Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The NJRW Conference (Finally)

MENTAL STATUS: "Stressed!" Mom's birthday is this weekend. I have no gift yet. Eeep.


I can finally talk about the NJRW conference! But... unfortunately, I waited too long and now I forget everything I wanted to say.

--Just kidding--

Okay, I don't want to bore you, so I'll just make a few brief observations:


**The best workshop I took was Lisa Scottoline's "How to Write a Novel". I could have listened to her ALL DAY. She was so funny!


**J. R Ward really is as cool as she looks.


**Samhain Publishing rocks! Angela James took us Samhain authors out to dinner and treated us to a wonderful steak dinner. (And the best meal I had all weekend) Yum!


**Books I bought at the Literacy Signing:

Autumn Leaves by Candace Gold
Line of Scrimmage by Marie Force
A Little Slice of Heaven by Gina Ardito


**Friendly and funny authors I met: Well, let's see...
I chat with Ann Roth from the eHarlequin boards all the time, so it was so fun to actually talk to her face to face. Also, it was great to meet and chat with fellow Samhain authors Bianca D'Ark and Allie Boniface. And I made two new best friends in authors Gina Ardito and Candace Gold. (Pictured below with me)





(starting at top left) Me, Gina Ardito.
(bottom, starting at left) Donna, Candace Gold, Debora Dennis.


**But the best part of the conference was FINALLY meeting my my crit partners C.D. Yates and Debora Dennis in person. I've been with these ladies for about five years and they're both just as awesome in person as they are online.

Whew! How was that for concise?
Oh, one more story. I came home around noon on Sunday. Needless to say, I was tired. So my hubby told me he was thinking of going out for dinner that night. Sounded good to me! So when dinner time rolled around, I got dressed, fixed my makeup and presented myself to the family.
My hubby looked at me with narrowed eyes. Obviously, the way I was dressed he had guessed correctly that I was not looking for mere pizza or McDonald's.
Hubby: (as we're walking to the car) "So...what makes you think you deserve a nice dinner out? Because you stayed up late gabbing and drinking with your friends all night, was away from your family all weekend and spent a lot of money?"
Me: "Uh...yyyyyes?"
Hubby: (hiding a smile) "Just get in the car."
LOL! He's a good hubby because I DID get a nice dinner out. :)

10 comments:

Allie Boniface said...

I agree; Lisa Scottoline was hilarious. Loved her.

Anonymous said...

YES! - meeting you and Cyn was the best part (and it better not be the last time we're at a conference together!) It was fun and I'm glad you got your nice dinner out!

Chicki Brown said...

It's so wonderful that you finally got to meet your crit partners. Hopefully we'll get to meet each other one day.

As far as your dinner goes, you're lucky you have a perceptive husband. If I came downstairs dressed up, DH still would've take me to McDonald's! :)

Kristen Painter said...

Your hubby sounds a lot like mine. lol Don't you find conferences both invigorating and exhausting?

Nadia said...

Oh I'm so jealous! LOL. I'll just have to live vicariously through pics and posts. ;)

PatriciaW said...

Sounds like you had a great conference. Great you met your crit partners and made some new connections. And got a nice dinner too!

Stephanie said...

What a good hubby! And sounds like the conference was tons of fun!!! I'm jealous!

Diane Craver said...

Glad you were able to meet your crit partners and other interesting people! Your hubby is a sweetie.

Now, happy writing to you after being inspired.

lainey bancroft said...

Great pic, Jen!

Looks like you had a terrific time...and yeah, your hubby gets a big aaaawwweee!

Gina Ardito aka Katherine Brandon said...

Loved meeting you too, sweetheart. You and Cyn gave me some of the best laughs of the weekend. I'm hoping to go again next year and I'll be looking for ya! Enjoy "Slice."

And hug that hubby. I'd get dressed to kill only to find my man napping on the couch. And if I woke him, he'd simply say, "How 'bout you make blackened tuna instead?" Ummm...yeah, it's happened. Too many times for me to count.