Gwen managed to confuse the server with her
cowfish request. She was tired, and wanted "meat." A fun time was had by all!
More meetings, publisher meet-and-greets, meetings, and
PARTIES!!! We split up with all the team members doing different things:
attending some workshops, one-on-one with authors, publishers and others. In
other words, work work work. But Friday night is the traditional evening for
networking and celebrating. We did some of that on Friday night at the
Ballantine party, St. Martin's party -- I missed the St. Martini their signature
drink. I am assured it was deLicious! On to the Berkley / NAL party
-- crowded and noisy but fun seeing Angela Knight, Christine Feehan and Celeste.
Then it was on to the Harlequin Party at the Four Seasons. With dancing, great
food, decadence chocolate and a great crowd of people, the HQ party is the one
not to miss! Check out the
infamous tree falling as well as the conga line.
I'm only sorry I can't find photos of the handsome men in kilts! A great time
was had by most!
Saturday, August 2nd
More meetings, publisher
meet-and-greets, dinner with one of my favorite authors, Marie Bostwick and then
the sad departures. We admired our friends in their festive RITA outfits and
wished them all the best! Bringing us books we love to read and talk about is
the top in our minds!
Sara Reyes Fresh Fiction.com ...for today's reader
Don't miss THE Fresh Fiction Readers Conference on October 11th, 2008!
With Sherrilyn Kenyon and many other favorite authors. Details at Readers-n-ritas.org -- celebrate
passionate literary obsessions.
And for your pleasure, our photos!!! Click on a thumbnail to see the picture! Be
Aware, there are almost a hundred photos! Visit Flickr to
comment...we LOVE comments!!
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