Aug 2 2010
RWA Round Up: View from the Couch
I didn’t go to RWA, in part because RWA broke up with me, but also because I went to TOC, RT, and RomCon in 2010. RWA would have been overkill, but I will tell you that as I read the blogposts and saw the tweets, I was totally mopey of all the fun that the women in our romance community were enjoying and that I wasn’t there to enjoy it with them!
Twitter has really made it easier to follow along thus increasing my jealousy and pacifying my curiosity all at the same time. Hashalbum is a website that creates a photo album of all the photos taken and tweeted using a hashtag (number sign + text). Here is the hashalbum for #rwa2010. (photos so if you are on dial up prepare for a long download)
Here are some great conference wrapups:
- Jessica Scott, author, thanks her husband for helping her out during the week.
- Jill Shalvis has some fun pictures.
- Wendy, the Superlibrarian, has a few blog posts all conveniently tagged “RWA 2010″. Yeah for tagging. The big news she reports is that Anne Stuart has a paranormal series being published by Pocket.
- Kristie J attended RWA for the fourth year in a row and has come up with the perfect response to the “do you write” question because of course she writes but she doesn’t write books. I love that response Kristie J and I am totally stealing it!
- AnimeJune, another Canadian, has her pre-RWA post up and I await her post-RWA summary because I think she has some exciting answers to the pre-RWA questions she posed.
- A much followed travelogue of RWA was penned by aspiring author, Patrick Alan. Someone tells me that this is a parody of Old Spice man and I guess I am not sufficiently familiar with Old Spice man to get the parody but the travelogue is entertaining.
Probably my favorite thing to watch from the couch was the video mashup created by Sarah at SmartBitches. She’s so talented!
Watching the conference from the couch gave me some perspective. I really liked the daily updates and while I know this is hard because you are so tired at the end of the day, it’s appreciated by the crowd at home. I loved seeing all the pictures. When I am at conferences, I don’t know what to take a photo of but now, having been at home, I realize that any picture is a good picture. Pictures make it seem even more like the reader at home was there.
Any one have summary of RWA that they particularly liked? Got some conference covering suggestions for me in the future?
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Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:04:55
Very true. I got a kick out of all the pics of questionable food. And I really liked the one of SBSarah and Nora. And the ones of Meredith Duran in her fancy dress.
I so want to go to a huge book signing and buy tons of books … for charity. :) I was briefly excited about RT 2011 until I realized by LA they meant L.A.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:09:32
@MaryK:
I don’t believe Meredith was at RWA this year. She’s in Peru this summer.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:21:28
@Janine: Gah! Don’t tell me I got her name wrong! Maybe it’s best I don’t go to cons if that’s the best I can do.
PS – It was Courtney Milan. Sheesh!
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:22:23
Video = brilliant!
It absolutely is. Thanks to all the folks who attended and let everyone know what was happening.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:33:49
@MaryK: Don’t worry about it, it could happen to anybody. But just so you know what Meredith looks like, there’s a brief video interview with her here.
@Shuzluva: Agreed, SB Sarah’s video is the awesome and the efforts of all the RWA bloggers very much appreciated.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:54:56
How cute is Beverly Jenkins in that video? She was so enthusiastic, I had to smile.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 11:56:34
My big accomplishment this year was that I actually did some blogging during daylight hours. Last year I always seemed to be blogging at 2AM – and that gets real old, real quick.
I threw that Anne Stuart news in there because I knew a lot of people would find that interesting – but I was ecstatic to hear that Kris Kennedy has a new medieval coming out with Pocket early 2011. I really liked her first two medievals with Zebra. I knew about Carrie Lofty moving to Pocket – but was happy to hear how enthusiastic her editor was about her new books :)
And yes, yeah for tagging! LOL
Aug 02, 2010 @ 12:07:31
I didn’t quite follow RWA events on Twitter, but when I saw someone’s – @cjewel (Carolyn Jewel), I think? – photo of Courtney Milan’s red gown, my jaw was on the floor. It looked so awesome. Also, there is one – sorry, I don’t know her name – who had a Steampunk-inspired amber gown that looked fantastic. As a person with zero interest in fashion, my reactions were quite a revelation.
To whomever tweeted a note that Anne Stuart’s backlist will be digitalised in the near future: massive thanks for the heads up. That made my evening.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 12:14:10
@Janine: I haven’t seen MD before, but I DO know what CM looks like. I think it was a Milan-Duran thing. My brain is glitchy like that. ::roll::
Aug 02, 2010 @ 12:18:05
Thank you for the compliments! I am so happy the video shows off how excited and eager the readers and writers at RWA were to connect at the signing.
But I totally missed seeing you, J.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 12:55:22
No video for me in Germany *sigh* It has music from Sony Entertainment and can therefore not be shown in my country *double sigh* Ah well.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 12:56:22
I’ve loved all the blog postings and really appreciate the effort that went into them. I may actually have to go to a convention one of these years.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 13:15:35
I had my camera and fully intended to take pictures. Did I? No. Not a single one. Lame, I iz it.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 13:24:23
I actually heard about Anne Stuart’s paranormal series a while ago, on Stuart’s blog. I think the first book is called Raziel, and she’s publishing under the name Kristina Douglas. Was I the only one who knew about that?
I didn’t realize the publisher was Pocket though. I assumed it’d be Harlequin.
@MaryK: Stuff that happens to me too.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 15:18:11
@Maili:
I wish someone had taken a picture of me on all fours before Courtney Milan’s gown, looking for the strap that would allow her to take up her train.
I found it, by the way. :-)
Aug 02, 2010 @ 15:35:49
Shiloh Walker has the kind of recap on her site that I like where she names authors and the bars.
I really liked the interview with Nora Roberts, in the Orlando Sentinel that came out the Wednesday before RWA, promoting the conference.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 16:11:47
Sarah’s video so rocked it. She really captured the ‘aura’ of the literacy signing. We watched it first on Wendy’s laptop where we watched a bit, then had to wait for it to load more, watched a bit more and so on. And even that way it was the awesome. But seeing the whole thing without interruption – it’s da bomb!
And *g* you can totally steal the line anytime! Because that’s what all of us bloggers do – all because we love the genre so much – the ups and the downs.
For me one of the biggest thrills was getting Nora to sign a book as JD Robb to my whole department that I’m giving them tomorrow. My last day with them was the Friday before I left for RWA. The JD Robb club is growing there and now they have an autographed book (as well as Naked in Death for them all to start)
Another one was getting Lisa Kleypas to sign a book for a coworker who asked me to bring one back for her.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 17:07:09
@Janine What is Stuart’s series about? Is it about fallen angels. I recall reading about it but I don’t remember details. Can you fill us in?
Aug 02, 2010 @ 21:46:57
@Vi: All I know about the Stuart series is what you’ve said — that it’s about fallen angels. I was also able to find out online that the first book is coming out January 25, 2011. Wish I could tell you more.
Aug 02, 2010 @ 22:35:47
@Maili: That was me. I was really excited because I was complaining just a few days ago about her non-digitized backlist.
Aug 03, 2010 @ 07:39:50
Jane, I paced my house as RT unfolded in Columbus so there was no way I would miss RWA!
Many writers know that I write a blog rather than a book, so I didn’t encounter any question, “What do you write?” But it was fun to hear non-published writers squealed to their friends about pitching to an editor.
I volunteered at the Beau Monde Chapter Conference – many guests dressed in Regency gowns and danced a country jib at our Soiree.
I volunteered at the Literacy signing, “curving” the lines of Nora Roberts and Sherilyn Kenyon so they did not cross each other (although it was clear which fan was seeking which author).
I partied with friends from the Washington Romance Writers and chatted with new friends, including Jill Shalvis, who demonstrated a refreshing attitude.
I was first in front of Sherry Thomas during her publisher’s book signing – she is also another refreshing author. Her speech during the awards ceremony was funny, noting her disappointment to learn that a governess was not a lady governor.
And I met the infamous bloggers – Sarah, Wendy, Rosie, Kristie, AztecLady, and more – who confirmed that reading romance is the essence of life.
Kids are back in school today so pehaps I can read the 100+ books I lugged home. The TSA agents were curious if I was a writer after scanning my luggage!