I’m back home, no longer sleep deprived and cranky, after my week long stay in New York. There’s no place like home but New York was amazing. I met up with friends, saw Wicked on Broadway, heard some fantastic speakers and experienced all the joys of economy travel. Hopefully that will be my last economy flight. I’m quite over strange, unfriendly people touching me for hours at a time. LOL
Things discovered at RWA New York:
- Sharing a room with critique partners is hilarious
- Sharing a room with said critique partners is not conducive for sleep – especially when they’re giggling at 3am
- Australia has better coffee
- Sabrina Jeffries belongs on my nicest-author-ever list.
- Confusion over whether to self (indie) publish work is rampant among authors
- Established print published authors only mention indie publishing of their back list- not new titles.
Not surprisingly, since I’m committed to independently publishing all future work, attending RWA in the future is in doubt. Aside from attending some really valuable sessions, the avoidance of indie publishing issues was a huge disappointment. I don’t believe indie is best for everyone, but there are quite a number of us pursuing that path. An organization such as RWA should embrace and support all author members – or at least try to appear to support them. They’ve had enough time.
One of the most valuable sessions I attended was on theme in writing. Honestly, themes have confused me quite a bit but I had a light bulb moment during this session. I’ve already found and written stories with my career theme stamped all over them – second chance at love. I’ve blogged about the session, with examples from my own work, over at
Shh, I’m Writing a Romance today.
What’s ahead for me now? Aside from attending the last installment of Harry Potter tomorrow, the next six months is clear of writerly adventure. I’m desk bound till Christmas, aside from impromptu jaunts about the countryside, and should be publishing a few new stories in the next little while. Barely a Master is well underway, and Charity, book 3 of the Distinguished Rogues, is in final edits. I cannot wait till it’s done. More on the release date later.
For now, I hope your “to read” pile offers many second chances for love stories. They are my favorite.
Cheers
Heather
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