RWA 2012–part 1

I hadn’t planned on attending the RWA conference this year, much as I love the craziness of the whole event, but then my best writing buddy Donna Alward was shortlisted for a RITA I counted up my pennies and decided to go. How could I not be there to cheer her on? (Lest anyone think I am completely saintly, I did really want to go anyway.)

It’s a long old flight to LAX from London. Thankfully, fellow Harlequin/M&B author Heidi Rice and I had organised to sit together and gossiping between watching films definitely made the 11 hours go more quickly. The flight itself was amazing. We had pretty clear weather and I saw the coast of Greenland, icebergs in Hudson Bay and then the casinos of Las Vegas and a vast desert all in the short space of a few hours.

I don’t remember much of my first night in California, apart from being very, very happy to see Donna again and sitting down and eating dinner at what would have been 4 a.m. UK time.

I had a choice of what to do on Tuesday. Either I could attend a mini women’s fiction conference – the sensible and professional option – or I could go to Disneyland. Yep. No prizes for guessing what I did! But seeing as I’ve never been to a Disney resort before in my life, how could I go within minutes of the gates and not visit?

Thankfully, Michelle Willingham, Historical Romance Author and trip-organiser extraordinaire had volunteered to wrangle a group of assorted authors and editors round the park with maximum efficiency. I had one plan for the day: don’t fall asleep and go where Michelle tells me. It worked out rather well! Here’s our party:

From left to right: Jennie Lucas, Maisey Yates, Lucy Gilmour, Michelle Willingham, Katy Madison, Julia Justiss, Cara Elliott, Bryony Green, Blythe Gifford, me & Tessa Shapcott. (Pic taken with Michelle’s iPhone)
 
We started with the Matterhorn, which unfortunately triggered my motion sickness, but next was Buzz Lightyear and I discovered I’m quite a whiz with a laser gun! Pic, courtesy of Jennie Lucas (including me with alien eyes) to prove it.

We also rode the jungle river ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World (a slightly psychedelic experience when you’re spaced out on jet lag!), the Haunted Mansion and a few other things my tired brain has probably eaten.
 
Probably most fun was Splash Mountain. I thought I was clever sitting in the back of the boat until Jennie told me you get just as wet there. She wasn’t wrong. The water splashed those in the front then swooshed up over the sides at the back to get me. As you can see, I didn’t really care much. (That's me, smiling but hanging on at the back.)

While some of our party had to leave, five of us stayed to have lunch at the Blue Bayou – a restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride that resembles a Mississippi swamp at night. I tried to take photos, but it was too dark too see much but the paper lanterns that hung from the ceiling. I did eat the nicest Jambalaya I’ve ever had there, though! Seriously good.

Then we did the Indiana Jones ride, which took over as my favourite, before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the more writerly events of the afternoon. Here are a few more of my favourite Disney pics:

RWA 09: Washington DC - Wednesday part 1

I think my optimism about blogging from the conference was a little premature! Not only was I very short on time, but I could never get a strong enough signal from the Wifi in the hotel lobby and meeting rooms to be able to get onto the internet. Anyway, here's the next post about my week in Washington DC:

Wednesday started off with a little bit of sightseeing. Historicals author Michelle Willingham had volunteered to act as tour guide for a group of assorted authors and editors. I was still a bit jet-lagged and very glad just to troop around after someone who would tell me where to go so I didn’t have to think too hard.

We got the metro to the Smithsonian and stopped to take a few photos as we walked across the National Mall to the Museum of Natural History. Here’s Kim Young and Jo Grant, lovely editors from the London offices of Harlequin Mills & Boon.

After looking at the dinosaurs, we went upstairs to stare at the gemstones.Here’s the Hope Diamond, which was truly stunning and my washed-out photo really doesn’t do it justice. Even the setting and necklace was exquisitely crafted. And that wasn’t the only piece of marvellous jewellery. We wandered round, speculating on which rocks would go best with our RITA outfits on Saturday night. Here’s a few pics of some of my favourites:

After that, we nipped along the road to the Museum of American History and took in an exhibition of dresses worn by first ladies from the time of Martha Washington right through to Laura Bush. Jewels first, and now frocks and shoes…you can tell it was a girls’ outing! Here’s Mamie Eishower’s wonderful red dress and shoes and Mary Lincoln’s gown. The lighting was quite low in the exhibit so you can’t see the fabulous pleating and detail where the black satin meets the patterned section of the skirt, but it was truly a work of art.

We then did a bit more sightseeing, before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the Readers for Life Literacy Autographing – but that’s a whole post in itself!

Me and Senior Editor for Harlequin Mills & Boon Romance, Kim Young


World War II Memorial


The reflecting pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the distance


Me with some of my sightseeing companions: Michelle, Kim, Elaine and Mary-Lou


The Washington Monument
(which I could see quite clearly as my plane passed over the city the day I arrived)