Pictures still to come!
I last left you on Wednesday night at the conference. We'd seen Anything Goes and had a blast. I was hoping to make it to the tail end of the eHarlequin Pajama Party, but it was after eleven when I got to the hotel and was too tired.
Thursday morning, I had breakfast by myself across the street at Junior's. The restaurant is known for their cheesecake, but at that hour of the morning I passed. I was surrounded by groups of writers eating and chatting. That's what I get for being too involved with planning the family vacation and not making plans to meet up with people at the conference. But all was not lost. I pulled out my Alphasmart and roughed out an opening to my new book!
After breakfast I returned to the hotel. I popped into the Save The Cat workshop, then went to the Michael Hauge's workshop. I've been using his and Blake Snyder's plotting methods for over a year now. I think that's why my synopses have gotten so much better! I wanted to hear what he had to say again, and I wasn't disappointed.
After the workshop, it was lunch time. I met up with my roommate and two other friends from the SFRWA chapter who I've known longer than my husband! I just realized I didn't take any pics of us. We ate and chatted and cried over Sherrilyn Kenyon's speech. Wow! Is all I can say. I hope somebody taped it because I'd love to share it with all of you. Amazing!
That afternoon I attended a Meet and Greet with overseas editors. It was so cool to meet the people publishing my books in so many different languages. I was so happy to meet someone from the Brazil office. I have reader mail written in Portuguese that I need translated!
From there, I went to the Golden Heart and Rita® Finalists' Reception. Each of us was called by name to receive a certificate and have our photo taken. It also gave me a chance to chat with some of the other finalists!
After that, I wondered around talking to people. There's a lot of that at the conference though this one was a little different. Due to the layout of the hotel I felt like I missed a lot of people. I grabbed an energy bar and a drink from Starbucks, which turned out to be my dinner! Again, I must make better plans. I got ready for the Harlequin Party and met my friend and new Love Inspired author, Jean Gordon, downstairs to catch a cab over to the Waldorf Astoria. Harlequin Historical author Michelle Styles joined us.
I don't know what I can say about the Harlequin party except it was so elegant and a total blast. Everyone dressed in black and white. They decorated the Starlight Roof ballroom to resemble the 1930-40s. They even brought in white carpet!
We were given black Harlequin socks when we arrived. No dancing in high heels or bare feet! A photographer snapped our pictures as we waited to entered. Waiters handed out flutes of champagne as we stepped inside.
Desserts were the name of the game. A custom cupcake station, an ice cream sundae station and a buffet with a dessert assortment to choose from. There were bars on either end. You could order whatever you wanted to drink. The waiters were so attentive you couldn't sit your drink down or they'd take it.
The evening opened with authors getting their 25 books, 50 books, 75 books and 100 books pins. I can't remember if anyone had written more than that.
Then it was time to dance. They flew in the same DJ who'd been in San Francisco. I thought the music selection was better back then. A few others agreed, but it was still fun. Though very loud!
The party was supposed to end at midnight. We left about twenty after, and people were still dancing!
