RETURN TO ARTICLES PAGE

Reno Day by Day: My 2005 RWA National Conference Diary
Jenna Petersen/Jess Michaels

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 -- Day 1 (Honey, I accidentally flirted with a fireman)
Each year I say it, yet each year I book an early morning flight, but this is too early for me! Actually, this time it isn't my fault. American Airlines changed my flight (several times and never told me, I might add). But the earlier I leave, the earlier I'll be in Reno, so it's fine. We take off late, so when we arrive in Chicago, Julie Kistler and I literally have one minute (and I'm totally not being facetious here) to get to our connecting gate to Reno. I ran (with Julie yelling "K5!!!" behind me) and we barely made it. Which lead us to repeat, pretty much every time we saw each other, "I can't believe we made that connection!". It is a fairly uneventful trip otherwise and suddenly we're in Reno, surrounded by a ton of romance writers. All is right (or write) with the world. We check in, get to our rooms and have some lunch.

Okay, so here are my general impressions of the hotel since I know there are varying opinions going around. With all the hemming and hawing about Reno (including some from me), I actually had very few issues with the hotel. Pros: Large with many restaurants so there weren't a lot of waiting times to eat. Nice rooms. Generally helpful and friendly staff. Cons: Very spread out so there wasn't any general area where you could just see people. Smokiness in the casino area. Otherwise, my personal issues mostly had to do with a persistent case of jetlag and a battle with dehydration.

So I take a nap, then get up to ready myself for an informal dinner with the Avon Authors who arrived early. The Steakhouse (yes, that is the name) was very tasty and good times were had by all. It was so nice to put faces to names and the authors were all very welcoming to newbie me. Thanks to Kathryn Smith for setting it all up.

Now let me preface this next bit by saying I swear I did NOT have any drinks at dinner. So when I came upstairs and found my room key isn't working, I am confused. Had a forgotten my room number? A quick call to security reassures me that I haven't lost my mind and they offer to send someone up to assist.

So.....

When the smiling, built, kinda cute man came up the hallway, I swear I thought he was security. So I smiled. He smiled. I said hi. He said hi. I asked if he was security and he pointed out the huge stain on his shirt and asked if he looked like security (not in a snide way, sort of a sweet way). I realized he was not security. And then he offered to use his key to help me open my door. Um... so I think he was hitting on me a little... Which was very flattering except that my sweetie is much cuter and so I sent him on his way. But thanks for the ego boost! :)

Security arrives (in stain-free uniforms, I might add) and lets me know that my key was somehow deactivated when my roommate Shelley Bradley checked in. So I head down to find her and we get it all sorted out. Then it's off to bed for my jetlagged self. I am so ready for conference to officially start.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 -- Day 2 (I am a Pretty, Pretty Princess!)

The Madcap hats hide the trophies as we await the winners.

Sleepy, but excited, I drag myself out of bed to head over to my local chapter's Madcap Awards Ceremony (Heart and Scroll RWA). After a small issues with the room was resolved, we hand out trophies and the famous Madcap Hat for Bed Romantic Comedy in three categories. I also get a chance to meet and talk with the lovely Tanya Michaels, Alesia Holliday and Sabrina Jeffries, amongst many others. Then it's more relaxation before I head up to the Rendezvous Reception Suite. Rendezvous is the premier romance bookstore in Melbourne, Australia (and they're opening in the UK and available online now, too!). Not only were these ladies friendly and sweet, but they truly love romance and know how to sell it. It was fantastic and I'm so glad I got to spend a little time with them. Afterward, I meet with Shelley and Jennifer Crump. The three of us had a plotting group many moons ago and are planning to regroup now that Jenn is almost done with her Board term for RWA. It was so nice to catch up as we ended up back in our room for a nice chat.

After they head off, I change and make my way down to my very first RWA book signing (actually, my first book signing, period). Wow! What an experience! First, I realize I'm sitting between Tanya Michaels, who I met that morning and Teresa Medeiros (fangirl moment!!!). Then I go to say hi to Anne Mallory (also known as 'Trouble' ;), Julianne MacLean (one of the nicest people ever) and Suzanne MacPherson (who made me spit water on my computer screen this morning from one of her funny emails)... all Avon Authors who were sitting across from me. I ended up meeting Avon's Mass Market Marketing Director who is handing out gorgeous foam book cover stand-ups... including the one you see to the right for Scandalous. I am so excited that I hug this total stranger like a big goober. Luckily, she is a sweetheart and does not file a restraining order. The signing begins and low and behold, people come!! They buy books. They check out info on Scandalous. They tell me they love The Passionate Pen. It's lovely. Not to mention that pretty much every Avon person there (editors and other company folk) come by to say hello. Then my lovely agent, Miriam arrives and we hug for the first time since she handed me my dream on a silver platter with a big cherry on top (sorry if I cracked any ribs, MK). And my agent, jetlag and all, stands there and hand sells Secrets, Volume 12 to unsuspecting passerbys. How can you not love her??

My first book signing. Note the gorgeous Scandalous stand-up I was given.

Afterward it's off for a drink with Red Sage Sister (and soon to be Avon Author) Kimberly Dean for a well-earned dinner. I can hardly sleep, but I have to because tomorrow is my busiest day!

Thursday, July 28, 2005 -- Day 3 (Okay, just one more piece of chocolate... and a cream puff... and I'll have some Crème Brule, too)
Thursday dawns early for my day 'o meetings. Today is packed with stuff and I... being me... am excited about it all. First, I start with breakfast with our Mass Market Marketing Director (yes, the same one who I assaulted the night before). And yes, I do know her name, I just am not going to post it here. :) This woman is a fireball of energy and enthusiasm. I can hardly keep up! But the other authors (there were five of us) and I soak up her info and I'm left with an ever-growing impression that I'm with a house that really knows what it's doing.

After a quick stop at a workshop on libraries, it's off to the Arizona Museum of Art for lunch with Avon Senior Editor Erika Tsang, authors Melody Thomas, Brenda Hiatt, Shane Bolks, Shirley Karr and... for the first time, I meet my editor, May Chen. May is... lovely. Not only is she very pretty, but she is as funny and smart and sweet as I hoped she would be from her emails and phone calls. Now I feel complete because I have now met everyone who I work with on a regular basis and our personalities mesh well. The two of us make plans to meet up after the Avon Spotlight on Friday on chat some more.

We get back to the hotel in time for me to meet up with the other authors presenting at the Avon Spotlight. We briefly go over what we each intend to say, then take some time to just chat. I admit, I am nervous to speak (which I'm usually not), but we're not sure how the crowd will receive authors talking when they really want to hear from editors, but I know this is a solid panel with a bunch of really good authors.

After I part ways with the group, I meet Miriam for dinner. We go to a place called Rapscallion (a seafood restaurant) outside of the hotel. As always, we have a great time together. We do talk business, but our personalities are such a good match that I often find I've talked to her for an hour without even thinking about the fact that she is my agent and we have business to do. :) One of the things I like best about her is that I always leave feeling more at ease and happier when I talk to her either in person or on the phone. She talks me down from my ledges... and then makes terrific reading suggestions.

The very talented Shelley Bradley and myself at the book signing.

So when we get back, we meet up with Shelley and the three of us head over to Kiss of Death chapter's Death By Chocolate Party. Miriam ends up sitting with us and... well... I'll just say the two of us have a very good time. Congrats to all the Daphne Winners!

Friday, July 29, 2005 -- Day 4 (Clearly, I have overestimated my popularity)
So I start out the morning by finding a Diet Coke. The hotel only has Pepsi (barbarians!!), so it is a coup. Then I head over to Irene Goodman's Career Doctor workshop, moderated by Miriam. I intend to take pictures, but of course I forgot to recharge my batteries, so the digital died and I didn't have the disposable. I sneak out early to make my way to the big ballroom where the Avon Spotlight is being held. Robyn DeHart starts us off by talking about rejection, followed by Jessica Jiji on submitting via an agent versus without, Cindy Kirk covers changing genres and Margo Maguire talks about the writing process. Then I cover promotion both from Avon's end and my own ways of promo. I also mention I'm the Passionate Pen and am greeted by about 150 blank faces. This seemed to be a theme. Are my stats wrong?? Aren't you really out there?? :)

Anyway, I was pleased we weren't booed or anything when attendees realize they'd have to sit through us before they got a crack at our fabulous Avon editors. After we presented, the editors also give away books, including ARCs of Scandalous, which I sign for my very first real reader!

Afterward, as I waited for May, I am approached by another editor who told me she'd read my book and really liked it. This actually happened a few times during conference. Distributor contracts and booksellers and Avon internal people came up to me and said they'd read and loved my book and couldn't wait for it to reach stores. I was overwhelmed. My book! I am starting to have a tiny hope that my debut will be successful. I only hope readers have such a nice reaction.

So I find May and we end up having lunch together. Again, I realize I'm so lucky because my editor rocks, my agent rocks. I'm in author heaven. And I find out they're almost ready for cover conference for my August 2006 book, so I have work to do when I get home. We head over to the Avon sponsored signing and I end up meeting even more people (my head is spinning by this point). Then Robyn and I go over to a workshop.

Afterward, it's time to gussy up as I head off to my first Avon Family Party. I especially enjoy the cocktail hour, where I meet even more editors and authors, as well as industry professionals like Waldenbooks Kathy Baker and Borders/Waldens Sue Grimshaw (who has been so supportive when it comes to Scandalous). I come back exhausted and collapse in bed.

Saturday, July 30, 2005 -- Day 5 (I have officially reached my saturation point)
It's morning... again. But life improves when I meet up with Robyn DeHart for breakfast. We have a nice meal with good conversation and then head over to the workshop lead by Borders/Waldens lead, Sue Grimshaw, leading Waldens bookseller Kathy Baker and bookseller of the year Marcy Dodge. I met Sue at the Avon party, but she amazes me with her industry knowledge and true love of romance. We're so lucky to have her on our side.

Not surprisingly, I'm still freakin' exhausted, so I go back upstairs to rest before getting ready for the GH/Rita banquet and presentation. The banquet is slightly laughable. We enter to an overpowering smell of fish that turns my stomach right away, so Shelley and I head downstairs for the pizza joint instead. It works out since we'd been so busy, we'd hardly had time to hang out. We take the time to decompress and do a little plotting over actually decent food.

Then, off to the ceremony where 5 of us place bets on each category winner based solely on title (yes, I got this idea from someone... you know who you are). I don't win, but do pretty decently, if I say so myself.

You have possibly heard of the controversy surrounding the ceremony by now. Nora Roberts is scheduled to be the MC of the event, but about an hour before we start to hear rumblings that she has withdrawn due to artistic differences over the content of the 25th Anniversary speeches and videos planned to be played that night. I never do find out if these rumblings are true, but when the show starts, Nora is not to be seen. The videos have also been edited, apparently, by the time we see them, but the buzz is that they contained scenes of the Columbine shootings and the September 11th terrorist attacks.

I suppose you'd like my take on the show (edited or not). I have to say, I didn't think it worked. The music was fun, but the 'fashion show' that introduced each presenter went on forever. And I didn't really understand why the program covered so much news rather than more about RWA. They did show pictures and tell the tale of RWA's lifespan and that interested me more. I lived through the entire span of political and social history that was covered over the 25 years of RWA. I've seen the images and heard the speeches before... but RWA's history is more of a mystery. I think it would have worked better if they had put more time into the history and changes in the organization, rather than spent so much showing me videos of Princess Diana, Bill Clinton and etc.

And my God, the show went on for days it seemed like. I was beginning to think I would miss the shuttle for the plane the next day. However, it did finally, mercifully, come to an end and I went straight to bed to get ready for my trip home.

Sunday, July 31, 2005 -- Day 6 (The Day Time Forgot)
I am up at 5am and getting ready to go home. I say goodbye to Shelley and get to the airport only to learn our flights have been overbooked. The airline offers me a nice compensation and I decide to take it. Not because I don't want to go home (because I desperately do), but because I know that of all the people waiting, I have no kids that are depending on me to get there and no 'day job' that will be pissed if I don't get home on time. While waiting for final confirmation that they'll be taking my seat, I end up talking to Jessica Faust of the Book Ends Literary Agency. She is a lovely woman and I enjoyed the time chatting, even if I didn't particularly enjoy the cause.

So I apologize to my sweetie and go back to the hotel (which the airline paid for, by the way). In some ways, this ended up being a good thing because I slept. I don't mean "I slept" like I took a ten minute nap. I eat, go to the room and sleep for three hours. I get up, call my honey. Then I eat. Then I go to bed until the next morning. At one point, I find myself sitting in the buffet, eating alone and I realize that I am not thinking at all. And for anyone who knows me, this says it all. And that was a good thing.

And so Monday dawns, I go back to the airport and this time I get out. Twelve hours + later and I am back in my husband's arms in my own bed and ready to tell you all about my conference.

Final Thought:
I don't know that I had a final thought this year that is really that interesting. In my two prior conferences, I've come away with some grand piece of wisdom that I could share. But this conference, at least for me, was all about me. I got to meet my editor, see my agent, put names to faces on authors who have touched me with their books, as well as welcomed me into the Avon family. I got to meet 'fans'. Like actual, living people who read the Secrets volumes I was in or are looking forward to the release of Scandalous. And I came away with a greater sense that yes, this is real. In a couple of months, I will truly be published by Avon. And better yet, I came away with a sense that they are as happy with that prospect as I am.

So that is a very good thing. And well worth any encounter with Elvis or delayed flight or jetlag.

Want to comment or ask a question about Reno? Email me!

RETURN TO ARTICLES PAGE