As I write this, my head is still in a whirl from attending
the Romance Writers of America convention last week in Anaheim. Since I live 20
minutes away, I commuted from home, but it still felt like another world.
It was wonderful greeting readers at the Literacy Signing on
Wednesday night. I value the people who read my books! Also, thanks to
Harlequin for donating copies of The Baby Dilemma. Over the years, RWA
has raised something like three-quarters of a million dollars to promote
literacy. That’s an important cause.
The excitement also included seeing my editor, Kathleen
Scheibling, and catching up on changes at Harlequin, everything from revamped
covers for some lines (not American, though, at least for 2013), a writing contest,
and the launch of new all-digital imprints edited by Malle Vallik. It was fun
to see other editors I’ve worked with over the years, including Malle.
As always there were terrific workshops on a range of
subjects, from craft to research to self-promotion. Each person explores what interests and benefits her at this stage of
her writing career. Because I’m self-publishing some of my backlist, I attended
seminars on related topics. Some were presented by heavyweights in the
industry, including Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.
Everywhere I turned, I touched bases with old acquaintances
and made new ones. Members of my RWA chapter, Orange County, were well
represented. I can’t begin to summarize everything and everyone. Just writing this is
energizing me all over again.
I need to calm down and get back to working on the latest book
in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries!
