From Deadline Hell to Conference Madness

by Kate Carlisle

I did it! I met my deadline for ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE, the next Bibliophile Mystery. Pretty good, considering that I’ve been working in the midst of a total kitchen remodel and my family visiting. When I reached the final sentence of the final scene, I paused, took a deep breath to savor the moment, and then slowly typed: T. H. E. E. N. D.

Moment savored, moment gone… and instant panic set in.

The Romance Writers of America conference is mere days away, and I have done nothing – nothing! – to prepare. I have nothing to wear. My nails have suffered the double mutilation of hammering away at the keyboard and of being gnawed at while I tried to work my way out of plotting quagmires. My scalp has little bald spots from me tearing out my hair, trying to get the book done in time.

Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. If you’re going to conference, promise me you won’t look for bald spots!

The truth is, I have a lot of work to do to get pretty enough for conference. Because you know that we all want to look good for each other. It doesn’t matter that 98% of the attendees are female. It’s soooo not about the men. We want to look fresh and relaxed so that when we reunite with friends we haven’t seen for a year, they’ll tell us how great we look, and we’ll be able to believe that they’re not just being polite.

(Yeah, I dream big.)

We also want to look professional so that when we see our editors and agents and other industry professionals, they will get the impression that we easily handle the stresses of this writing life. In the hopes, of course, that they’ll pile on more stresses by giving us more, bigger, and better contracts.

(I do actually dream big.)

Which means, of course, that I must go shopping. And I can’t rely on the internet this time. There’s no time to have clothes shipped to me, try them on, realize I ordered the wrong size, return them, and get a second outfit to try on in the comfort of my own home. No, I will have to brave the harsh light of the dressing room.

And don’t get me started on shoes. Ack.

I can’t possibly visit the clothing stores until I get a mani/pedi. Otherwise the sales clerks won’t take me seriously. Getting a manicure is an exercise in patience for me. It’s hard to sit still long enough for the polish to dry. Almost invariably, I end up with at least one ding. So I repair the ding by adding a glop of polish, which leaves a little raised bump on my nail that looks like I have some sort of medical condition.

If you’re going to conference, promise me you won’t look for deformities on my fingernails!

My hope is that all the panic and craziness I’m going through now will pay off in the end. That I’ll arrive at conference looking polished and chic precisely because I am worried about it now. Which means at conference, I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the experience without giving a second thought to how I look.

That is, perhaps, the biggest dream of all.

The RWA conference is part professional networking event, part high school reunion. When is the last time you attended a big conference or reunion? Did you stress about what to wear, how your hair looked, how your nails looked, whether your shoes were scuffed… ? When you look back on that event, what sticks out most strongly in your memory?Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/conferences
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Why I Love Romance...

by Donna MacMeans


I've been in conference mode all week. First with Accounting conferences (zzzzzzz), then - this weekend - the Central Ohio Fiction Writers conference with Suzanne Brockman as the keynote speaker.


Suzanne was great! She's a dynamic speaker and a wonderful teacher as well. As part of her presentation, she asked the 200 or so people in the audience to raise their hand if a romance ever made them laugh or smile.


I think every hand in the room went up. Mine did. Susan Elizabeth Philips never fails to get me smiling. Kristin Higgins, Susan Sey, Susan Heino, Lisa Cooke ...


Then Suzanne asked, "how many have read a romance that brought them to tears?" Again, the hands were raised. Now, I have to admit that while I may feel anxious over a particular romance, they rarely make me cry...but I remember tears tracing a path down my cheeks while I was reading an old Judith McNaught book. Jude Deveraux had me in tears over one of her medieval scenes as well. Newer romances haven't had that effect on me, but that might be the result of my reading choices. I'd rather laugh than cry.


Suzanne then asked, "how many have read a romance that brought them hope or solace during a particularly difficult time?" I was surprised by the number of hands raised, though mine was not one of them. I can't say I've had that particular experience. Reflecting on it, my life has been blessed (knock on wood) so I can't say I found a romance uplifting in the sense of giving hope. Of course, I've always assumed that given sufficient time, all difficulties will work out for the best in the long run. What-doesn't-kill-you-makes-you-stronger sort of philosophy.


So I thought I'd ask you the same questions. Have you read a book that made you laugh or cry? Have you read an uplifting romance that gave solace in a dark time? Spill some titles and share.


I won a basket of books at the conference. To be honest, I forgot I even dropped a raffle ticket in the bag (grin). So let me grab one - here we go - a copy of Sandra Hill's DESPERADO to someone leaving a comment.
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Won't Leave Home Without...

by Christine Wells

I'm packing. Again. Just returned on a 27 hour flight from Orlando a week and a half ago and now I'm off again, this time on a mere one and a half hour flight to Sydney, where I'll attend my second romance writers' conference for the month.

Romance Writers of Australia are congregating at Coogee Beach for four days of hugs, laughs and learning.

And I have nothing to wear.

OK, I do have clothes, but I'd been focusing so much on coping with summer in Orlando, I forgot to shop for winter in Sydney.

Do you ever gaze at all the clothes in your closet, willing something new and fabulous to simply appear? Sadly, this well-formulated technique doesn't work--at least, not for me. Soon, I'll give up and toss the old favourites into my suitcase.

No matter what I wear, there are some things I never get on a plane without--my laptop, a novel and some butter menthol lollies (candy?) in case I get painful sinuses on takeoff or landing.

But it's always that split-second before I put my purse through the security x-ray that I wonder what on earth I have in there, what I've forgotten and what I might have to dash to the nearest 7/11 to buy.

So here are my questions for you all:

1. What do you never, ever travel without? My answer: A book

2. What do you often take but seldom use? My answer: Running shoes. I mean, really!

3. What do you always forget to take and always need? My answer: nail scrubbing brush (especially for beach holidays)

4. What have you left behind in a hotel room? By accident? On purpose?

My Answer...By accident: Shoes; On purpose? Hair products. I'm paranoid about them exploding all over my suitcase and I usually take only a little more than I'm likely to use.

5. What's the niftiest travel gadget/product you've found? My answer: portable DVD player--it's absolute gold on family holidays.Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/conferences
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