Socializing at the RWA Nationals!

The best part of the RWA National Conference this year in NYC was meeting people and making new friends! I have to say – Soul Mate authors are a lot of fun!!

Debby Gilbert, Founder and Senior Editor of Soul Mate Publishing, graciously hosted a dinner of the Soul Mate authors at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.

Obviously, we were very excited to meet each other (omg you were on my blog!) and the volume of our chatter rivalled the entertaining singing of the waiters.

A group of us went on The Ride! This is a must for anyone new to NYC. The seats in a giant bus have been converted into 3 rows of stadium seating facing out the windows on one side of the bus. As you tour the city looking at the famous landmarks, there is a lively commentary with lots of singing and waving to the people out on the sidewalk. And no boring idling at the stop signs – there were rappers, ballet dancers, a UPS street dancer – really there is hidden talent everywhere in NYC!

Did you know that our very own SMP author, Susan B. James is also an actor?

And Annette Bower has been mentored by Lawrence Hill – yes THE Lawrence Hill? They are amazing woman and a ton of fun to hang out with!!

It was easy to meet people at the breakfast table or strike up a conversation while waiting for a workshop to start. For me this was the best part of the conference – I learned a lot about the business side of writing by talking to people from all over the world. And lo and behold – you don’t really appreciate their accents in an email!

And here is reason alone for attending RWA Nationals: I met Nora Roberts!!! I’m still pinching myself 😀

The conference was a lot of fun. I’ll share some of the stuff I learned in later posts, but if you do have the chance to attend the RWA Nationals in the future, I would highly recommend it – at least once!