Friday night at the RWA conference means one thing...the Harlequin Party. This is the best publisher at the conference and you can tell by the number of party crashers who attend the annual event. The room was much smaller than the ballroom at Dallas and felt as if there were twice as many people. I wonder if that was because it was right next door to the Marriott so people didn't need to spring for a taxi, but I also noticed several people who looked as if they might have just wandered in. 
I sat at a table with two crashers (one published author and her "assistant") while munching down yummy Chinese food. Though the writer said she'd been invited by a Harlequin author, she kept trying to hide from a Silhouette editor because, in her own words, "she knows I don't write for Harlequin." I guess the great food, free alcohol and dancing until your feet hurt is too much to resist for other conference goers.
The food was very similar to what I had served at our San Francisco themed reception-themed stations based on the different areas of San Francisco (Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Chinatown, etc.) They even had dim sum. The dessert buffet included the now famous chocolate fountain complete with rice crispy squares, muffins, marshmallows, strawberries and bananas to dip. Hubby said he'd give me five dollars if I'd lick from the fountain. I said maybe if he upped it to $500 I'd be tempted!
In addition to the fondue, they had a table with mini frosted cupcakes and spoon-sized creme brulees. Hubby liked this table best. I liked the chocolate cupcakes, but found myself drawn to the chocolate fountain.Several Harlequin received recognition at the party. Jessica Hart, who I fortunately got to meet and spend time with this conference, received her 50 book pin and Sandra Marton, who I adore, was recognized for 75 books! Can you imagine writing that many books? I'm only at 15, 16 if you count the eharlequin on-line read I wrote. Simply amazing to have written so many stories!
Everywhere I turned I recognized someone. A few I knew, many I didn't. Nora Roberts was there dancing. I also saw Lisa Gardner and posed for this picture. Several people from loops I belong to were also attending as well as Linda Goodnight and Melissa James from the Wedding Planners. (I'll save that pic for that blog!)
One of these days, I should probably write a special post about Romance and Modern Extra writer Trish Wylie. Trish and I met last year in Dallas at Sandra' HMB pizza party. I was fortunate enough to spend much more time with her this year in San Francisco. She would have to get my new BFF award this year. Anyway, I have so many pics of Trish taking a picture of me and me of her it's become a bit of a joke. We've become photo nemesis so I had to at least post one of the pictures somewhere. Here it is! 
Silhouette and Harlequin editors also attended. I spoke with Mary-Theresa Hussey, my first editor. She's the one who bought Fiance For the Night way back in 1997. Here's a picture of me with two of the Mills & Boon editors, Sally Williams and Lucy Gilmour! They were really tearing up the dance floor, too!
Hubby attended with me and we had a fab time dancing. He was extra careful with his knee though. Gotta love a man who thinks about stuff like that, but he had no problem hanging on the dance floor for the evening. Thank goodness because that's what I love most about this event...the dancing!I finally learned how to do a dance that I've been wanting to learn. It's a song I heard on Radio Disney, but never knew the steps. I can't remember the title, but it goes something like... slide the the left, slide to the right. There are right stomps and left stomps, too. Oh, and cha-chas. It was a lot of fun. Even hubby tried it. We both wanted to be able to show the steps to the kidlets!
The usual wedding songs were played: Conga line, Love Shak, The Twist, It's Raining Men, Achy Breaky Heart, Shout, Grease medley, Macarena. Lots of others, too. We left a little before midnight and I heard the dancing continued on past the designated end time. I was ready to call it a night!By the time I said goodnight to him and headed up to my room, I could barely walk. My feet hurt from all the dancing, and well, my shoes. I can't tell you how long it took me to fall asleep. My feet just throbbed, but the dancing, as always, was worth it.
