Home At Last!

Well, here I am sitting back in front of my own computer in Austin. I got back late last night from Reno. The RWA National Conference was great. I went to a few good workshops, hauled away a LOT of books, had just a few drinks and met lots of people. It was cool to meet the people I'd been e-mailing or blogging over the last few months. My all time favorite book of last year won a Rita and I was so excited! It was a Bombshell (big surprise there, right?). A.K.A. Goddess by Evelyn Vaughn. I got my picture taken with my all time favorite author, Suzanne Brockmann. Three pictures actually since in two of them I closed my eyes. BUT the third one came out great! (Yes, Nancy, I got a copy for you too!) I got to meet Julie Garwood, Jill Shalvis, Allison Brennan, Laura Iding who has been a HUGE help for me figuring out all the medical issues in my manuscripts. I know I'm leaving a bunch of things out, but my brain is still fried. I sat with Julie Kenner on the first leg of my flight back to Austin. That was pretty neat because we never seem to get much time to talk. Jenna Black, a woman who just sold a paranormal to Tor, sat on my other side. Then in Las Vegas I volunteered to give up my seat and take a later flight. I got a nice chunk of travel voucher change for it. How cool is that?

When I got in last night, I found a message from my neighbor. She picked up a package for me that was left outside the front door. Immediately my mind flew to a rejection. (No, I'm not a pessimist, but I'm not expecting any other packages.) I only hope that it's from the agent I sent a partial to instead of the editor who has had my other manuscript for over 10 months. (I never thought the day would come that I hoped for a rejection!) Of course the neighbor is at work and I can't get the package for a few more hours!

In related news, I wrote 202 pages during my summer break. (I've still got one more OFFICIAL week off before going back to gear up for the new school year.) I've done a lot of plotting and planning. Because I've incorporated characters from 3 different books, I've been trying to figure out the specifics of jobs, settings, logistics, etc. A fellow Austin RWA member has offered to help me get my military "stuff" down right, which has just made my life ten times easier! (Thanks, Gail!) I'm looking forward to getting back to UCOD and hammering out the final draft within the month (much to the relief of my critique partners who keep reminding me that I left them hanging).

I'm still lost somewhere between category and single title. Since Bombshell is the closest category line closest to single title, the line is even more blurry (blurrier??) for me. I do feel very strongly though, especially after some of the workshops that I need to consider that I have a single title voice. I've said time and again that if I get a rejection from Silhouette on SURVIVAL 101 that I will switch the focus of that mauscript to single title. It's already close to the word count and I had actually adjusted it to make it more Bombshelly. (I love that word!)

Now, I just have to wait and see what my package is that my neighbor has...