A Weekend Of Authors, Editors And Agents
I spent the weekend in West Virginia at the Washington Romance Writers (WRW) Retreat. Why this retreat is in West Virginia is more for historical reasons than anything else so don’t pull out a map and try to explain how Washington DC and West Virginia are not the same place. I get that. The Retreat was fun and informative and all those things a get-together of writing folks should be. And, my editor was there so I had the opportunity to work on stringing words together into coherent sentences in her presence. After a few trips to the bar the words flowed freely.
The Retreat also provided a great opportunity to meet published authors. This one had quite a line-up. Some were members - Nora Roberts, Patricia Gaffney, Mary Jo Putney, Rebecca York, Diane Whiteside, Glenda Garland, Donna Kauffman, and the list goes on. The guest list wasn’t too shabby either - Lisa Kleypas, Eloisa James, Jennifer Crusie, Angela Knight, and on and on.
My favorite meet and greet: Kathleen Gilles Seidel. She was warm and funny and charming. Honestly, she may be as excited as I am about my sale - okay, maybe not but she’s in the top five or acted like she was. There is no question that I will now go buy all of her books. She could write sci fi vampire girl-on-alien porn and I’ll be cheer for her. I’ve since checked and found she is moving out of romance and her next book will be more in line with Women’s Fiction - a dinstinction, I must admit, that eludes me.
My least favorite meet and greet: To protect the not-so-innocent, we’ll call her Nasty Wench. So, Kathy introduced me to Nasty Wench and tells Nasty Wench my good book news. Nasty Wench frowns - actually frowns - and says, "well, I just can’t talk about other people selling when I’m not." Are you getting why I used the Nasty Wench title? Are you wondering why I’m not using profane and vicious language? Yeah, well, in private I am. Trust me.
Despite Nasty Wench and some other isolated incidents, the weekend was a success. The news from NY continues to be a bit strange - inspirationals and hot romances are in. Every publishing house seems to be launching an erotic romance line. Avon is the newest to join the club. If you write at either end of the spectrum, hit the keyboard ’cause now is your time.
May 23rd, 2005 at 9:38 am
(I left this comment once already, bu it seems to have disappeared into cyberspace. Sorry if it shows up twice.)
To paraphrase an old song, “Nasty, nasty wenches don’t mean a thing.” I hope you spat in her drink and walked off. Jealous, spiteful comments are one of the worst things writers do to one another. But if she’s not bright enough to keep her ugly jealousy to herself, she isn’t going to make it very far in life anyway. So don’t let it bother you.
It sounds like a great weekend! Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a new baby so I could do fun stuff like this too. I think I’m… uh… jealous:-).
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:05 pm
I didn’t know you lived in the Maryland area. Me too! And why I thought I should know that is absolutly beyond me. I mean, it’s not like you’re handing out bio pages with your home phone number, address, and social security number
Anyhow! It sounds like that was a fun time- wow on the others there! Impressive. Was Nasty Wench a published author? Regardless, it’s just mean-spirited to be unhappy in the face of someone elses good news because you are pissed about your own life. Congrats again on your sale and ignore the witch!
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:49 pm
Geez, I am also a MD person. I was at the TTP signing, but not the conference. Everyone was very nice at the signing. And yes, Lisa Kleypas is as lovely in person as she is on the back of her book or on the web. (not that you were asking). Eloisa James was also very nice.
I am glad that you had a good time at the conference. I usually make the signing (and am a member of RWA) but haven’t joined the local chapter yet. I don’t have a baby, but do have two kids in soccer and gardening husband. Spring is basically “out” for me.
Anyway, good luck with your book and don’t let other get you too down.
May 23rd, 2005 at 6:30 pm
I do live in Maryland but will exercise some intelligence and not actually post my address here. I really did have a great time at the conference. The idiot woman (she was unpublished) was a down spot but only a very small part of what was a really positive experience.
I’m not a joiner or someone who likes to leave my house - ever - but this was a worthwhile experience. And, I cannot say enough positive things about Kathy Seidel. She’s an example of a time where I liked the person and will now try her books because of that positive experience.
May 23rd, 2005 at 7:55 pm
Gee, I wonder why she’s not selling. If I was an editor, I’d be DYING to work with her!
Yeah, right.