Emerald City - Days 1 and 2

October 1-3 was the Emerald City Romance Writers Conference, which is one of the biggest writing conferences on the West Coast. With 250 attendees and a ton of published authors, it's a great opportunity to attend workshops, meet other writers, chat with published authors and pitch to agents and editors.

My weekend began early though -- as I host an event for authors and regional library staff that I've cheekily titled, "Read-Dating with Romance Authors". Librarians and other staff members have the opportunity to sit down and talk with the "pros" about the various sub-genres, their work and trends in romance. Every fifteen minutes the librarians move to a different table.






























There were gift bags, swag (promotional items), great fabric bags and books from Harlequin, magazines from Romantic Times Book Reviews, Romance Sells and giveaways from Romance Writer's of America. The authors attending donated books, snacks and other great stuff.























Barbara Vey of Publisher's Weekly, (Beyond Her Book) visited with us and even wrote about it on her blog the next day.

It was a great event, and I couldn't do it without all the fabulous authors and my special helpers, Mary Buckham and Pat White!



At the conference, Alyssa Day gave a wonderful keynote speech on Friday night. She brought the crowd from laughter to tears. Her analogy to "Cinderella" was priceless.

Cherry Adair awarded the participants in the "Write the Damned Book" challenge. It was wonderful to see so many women lined up. Cherry motivates a lot of writers with the challenge every year.

Then we heard from the editors and agents about what they were looking for, what excites them and where they see the market going.

Market Report: Contemporary romance is back, and pretty much everyone is looking for it.
Paranormal continues to be hot, but those present were looking for something different from vampires and werewolves, such as witches and different types of creatures. None of the editors were looking for Steampunk, but all of the agents were interested in finding out more. (Great news for me!) At least two people mentioned fantasy romance and Meredith Bernstein thinks it's time time for some type of story that involves the degradation of the planet, climate change and ecology.

Agents present:
Meredith Bernstein, looking for mainstream women's fiction, (Eat, Pray, Love), thrillers, suspense, literary fiction, Young Adult and romance with a twist. Came to the conference hoping to meet the next NY Times bestselling author.

Michelle Grajkowski (Three Seas), all of the same types of books that Meredith mentioned.

Emmanuelle Morgen (Judith Ehrlich Literary Agency), high concept women's fiction, paranormal thrillers, historical fiction, urban fantasy, all types of romance, Young Adult, esp. would like to see a contemporary romance set in a small town.

Marcy Posner (Folio Literary Agency), middle grade and young adult fiction, women's fiction, paranormal romance, historical fiction, mystery.
Editors present: Rose Hilliard, St. Martin's Press, all sub-genres of romance, (except Steampunk), women's fiction, Young Adult and humor.

Alex Logan (Grand Central), thrillers and women's fiction, contemporary romance.

Tessa Woodward (Harper Collins), dark paranormals, sexy historicals, fun contemporaries. Definitely not Westerns!

Since none of the editors present were especially interested in Steampunk, when I traded my appointment cards, (I had conflicts with programs I was going to present) I only took agent appointments. I really would love to sign with an agent, so I can focus on the writing and promotion and leave the selling to someone else.

I've learned not to put a lot of emotion into this pitching experience. I've had too many requests and too many rejections that say, "just not right for me"... so if I find someone I'd like to work with and they ask for a submission, I'll send the Steampunk partial to them.

And then I'll continue to write, because really -- that's the important thing.

Steampunk and More Workshopping at RWA

On Friday morning, (again at 8am) I present a workshop with Susan Gibberman and John Charles about selling your book and promoting it to libraries. This was really fun, because I learned as much about how other library systems work as the audience did. Because I work for one of the busiest, and best funded libraries in the US, I don't realize how many other libraries struggle with reduced staffing, minimal programming budgets and limited book $.

John is also the Romance Reviewer for Booklist magazine, so I was delighted to meet him and hear his take on the genre.

At the end of the 2 hour program, (whew - we did find things to talk for all that time) a small group of folks come up to ask us questions. A woman patiently waits, and I keep glancing at her name tag and thinking, I recognize that name....I wonder why?

When she introduces herself and hands me her newest book cover I realize she is Gail Dayton, and I morph into total fan-girl mode. I just finished reading her book, New Blood (a Steampunk Romance) and LOVED it. I'm so thrilled to meet her! And for those of you who don't know what Steampunk is - let me define it. It's a sub genre that is written in the Victorian age, that has elements of fantasy and the technology is based on steam. If you've seen the movies The Wild, Wild West or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen you've seen Steampunk.

Which brings up an interesting note: There are many editors and agents asking for this at the conference. I just finished reading a fall book coming out by Scott Westerfeld, Leviathan, and it is Steampunk, so maybe that's the reason. Anyway, I've been working on a YA book in this genre, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.

I'm now preparing for the Awards Luncheon, because this is the day I officially receive my Librarian of the Year award. The moment I've been waiting for, the fun, the excitement, the butterflies in my belly because I will be accepting this in front of 2500 people.

I get special seating at the front of the ballroom, and chat with my fellow honorees. Finally, the President of RWA begins to announce our names, and then it's my turn to go up on stage, and be on 5 giant screens!

After thanking RWA and my local chapter, Greater Seattle RWA, I tried to offer something in the way of words of wisdom, but short - very short, so this is what I said:

Words are important, stories are powerful and books can change lives. Please keep writing, because if you stop, we won't have anything to put on the shelves.

Maybe not brilliant, but certainly short. Then we listened to a wonderful speech by Eloisa James. She's funny, endearing and had great writing stories to share. I stayed behind to get a book signed and for a photo op.

Then it's Party Night! Friday evening is when the publishers have their parties and I'm off with my sweet little friend, Elizabeth, to the St. Martin's party. We walk up the street, and then I remember - I didn't bring the invitation with me and don't exactly remember the name of the restaurant. I assure Elizabeth I'll remember the name when I see it, and I do, sorta. I see a wine bar, we run across the street and thank goodness Cherry Adair is sitting in the window so I know it's the right place.

There is a crush of people, but I am delighted to discover there is a bartender in D.C. who can make a pomegranate martini -- and order one. Actually, several, and before long Diana Love and several others are drinking them too. (I advise them, because this drink gives you antioxidants and booze in one shot).

Then we grab a cab with Diana and head downtown to the Harlequin party. Now, I confess, I wasn't actually invited to this party, but I was assured by Dennis Graham, (Heather Graham's husband) that we'd be welcome. He was right!

This event rocks - with an open bar, food and a DJ. The dance floor is crowded, but we manage to hook up with Jesse Petersen (Jenna Petersen) and her agent, Miriam, and we rock and roll for a while.

Then I realize it's really late and I'm not as young as I used to be. Jenna and I grab a cab and head back to the hotel. Even though on the West Coast it's only 10pm, I'm exhausted and fall into bed.

Good NEWS - I won't have to present a program at 8am tomorrow morning.

The RWA Conference - In the Beginning

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!