by Linda O. Johnston
I blogged here at Writerspace only a couple of weeks ago, and I’m delighted to be back!
It’s now July, and I’ll be attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference next week. They’re always delightful! I attend that conference most years, and it’s generally in July.
This time, the conference is in San Diego. Since I live in Los Angeles, I’ll be taking an Amtrak train. I attend a lot of conferences these days, some for romance and some for mysteries. I generally fly to the ones farther away and drive to the ones in the L.A. area. But after hitting a huge traffic jam the last time I went to San Diego–in May, when I attended the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore’s Birthday Bash and also introduced my second Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, TO CATCH A TREAT–the idea of driving doesn’t thrill me.
There’s a lot going on at RWA National. I hope to attend a librarian and bookseller’s meet and greet. I also look forward to seeing some of the excellent Writerspace staff members there, and in addition I’ll be doing a couple of book signings. One will be at the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing on Wednesday night. The other is the Harlequin signing, where I’ll be signing copies of my new, not yet officially available, Harlequin Romantic Suspense COVERT ALLIANCE, which will be published in August.
Harlequin also provides some workshops for its authors, and the Harlequin party on Friday night is always a fun event!
And oh, yeah, there are lots of other kinds of workshops to attend, plus the awards ceremony on Saturday night. I’ll be rooming in the main conference hotel with a couple of friends. And I also have the fun of meeting at the conference with some of my major contacts in the publishing industry.
Meanwhile, I’m still working on my next Harlequin Nocturne paranormal romance, one of my Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters, and I’m fairly far into the first draft. I’ll bring my werewolves with me in the form of whatever part of the draft I’ve finished, in case I get a few minutes here and there to do some editing.
I’m sure you can tell that I’m really looking forward to RWA National!