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 The 2007 RWA conference in Dallas was a blast! It was so fun to hang out with my agent and editor and visit with all my authors friends scattered around the world. A brief recap of my Dallas expereince: Monday: Plane was only an hour delayed, Met up with Eden Bradley and Lillian Feisty at the airport, got to hotel, went straight to the bar. (It's all about priorities.) Stayed in the lovely Crystal Jordan's room that night.  Tuesday: Got up way too early (I hate changing time zones) and went on the Kiss Of Death tour of the Fort Worth police training center. Listened to a great talk by the local chief of police and representative from the crimes against children unit, homicide division, cold case division, and finally a forensic expert in the field of ballistics. VERY interesting stuff, took tons of notes.   When I got back to the hotel I found out that my roomie Crystal had received an offer for her very first book that morning from an editor. She was henceforth known as the Golden Girl of the conference. I rubbed against her regularly for luck. We met up with some friends to celebrate and went out to the YO Ranch Steak House – a very Texas restaurant with more stuffed animals on display than Toys R Us. Capped off the night at the bar. (see a trend brewing?)   Wednesday: Planned on sleeping in, awoken by trains running outside my bedroom window. (Grrr…) Prowled the Goody Room for free book giveaways. Amazingly, in addition to all the cool stuff from other authors, it seemed my publisher had sent a stack of my books to give away, too.  Signed a few books for my friends, met up with some other authors, then bummed around (the bar). Had lunch with Jax Crane from Romance Divas and Maria and Kim from Romance Novel TV. Then off to the Booksellers Tea, where I met a great group of both local and national booksellers in between grabbing platefuls of tasty orderves. Next I raced to the Readers for Life Literacy Autographing where I was supposed to sign copies of Spying In High Heels and Killer In High Heels. Supposed to. Remember those free books in the Goody Room? They were actually supposed to be for the Literacy Autographing and ended up in the wrong room. Oops. Instead I signed cover flats, bookmarks, and anything else that was thrust my way.   Changed into fancypants clothes for the Booksellers Best Awards where Spying In High Heels took third place for the Best First Book. (Yay!) Made my way to the bar where the poor wait staff was sorely under prepared for how much writers like to drink. (Hello? Hemingway?) Waited two hours for a drink and a plate of French fries. Was so hungry by the time they arrived, I inhaled them both in competitive eating style. After eating, hopped in a hummer stretch limo with a group of friends and drove to Illusions, a drag club in Dallas where we spent the night singing karaoke (badly) and dancing (semi-lewdly).  
  Thursday: Planned to sleep in. Awoken by train outside the window. (Grrrrrr!) Figured I was up so I might as well go to some workshops. Went to the Published Author Network retreat and listened to a talk by the national book buyers for the major chain stores. Very interesting info, caused all kinds of book giveaway ideas to brew in my little head. Went to a luncheon with the key note speaker, author Lisa Kleypas and had the best cheesecake in the world. Spent the afternoon 'networking' (a.k.a. in the bar) meeting up with my agency sistahs and the Wild Cards – fellow Golden Heart finalist from 2005.  Changed into cocktail attire, then attended the Romance Divas dinner, where I came away with the 'Fashionista Diva' award. Had to leave early to attend the Kiss Of Death Daphne awards with my editor. Which, sadly, Spying In High Heels did not win. However, I found out that earlier that evening, it did win the National Reader's Choice Award. Woohoo! I will now have a large, granite, tombstone shaped trophy sitting in my office. Veeeeeeeeery cool.  Friday: Planned to sleep in. Train insists on running every freaking morning. (GRRR!) Started the day off doing an on-camera interview with Romance Novel TV which was way more fun and way less nerve-wracking than I thought it would be.  Then headed off for a couple of workshops and a long productive lunch with my agent. Schmoozed a little in the afternoon (at the bar) then went to a champagne reception for this year's RITA and Golden Heart Finalists. After that, off to the Dorchester Author Dinner where I laughed for a full two hours straight with some of the mystery authors of Dorchester. About died laughing at Leslie Langtry's stories of secret Masonic sects and Carny fetishes.  Met up with the Romance Divas (at the bar) where we tried to head off nasty rumors about a group of wild women who'd gone clubbing with drag queens. (Unsuccessfully.)  Saturday: Thought about sleeping in. Threw a few choice obscenities at early morning train. Went to a few workshops, then to a luncheon with key note speaker, author Lisa Jackson, who mused on the wonders of anti-depressants and reinventing your career. Got in one more workshop in the afternoon before getting distracted by my critique partner's adorable baby. Spent half an hour pinching chubby baby thighs instead. Went to RITA award rehearsals where I was informed not to trip in my heels while going up the stairs. Ran up to my room to change into my formal gown, designer earrings, and sparkling stilettos. (Yes, I totally got girly that night.) Went out to a lovely Italian dinner with my editor where I tried really hard not to spill pasta sauce on my dress. Took a cab back to the hotel and slipped into the awards ceremony just in time.  The awards were short, sweet, and fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to trip up the stairs as two other wonderful writers took home the awards that Spying In High Heelswas up for. However, none of my critique partners' or fellow Dorchester authors' books won that night either, so I felt I was in good company. The screams and cheers of my fabulous friends in the audience as they announced my book title were enough to make me honestly feel like I was a winner that night. And, of course, afterwards, we capped off the night... (for those of you paying attention, this should be a no-brainer)... at the bar.  Sunday: Have to get up early to pack. Somehow, sleep through train and am late. (Ugh!) Meet the Romance Divas one last time for breakfast before a series of hugs, good-bye's and see-you-next-year's. Share a packed cab to the airport (where was our limo?!) where I spent way too much money buying souvenirs with little cowboys on them as I waited for my flight. Arrived home and realized how much I have to write in the next month! Decided to write online Dallas diary instead. 
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