Wednesday, 8:23 AM
Having spent a night in a hotel room so quiet I could hear myself breathing, I must say I really miss my bed and my fan! I called Customer Services yesterday to see if they had a fan, which, of course, they did not. My friend Suzie recommended the white noise app for my iTouch, which was helpful, however, the sound of heavy rain bothered Marie. Neither of us got a whole lot of sleep last night, but we did survive.
There wasn't a cloud in the sky when I looked out this morning, which means it will be
very hot. The walkway between the Swan and Dolphin hotels is NOT indoors, and I have a feeling we're going to learn to hate it before we leave.
After having brewed some undrinkable coffee, Marie is currently ironing her pants, (I did my ironing yesterday while I was waiting for her to arrive,) and I'm waiting on the guy from the mail office to deliver my bookmarks. Fed Ex swears they delivered the first shipment to my front door a couple of weeks ago, but if they did, Peaches must've swallowed them whole because if she followed her usual MO, there would've been bookmarks all over the place!
8:42 AM
We filled out our order for breakfast last night, and we're waiting for that to arrive, too. Marie is still ironing. We had hamburgers for dinner at The Fountain last night, and then went to the pool. The water was so hot I felt like I was swimming in a giant bathtub. I only got cooled off (slightly) when I got out of the water. I stayed in the pool talking to Marie, who was in a chaise lounge, long enough that I weighed a good 500 lbs when I got out. Don't you hate that? You feel buoyant and light while in the water, and then you get out and gravity comes back with a vengeance.
9:13 AM
We just finished breakfast, which was good, but pricey, and I'm still waiting for my package to arrive. I've called the mail room again and, I think, convinced the guy that I am indeed in a room with a three-digit room number, as opposed to four. Perhaps my package will arrive before I have to leave for lunch. . . . The maid has already knocked on the door to clean the room--we forgot to put out the Do Not Disturb sign--and I got my hopes up thinking that my bookmarks were actually here. But, alas, no. . . .
The posts for the rest of this week will not be as detailed as this one, primarily because I will not have the time to write them. You may get nothing but hunks, but, so far, I've only taken one picture of one of the swans on top of the hotel:
9:30 AM
Hopefully, there will be more pictures later on. I suppose I
could take a picture of the dolphin on top of the other hotel and post that. Hold on a minute. . . .
There! Cute little bugger for a gigantic dolphin, isn't it?
9:48 PM
So, to pick up where I left off, when I went to get my stuff at the registration booth, the lady who gave me my badge was like, "Ooo, Cheryl Brooks!" and she touched my hand--twice. LOL! That was my rockstar moment for this event. I finally got my bookmarks after telling the mail guy to just send them to the desk, which is what I should have done to begin with. I'll know better next time.
The lunch meeting with my agent went well, and we discussed possible strategies for getting some of my contemporary romances published. Plus, she paid for lunch, which was pretty cool.
The rest of the afternoon is a blur of sore feet from walking back and forth between the Dolphin and the Swan (our room is in the Swan, the conference is in the Dolphin) with the result that I finally gave up on the sandals and went back to my trusty Nikes. The Cat Master just can't do the snazzy shoe thing for an entire day!
I saw Caroline Fyffe, my roomie from RT, and she was looking as lovely as ever! Her new book, Montana Dawn, was just released yesterday. I saw her again at the Librarian and Bookseller Networking Event, and she fussed at me for not actually doing any networking! I'm just not much of a promoter, and though I may not have given my card to any of the librarians, I did put out some bookmarks and cards in the Goody Room.
The Literacy Booksigning event went pretty well. I sold five copies of Outcast and five of Fugitive, plus I sold a book to the lady from Sweden who interviewed me for a union newspaper at last year's conference. Apparently 2000 people entered the raffle to win the signed book she got from me, which was pretty neat! I saw several of my INRWA buddies, including our prez, Sandy James, and sold them some books, too.
The only bad thing about the signing was that you had to sit there for two hours while the volunteers come around to refill your cup of water. I was there from 5 to 7:30 PM, and by then, I was about to pop! Here I am at the signing, wearing the same shirt I wore to last year's event. The shirt may be old, but at least the earrings are new!
My roomie, Marie Force, was there signing her book, Love at First Flight, along with some cool sample booklets of her new ebook with Carina Press, Fatal Affair.
Kate Douglas came over toward the end and we took each other's pictures. This is so different from my first conference. I didn't know anybody then, and it's amazing how much more fun it is when you do!
After the signing, Marie and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant here at the hotel with two friends from her local chapter. We thought about going to the karaoke bar, but wussed out and came back to the room, and here I am, blogging as usual!
The conference officially starts tomorrow, and I've already decided that the plan to wear some of my dressier outfits (by that, I mean the kind that require knee-high hose) may have to be scrapped. It's too darn hot!!!!
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