Get ready, because this blog post is going to blow up your reading list.
Last week I had the great and terrifying pleasure of attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference. There is such a wide range of romance authors, which made for such interesting conversation. Contemporary (that’s me!), historical, paranormal, erotic, sweet, cowboy, military, young adult – you name it, there is a romance book for it. I love that.
First up, the phenomenal Beverly Jenkins, who delivered the keynote speech at breakfast on Thursday morning. She rocked the room with a powerful speech about the history of women’s stories. And she was funny as hell. She delivered the now infamous line,
KARMA IS ONLY A BITCH IF YOU ARE!
Life wisdom, yo.
The conference days were filled with educational workshops on all aspects of the author life: writing, editing, lifestyle, marketing, and more. I learned so much from some giants of the industry, such as Sylvia Day, Barbara Freethy, Roxanne St. Clair, Brenna Aubrey. The one and only Nora Roberts was there, but unfortunately I did not get to see her.
One night I had cocktails with my new pals Ember Casey, Renna Peak, and Mia West. Ember and Renna co-write a romance series, and it was really fun learning how their collaborative process works. Mia West and I are contributing to an anthology together, and she definitely won the award for the best book swag at the conference. I can’t wait to spend more time with all of them.
Earlier this month, I met author Linda Seed at the Cambria Author event. We hit it off immediately and I was so glad to see her again at RWA. We went for dinner and cocktails right on the harbor on the final night and I could have talked to her all night long. She’s written a series about Cambria, so we have a lot to talk about!
I spent some time with the beautiful and hilarious Tracy Reed. She made me laugh a lot, and is super generous with her wisdom. Tracy belongs to my local RWA chapter, so I’m looking forward to more good times with her.
I came home with a stack of books and lots of new friends. There were like a million people and those kinds of crowds freak me out a bit. But the time with other writers was wonderful. I do love talking to writers about writing.
Have you read any of the authors I mentioned above? Tell me what you are reading lately!