Catching up on Nationals...

It is Day One. Or Day Three, depending on when people arrived. The Conference "officially" opens today, with the big breakfast featuring superstar Janet Evanovich. That's followed by the kickoff luncheon, featuring superstar Linda Howard. And already, I'm exhausted.

The hotel is beautiful, as most RWA Conference hotels seem to be. Major complaints seem to be that it is very spread out, meaning that I'll be walking MILES every day just to attend workshops. Plus, the Adams Morgan district is one of THE most expensive districts in DC. While it doesn't matter to some people, price is really an issue to some of us as yet unpublished struggling writers. It's costing almost as much to park and get internet as it is for the room. And let's not even talk about the $16 sandwiches. Ouch.

On a happier note, the Literacy Signing last night was AMAZING!! Just the sheer size of the room and the amount of people there was overwhelming. Living so close, I brought a few of the girls up with me for the day, and they attended the signing last night. Jordan wandered around by herself for a while, just taking it all in. Maggie stayed close to me most of the night, asking about different writers, if I knew them, what there books were like. I told her that one day she would be signing her own books at a table just like the ones we saw. We could be sitting next to each other. :) Emile, the little scammer, raised snatching candy and tchotchkes to an art form.

The girls got to meet many of the women that write the stories that litter my house. I took them by personal faves like Karen White and Diana Holquist, and they exclaimed over the bookcovers that they see beside my bed. They got to meet La Nora when we got a book signed for my boss. I introduced them briefly to one of my favorites from past conferences, Victoria Alexander.

And of course, they got to meet The Cherry. Yes, they got to stand in the presence of Jenny Crusie, and they were in awe. Of course, Jen was ever so gracious, and even took a picture with them. I can only imagine that Maggie will want to have a copy of that picture to put on her wall. My Blackberry is acting up right now, but as soon as it's working again I will post that pic as well. <--- I got it figured out. Bluetooth is such a cool thing!


Gret will be up here later today. She is riding the Metro alone for the first time. Can you believe that she is 17?!? Yeah, neither can I. She's hanging out with me today, joining me at the Cherry Dinner tonight, and heading home tomorrow. I'm so thrilled that she's going to get to share some of this with me!

This morning, I'm staying close to the room, waiting for Gret to arrive. Then heading to the luncheon. Hopefully I'll see Kristan there. That woman is busier than anything I've seen!

I'll be taking lots of pics, but I'm not sure if I can get them to Blogger yet. I'm still trying to figure out the whole transfer from B.B. to Mac thing. We'll see how well it goes. Otherwise, I'll just do the best I can and add pics when I get home. Added NOTE: Using Bluetooth, I can transfer the files from Berry to Mac. Berry is still acting weird, but it will work fine for me until my personal technology guru (aks- The Man) gets up here later today to fix it for me.

I'll Keep You Posted!