Sunday, July 25, 2010

And We're Off!

It's finally here!  It's the week we've planned for, saved for and anticipated with mounting excitement.  This is the week of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) National Conference!  As many of you have probably heard by now, the conference had to be moved from Nashville to Walt Disney World in Florida due to the terrible floods in Nashville.  We continue to keep the people of that city in our thoughts and prayers and hope the conference will visit them in the future but, for now, our sights are set on the Sunshine State and the excitement of the 30th Annual RWA National Conference!   

The Dishies are busy packing and tending to last minute details before piling into the cars for the caravan south to Orlando.  We have a full conference schedule; packed with workshops, meetings, parties and chats with some of our favorite authors...and we're taking you along for the ride!  Watch the blog for our daily updates accompanied by lots...and lots...of photos!  We'll also be doing updates through our Romance Dish and individual facebook pages and on twitter. 

One of the highlights of the annual RWA conference is the Literacy Booksigning.  This event, which boasts over 500 published authors, will be held Wednesday night from 5:30-7:30 in the Pacific Exhibit Hall at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort and is open, free of charge, to the public.  If you live in the Central Florida area, come on by!   Proceeds of the book sales are donated to literacy charities in the host city.  This year, a portion of the proceeds will also be directed to Nashville.

I've been working on my list of authors that I want to make sure I don't miss at the booksigning and that got me to thinking.  If you were going to attend the booksigning, which authors would be at the top of your "must see" list?  If you had the opportunity to chat with them, what would you ask?  Here's the link to the list of authors who will be signing at this year's literacy booksigning.  If you're planning to attend the literacy booksigning, I hope we'll have the chance to meet.  The Dishies will be wearing black shirts, embroidered with The Romance Dish in hot pink.  If you see us, please say hello!

As anyone who knows me can tell you, my camera rarely leaves my side and you can be sure I'll be busy taking pictures all week.  So tell me.  What would you most like to see photos of?   The hotel?  Booksigning?  Parties?  Workshops?  Random shots of authors?  Any particular authors?  Tell us what you want to see, and what you want to hear about, and your intrepid Dishy reporters will do their best to post it here for you throughout the week. 

Are you going to RWA National?  If so, we hope to see you there.  If not, be sure to check in here daily for news, photos and a few special surprises!

~PJ

22 comments:

  1. have fun and stay cool in florida

    question to ask -- if they met someone unfamiliar with romance books but interested in trying them, what book, by any author & of their own, would they recommend as an intro to the genre? to the subgenres (ie: historical, paranormal)? if they can't think of that one book by any author, which author would they recommend?

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  2. Great question, gamistress! It'll be interesting to see what answers we get. What author/book would you recommend in that situation?

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  3. I'm going!!! :)
    I check in Wed. Can't wait!

    Hope to see you there. I'll be the shy one, most likely wearing (hiding under) a hat. ;)

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  4. Hope y'all have a safe trip to Orlando and a ton of fun! So jealous!!!!

    I have a huge list of authors who I'd love to meet. But right now, I'd say Tessa Dare, JQ, Julie James, Laura Lee Guhrke, Sara Lindsey, would be at the top of my list. I didn't see Lisa Kleypas on the list, but I'd love to meet her too. Naturally, I would also love to meet Nora, but I fear I would get totally tongue-tied. (Plus, I hear her lines are huge!) And of course, I would love to see some authors who I've been lucky enough to meet already and catch up and say high.

    If I had the chance to chat with them, I think I would ask them when they knew they wanted to be an author, and how they maintain the discipline of sitting down at the computer each day, and making sure they're doing the work. And if they could sign my books for me. ;)
    Looking forward to all the photos and reports from RWA!!

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  5. Karen, we'll all be wearing black shirts with The Romance Dish in hot pink at the Literacy Signing Wednesday night. Please say hello if you see us. We'd love to meet you!

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  6. Lisa, you've listed some of my favorite authors...and people. :)

    Lisa Kleypas won't be signing Wednesday night but she is coming to the conference. She won't be arriving until after the booksigning.

    Great question!

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  7. Have fun! I would love to see photos of all of the workshops and authors. ^^

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  8. What a list of authors!! I would like to meet Julia Quinn, Julie James, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Sherry Thomas. Also, Nora Roberts would be a must-see, but it would probably take much of the 2 hour window to see her.

    I hope you post a bunch of pictures of the authors. If you see anyone from Harlequin, can you ask if Jessica Bird will ever finish the O'Banyon series? If you have any contacts with Random House is there any updated information about Judith McNaught's next release, Someone Like You?

    Thanks and have fun.

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  9. Can't wait to see the pics and hear the reports from RWA. Have fun.

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  10. I hope all of you Dishes have a fantastic time. I'll be checking in every day to experience the conference vicariously through your pics and news.

    If I were there, my "must see" list of authors would be longer than the number I could realistically see. At the top of my list would be those that I have had enough online/email contact with that I already consider them friends, people such as Anna Campbell, Tessa Dare, Eloisa James, Vanessa Kelly, Sara Lindsey, Julie Anne Long, Courtney Milan, Julia Quinn, and Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe.

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  11. PJ, just reading the blog makes me excited again!!!! I just finished packing my jewelry. Later I will start on the clothes and the shoes. And I have to remember the extra tote bags to carry all the books home :-)

    The literary signing will be my very first RWA one. PJ, Andrea and Gannon have all been to one and have told me it will be nothing like what I think. I just can't imagine all those authors in one big place. I hope my intraverted self hides and my extraverted self decides to shine :-)

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  12. Jedisakora, we'll do our best to get you lots of good photos!

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  13. Penfield, you're right about the Nora line!

    Great question about Jessica Bird. I'd love to know the answer to that too. The author won't be at the conference but if I have a chance to talk with some from Harlequin I'll try to get you an answer.

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  14. Thanks, Jane! We're all very excited about going!

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  15. Buffie, I have no doubt you will be shining like the brightest star!

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  16. Janga, I second that list! I'll do my best to get photos of all.

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  17. Have a GREAT time! Can't wait to read all the blogs, facebook posts and see the photos!

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  18. Have a great time Ladies I look forward to checking the photos and the daily blogs while you are there Whoo Hoo.

    So many fantastic authors I would love to meet and as for a question I don't think I could think of any I would be so excited LOL

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  19. I am sitting in Nashville. Made reservations as soon as I heard RWA would be here. Good deal except they are non-refundable. Then the flood happened. So I am here and RWA if there. I was hoping our place wouldn't reopen in time (it is next door to the Opryland Hotel), but they partially opened last week. It is sad how much work still needs to be done in this whole area. The hot, humid weather they are having isn't helping them dry stuff out and do repairs. Hopefully, it will take place somewhere I can go another year. Nashville is only 5 hours from home (we are going to Orlando in Oct.). I was hoping to go to the Librarian Day and the Sale and Signing

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  20. My list of authors I would like to meet is too long to even start to list. One I would truly like to meet is Julie Garwood. She is the very first romance author I read and everyone of her books have made it to my keeper shelf.
    Other than authors, there are many bloggers that have wonderful sites that keep us up to date on what is coming out. I would like to meet them too.

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