Deborah's Blog: The RWA Conference

It's Thursday, Bright and Early Again!

I'm not really a "jet lag" kinda person. I can adapt pretty well, so I'm up at 6:15am and ready for the keynote with Janet Evanovich. My first thought on entering the ballroom is: "This is one huge, honkin' conference"! I learn there are 2000 attendees.

Janet is fun, (of course) joking about her broken foot, (she fell off the stage in Toronto) and confessing to be the author of 12 romance novels before she created Stephanie Plum. I'm amazed that her writing life is so organized and recognize she has truly created a publishing empire. I love hearing about rich, talented and successful women. What great role models they are for us aspiring to build our own writing careers.

Chapple had reminded me that the National Zoo was just up the street and said the magic word.

Pandas. I'd forgotten about them, and so headed out to meet her and see those cute, cuddly bears. But first, there are otters. I confess, these are my favorite animals.. (next to my cats). They just look like they have nothing more on their mind than having fun.

But, I'm here to see the Panda bears, and force myself to move on.

And how cute is this creature? My son Garth had a stuffed panda bear named "Foo-Foo" and I just can't believe that this live animal is as cute.

We end up at the family zoo and realize we have to walk back through the entire zoo to leave. It's getting HOT, very HOT.

Chapple starts to pack up for her trip home, and I head out to attend some workshops.

The day ends with a cocktail party at the hotel for the Chick-Lit RWA chapter, and I finally meet Paige Wheeler from the Folio Literary Agency. She works with my "Darlin' Jeff" who co-owns the agency. Paige will be coming out to Seattle for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference at the end of the month, so we chat about fun things to do with kids. Her baby is just 15 months old, so I have some suggestions for great places to visit.

So far, lots of fun, lots of information about romance publishing and great people!