RT Wrap Up

Well, it's Monday and I'm having RT withdrawal. The conference was so informative and so much fun. Great conferences always send me home with renewed enthusiasm for writing, all sorts of new ideas and ways to improve my works in progress.
I enjoyed the book signing, especially because I was seated between Barry Eisler, who drew a big crowd, and Cynthia Eden, who also was a draw and is such a sweet person. I bought one of her books and can't wait to read it. Speaking of books, I came home with about a dozen of them - most of which were free. I'm halfway through Angela Knight's Passionate Ink, a craft book for penning erotic romance. If you've ever read anything by Angela, you'll be blown away by her sex scenes, as well as her amazing prose.
The pictures above are courtesy of Nancy J. Cohen. Top one is from the Book Fair and the bottom was taken at lunch on Wednesday. From left: Roxanne St. Claire, me, Nancy J. Cohen, Allison Chase and Karen Kendall.

What about you? Were you at RT this year? If not, what was your favorite conference?

More Fun at RT

Well, the week is winding down at the convention. Tomorrow is the Giant Book Fair, which I'm looking forward to (11 am to 2 pm at the Wyndham on International Drive and Sandlake Road in Orlando). Yesterday I pitched to a story to a publisher and two others to agents. Red Sage hosted a poolside afternoon party featuring free books, a tropical theme and the Mr. Romance contestants - yummy! I attended a couple workshops, one a panel discussion on YA romance with 6 up and coming YA authors. All I have to say is, I'm now convinced I'm too old to write YA. Most of these women were in their twenties and obviously very bright and tuned in to the whole teen experience. Hasn't been that long for them!
Today I attended a couple publisher spotlights, an agent panel and an editor panel - very interesting stuff. Here's a few snippets from the editor's event:

Romance genres doing well: Dark paranormals and sweet, family sagas. All publishers say they are still buying from new authors. Dorchester is looking for cross-genre romance; Tor is searching for urban fantasy and YA; Samhain wants all romance genres except YA, women's fiction and ChickLit; St. Martin's, Harlequin, Grand Central, Sourcebooks, Red Sage and Avon are open to all genres.

I am posting some pictures of friends. From the top they are 1. Two sweet ladies I met at the convention, Michelle and Christina 2. Author Karen Kendall 3. Author Allison Chase 4. Authors Terry Odell and Nancy J. Cohen 5. Author Cynthia Eden and Liquid Silver Publisher Tina Burns