Saturday, July 14, 2007

RWA Conference: Harlequin Party

This year's Harlequin Party was at the Fairmont Hotel. I went with authors Terri Reed, Leah Vale and Melissa Manley all from the Portland, Oregon area. We've known each other since our pre-pubbed days. Two of them were even at Mackenna's baby shower! I'm sure the third would have been there had she not been living overseas at the time.

This is the Hummer limousine we took to the party with a group of authors. The thing was so huge we could have fit eight more people inside! The driver, Sam, gave us a card so we could call him when we were ready to come home. So we got to travel in style both there and back.


We were like little kids in the limo, pushing buttons and touching things. It was a great start to a fantastic evening!



Special thanks to these authors who let us share the limo ride to the party. We in line to get a taxi when we saw what the bellhop had arranged for them and asked if we could join in the fun. The more the merrier was the theme of the evening! Once inside we introduced ourselves, but I can't remember anyone's name. Sorry!


The party was just getting started when we arrived. I was happy to bump into my friend, Shirley Jump. With so few people there, we took lots of pictures, grabbed a table, hit the appetizer table and chocolate buffet and snagged Cosmos from a waiter.



This is Neil, significant other of the lovely and talented Barbara Samuels who also writes as Ruth Wind. Neil was a smash on the dance floor. I wonder if anyone got a peek and saw what he wore underneath his kilt!



I don't consider myself sexist, but I made a total sexist faux pas when I introduced myself and asked a woman sitting at our table with her husband what she wrote. She told me it was her husband, Victor McG, who was the author. Oops! I apologized right away. Bad Melissa. I should know better!


Here I am with Shirley Jump, Susan Meier and Linda Goodnight. We'll be giving a workshop with HMB editor Kimberley Young this afternoon. I've never done a workshop at Nationals so I'm a little nervous this morning.




I caught up with Jenny Bayley-Burke, Fiona Harper and HMB editor Meg Sleightholme. The Richmond based editors were really tearing it up on the dance floor with all the authors!






Authors Pamela Britton and Terri Reed chat with John Hart from Amazon.