It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and I am just now waking up. This weekend was a whirlwind and the are no signs of it slowing down.
On Friday I attended the new author panel and book signing of my colleagues Rose Lerner, Gayle Ann Williams, Marie-Claude Bourque and Amy Rench at the Redmond Borders. It was a fun evening listening to their stories. However, my favorite part of the night was realizing that we were sitting in the erotica section. Perusing the erotica shelves with other romance novelists is highly entertaining, and led to an ideal of holding a workshop for men entitled “What Women Really Want.”
Saturday afternoon was spent working on the Emerald City Writer’s Conference. I am assistant registration chair this year and I was learning the ropes from Carol the reg. chair. Organization is the key when handling 250 attendees and their preferences for meals, editor/agent appointments, and other affiliations. Alyssa Day and Brenda Novak will be speaking and it is shaping up to be a great conference.
Later on I went to work at my sister’s where I am the bookkeeper for her event planning business. While entering in time sheets and receipts, we dished on the latest episodes of Vampire Diaries and Glee. I love those shows.
The night ended with a plotting party that quickly turned into a wine tasting party with Gwen, Christa, Danielle, Vivenne, Marianne and Natalie. There was lots of laughter, food, storytelling, and oh-yeah, wine drinking. Learning and listening to everyone’s life and writing experiences had me laughing my ass off. While not a whole lot of actual plotting was done, it went a long way to getting a feel for where everyones’ personalities and writing styles lay. It is so difficult to offer advice or an opinion to someone you have just met. Knowing where they are coming from makes a world of difference to me.
Up next is the Writer’s at Sea cruise. Three days with Mary Buckham and Dianna Love on a Carnival cruise along the Mexican coast. The plan is to work hard and play hard. My hope is that by the end of the weekend I’ll come away with the entire second book of my superhero series plotted. I know it is possible despite the allure of sunshine and rum at the Serenity pool.
As far as my writing, I finished the second draft of the first superhero novel. Progress is being made amongst all of the fun.