Wow....where to begin!  It's Tuesday morning and I'm not sure I've recovered yet from the conference.  It really was overload.  So much information.  So many women to meet.  So much to do.  But it was definitely worth it!  I came away with a wealth of new information and it was beyond beneficial to me.  Plus, it was a lot of fun being there in Dallas with Alice. Our flights out of Dallas Sunday morning went very smoothly.  I landed in Tampa at 2:30 and Alice arrived in Boston with no delays.

As I'd mentioned, on Thursday we really needed to get away from the noise and constant crowds and lines at the hotel.  So we got a taxi and went over to the West End and had dinner at the highly recommended RJ's Mexican restaurant.  Authentic and delicious!  And the Margarita's were super!

And here's Alice enjoying her meal and drink.......

And no girl time would be complete without shopping......I got myself a great pair of Minnetakas sandals. (Actually, they were mandatory....based on the blisters I'd already acquired!) And I got tee shirts and assorted things for the grandchildren.  Wild Bill's was a great shop with lots of western/Texan type things.

I've been a member of RWA for five years, but this was my first conference.  So I wasn't sure what to expect.  What I didn't expect was the incredible friendliness, support, encouragement and friendship I found there.  It didn't matter if it was Nora Roberts or an author with her first sale.....everyone wanted to be helpful.  Since Nora Roberts is also a smoker, she was always outside talking to all of us.  It was hard to believe that with all her success she's so down-to-earth and natural.  I was impressed. 

They only had one book signing where you purchased the books and the money was donated to Adult Literacy......we were told at the luncheon on Saturday they took in $50,000 from that signing, which was great.  All the other signings were free.....loads of books.....all from the publishers for promotions.  And many of them were advance copies.....so we got signed copies before the book has even been released to the public.  If you weren't familiar with a particular author, their hope was that you'd take the free book, enjoy her writing, tell your friends and purchase books in the future.  So I'll keep you posted as I read them.  Oh...but the lines!  They never ended for the book signings.  There were two a day. 

Without exaggeration, I bet I have enough reading material to last me the whole year.  The hotel's business office provided the service of shipping the books home UPS.  Just about all of us took advantage of this......there was NO way you could get all those books and goodies home in luggage.  So my shipment will probably arrive by the end of the week.

Another author that I was very impressed with was Lisa Kleypas.....stunningly beautiful with a personality and friendliness to match. (I found out from her website that she was Miss Massachusetts back in 1986)  Not an ounce of ego in her.  She was so chatty at her signings, asking questions, not rushing anybody and proving she's one author that remained balanced despite her huge success. (My kind of woman) Here she is signing......

So....what did "I" personally get out of the conference?  Well....I did meet with the editor of Silhouette Sat. morning and she's asked for my complete manuscript.  As many of you might know...this is far from a guarantee.  But if it's something they think they can sell, then it's another step up that difficult ladder.  I also learned all the different and varied lines that publishers have.  And I also realized that maybe I need to begin branching out in my own writing.  I have a paranormal partially finished manuscript in my computer.....I started it about 4 years ago and got no further.  It takes place in Salem, Mass. (my home town and birthplace) Maybe I need to focus and finish it.  I also found out one publisher wants nothing but medical romances and they want RN's as the authors.  Perhaps I need to continue utilizing my nursing career and education and put it to use with some writing. 

I came away from the conference with unlimited possibilities and options.  All of which I'll be focusing on over the next few months.  And the friendships.....I met so many nice women but two in particular.....Dawn from Milwaukee and Donna from Alberquerque.  The four of us just seemed to click from day one and over the five days, we learned a lot about each other, our writing, etc.  So if you're reading this....hello to Dawn and Donna.  We exchanged emails and will most definitely keep in touch. 

Needless to say, I'm very glad that back in January I decided to attend this conference.  Who knows what the next year will bring for me?  Next years conference will be in San Francisco....so if you're an RWA member, you just might want to think about going.  And I just might see you there.

I'm now back to being buried on my final revisions to send off my manuscript, so I hope you'll understand that I'll be scarce in the blog world for a little while.  But I'll be stopping by to see what's going on with you very soon. 

Till then, take care and I'll see you here next time........