I just came back from the Romance Writers Conference in Atlanta this year, and it was lots of fun, just like usual. For those of you who have never been, or heard of this, the conference is an annual event, whereas about two thousand romance writers get together and have sessions on yes, you guessed it, writing romances. There are sessions are plotting, character development, love scenes, Scottish history, how to write a Navy SEAL, guns and how they kill, erotica, and writing the realistic shapeshifter. Anything truly goes. The writers are there, New York Times Bestsellers: Nora Roberts, Linda Howard (I heard she was there, didn't see her), Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Julia London (and no, she's not a snob, not even a small snobby bone in her body, and besides, she's from Austin, so snobbery is impossible). And so many, many more.
On Wednesday night, there is the annual literacy booksigning. This is a huge crush, and for some reason it always reminds me of the high school dance where all the authors are lined up against the wall (actually we sit behind tables) and you have the big name authors, with people lined up thousands deep (well, maybe that's an exaggeration), and then you have the medium popular writers, with a steady flow of people wanting books, and then you have the newer authors that no one has heard of (yet), and they sit at their tables, trying not to look like they care, but, speaking as someone who was once a new author, it's very difficult, and is usually best done with alcohol. The girl next to me actually brought a flask. I thought it was a marvelous idea.
The sessions start on Thursday, and then Thursday night is when the parties start. Publisher parties are a rite of passage for an author moving from unpublished to published. It's like when you turn sixteen and now you get your driver's license. The parties involve dinners, or a fancy cocktail party. It's always interesting to watch people here, because there's such a huge span of power at work. You have the top dogs, and then you have "everyone else". There are people who are tres excellent at working the room -- I will see that I am not one of them, however, I do better now than when I first started. And the interesting thing about this, is that it never fails that if you listen to the person you are talking to, you will discover something fascinating about their life. I met an editor who had come to New York because she wanted to be a ballet dancer. I met another editor who has a place in the cool, single part of New York, but she wants to move in a couple of years, because there's a unwritten age limit for females in the cool, single part of New York. And the stories go on. I think this is my favorite part of the conference, not because of the elitism of the rituals, but because you get to see editors, publishers, booksellers, and New York Times authors as people. Real people, who have hopes and dreams and flaws and fears, just like everyone else.
On Friday night, is the Big Dawg of the parties. The Harlequin party. Please note that this is the party that all editors and agents crash because it's just fun. There's a band, a HUGE dance floor, and a good five hundred women, plus maybe two men are dancing their little tushies off. I should say that I never dance, mainly because I have three left feet, however, there are tons of people (and I count my friends among them) who do. This year the party was at the Ritz Carlton, and it was just as elegant as you've heard.
As for conference gossip, there's not a lot. The industry was upbeat, very positive, paranormal is still hot, historical is doing okay, romantic comedy is struggling. Oh, oh, oh, rumor has it that Julie Garwood is TRULY writing another historical. I hope so. I love, love, love her historicals….
Next year the conference will be in Dallas, which will be hot, but fun (Dallas is where I was raised).
I think I've covered all the basis.
Toodles.
