Posts filed under 'CB World'
I was going to do a scene by scene of my arrival, fun times, and departure of San Fran, but really, you don’t want that many details. But I’ll break it down to the highlights. I arrived Wed after the plane, the airBART, the regular BART, walking uphill with a suitcase (ew) and plenty of nice conversations with strangers (the book I brought sucked). First thing I did in SF was meet Kay T (aka RWA roomie). Next thing I did was walk into a lobby with at least a hundred women talking romance, their voices like “chattering birds” (stole that from someone), their energy level sparking the mind. But that was nothing compared to the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing that night. Over 500 authors, a lot of the RWA members, and a huge smattering of the public filled up the enormous ballroom. I made a beeline to Suz Brockmann’s table- squeal squeal squeal- and then made my rounds around the place, picking up among others Kathleen O’Rielly’s Sex, Straight Up, which I’ve read since I’ve been back and found extremely well-written. As I’m making the end of my rounds I notice the raffle board and omibob I won two gift baskets. (Let me* say right now, Kay T actually dropped off my raffle tickets while I was in line for Suz- squeal- so I did share some of the goodies, though she wouldn’t take the seagull sculpture no matter how much I insisted. *grin*)
Thurs. was the beginning of the workshops (and the Goody Room, where I saw what made good promotional items and filled up a bag with the stuff). I got to see RSS again (yay! I was very lucky and got to spend a lot of time with RSS, all of it fabulous) and then Dee (first and last time I saw her at the conference; you need to get an elephant to sit on her to keep that CB in one place). The workshop to point out for that day is Watching the Detectives: Peek Inside a Real Detective Agency with Eileen Rendahl, who basically explained all the ins and outs of PI work and life. If anybody has a PI in their story, I’ll be happy to type up my notes from this one for you, cause wow was she informative. The luncheon during the afternoon had a very funny, funny speech by Victoria Alexander, who I must now read in the hopes she is just as funny in her books. I also went to the Moonlight Madness Bazaar (aka time to sell you stuff) and met the DH of a writer/blogger who did magic tricks. Spent more time talking to him than anyone else there (until he started to look like a young Tom Cruise which was a little freaky, cause ew) but he and his wife were very wonderful. Had the best time at dinner with RSS that night too, where I found out some more cool things about her and the family.
Fri. was the first all-day workshop day. There were three especially amazing wokshops. First, The 21st C Heroine: How Far She’s Come and Where She’s Heading (which included on its panel Kesington editor Kate Duffy who is completely hilarious; if you go to RWA next year make sure you go to one of her workshops). We had a very fascinating discussion that I learned a lot from (you burst with romance pride after this one). The second was World Building: Creating Your Own Universe. A lot of it was stuff I knew, and they were referring to contemporaries, but I had a lot of little light bulbs go off, which is the best response to have in a classroom (as opposed to yawning). And third was Sociopaths vs Psychopaths and the Serial Killer with Dr. Cynthia Lea Clark, and I must buy her books cause oh boy, the stuff she knows. I talked about her workshop often afterwards, which garners more strange looks than I was really expecting considering where I was. I also should mention the workshop with SEP and Jayne Anne Krentz, which was more entertaining than informative (not saying it’s a bad thing, I just found it to be so). I’d love to see Jenny with those two doing a ‘workshop’. This was also the night of the CB Get-Togther in Chinatown. I don’t really have words to describe just how it feels to be sitting and talking with CBs face to face. Most of you have experienced it, but it strikes me* every time by how wonderful it all is. Even if they think checking up to make sure they got home safely is something only a mother would do. Like if I wasn’t walking back with Kay T they wouldn’t have made me* do the same thing. CBs. Sheesh.
[BTW: I'm mentioning the names of the omibob workshops I went to because you can download the workshops from the website and you may want to look at a few to get a feel for them if you've never been to RWA. I'm not really suggesting any of the above three- first was more about being there, second was good but basically common sense, and the third will probably have a lot of blank spots as after her first five minutes of speaking we just peppered her with questions and I'm not sure how many she repeated for the mike. I did take good notes in the last one though, so again, will type them up if you so wish.]
Sat. had one very mentionable workshop (though there was another I liked, but mostly just because the people were so wonderful on the panel, all from Dorchester Publishing House)- From Cover Concept to Finished Cover, and this gave me a great view inside the marketing/sales/art dept. Don’t bother getting this one, you needed the images too, but I would love to go to another one like this. After that it was mostly zooming through book signings (cause at this point I really needed more books) instead of workshops. Then it was the awards ceremony, which I dragged Kay T to so I could see Suz emcee. As I said to Kay T, until RSS or another CB is up for an award, or someone like Jenny is doing host spot, I’m probably not going to another one. It was fun, and we got to sit in the finalist section (didn’t see the red rope, I swear officer), but once is plenty until a CB is nominated.
Sun. was not as fun, mostly cause I was leaving and partly because I had a monster headache. RSS, Kay T and I meet up and ate breakfast as lori’s diner (judging by the car in the middle of the place, let’s not have lori doing any driving any time soon). And then it was a plane ride and home, brimming with ideas, a headache, and the desire to go to RWA next year.
I really didn’t mean to do a play by play of the whole conference, but overall I have a few tidbits I picked up during the conference. One, get the vegeterian meal at lunch. Two, find a workshop with Kate Duffy in it. Three, learn as much as possible, but go to to at least one book signing during the weekend. Four, have Kay T drop your raffle tickets in the box if possible. Five, romance writers want to meet you and want to share as much knowledge as they can. Six, it truly is their refrain that the best book to write is the one you want to. Seven, stay in the hotel where the conference is at if possible; it truly is worth the money to be able to drop off stuff you pick up during the day instead of breaking your back (RSS lent me* her room for this reason).
And eight- it’s a magical experience, and I recommend it to anyone who loves romance- whether it’s reading, writing, or doing both with it. The energy you get can bring you into a new place in your writing and life. I’m so glad I finally went to one.
And don’t forget about Dr. T’s Scotland post below.
August 6th, 2008
Okey dokey. As I mentioned on the previous post, I think May is the best month for me* for a CB invasion of Scotland, and Christina said a weekend that month would also work for her.
So, I’ve setup the following blog http://scotlandwhackinvasion.blogspot.com as a place to scheme and plot and also to post travel and other info. Right now there’s nothing there to see. If anyone else wants posting privileges, just let me know. No furries, I’ve made it non-searchable, and non-something else. So hopefully it will be private.
Um, oh yeah, one more thing. I was thinking of maybe setting up an online vote to select a weekend in May, assuming May is good with everyone. Not that you all can’t come for longer, but it would be a definite date when folks could try to overlap their trips. Let me know if you think I should go ahead and do this.
And I apologize in advance for how expensive it is to visit here. (But I am THRILLED that folks want to come!)
August 5th, 2008
BCB took the original picture, and a little editing helped it out. Sorta!
A good time was had by all. Of course we discussed books. And RWAs. And the impossible aunt/sister/father/you fill in the blank that so many CBs seem to have. And the perfect children CBs have. And CBs who are reading. And CBs who are writing. And reasons that writing is difficult to do. (How can a person find time if that person is also holding down 1 or more jobs?) And the CBs who are strong. No need to discuss the weak ones, since we agreed there aren’t any.
Ya’d think with only 3 of us that lunch would be shorter than when there are more. Say not so! I’d have stayed longer, but I needed to dash home between thunderstorms. Thus the need to use my telephone to check out the storm paths. I LOVE my phone. So glad McB talked me into indulging. So JenB and BCB stayed a while longer. I wonder what they talked about.
One of our topics was about competition, and how I really don’t like competitive sports because they’re, well, competitive. BCB made the observation, that I’m very competitive. Moi? Yes. Absolutely, positively, even viciously. So JenB said how could that be, if I was against such. So I admitted that having that trait doesn’t mean I’m proud of it. The good news is that I’m most fiercely competitive against myself.
Anyhoo. How about you? Care to admit to a personality defect? Or, for that matter, a personality attribute that you’re proud of?
Oh. I’m a good listener.
August 3rd, 2008
OK – Here’s the schedule as I know it:
RWA Conference:
Wednesday evening: “Readers for Life” Literacy signing – which I assume folks will want to attend.
Thursday lunch: Luncheon with speaker
Friday lunch: Luncheon with speaker
Saturday night: Rita and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony – which I assume folks will want to attend.
So… As I see it, we have three choices:
Dinner either Thursday or Friday
Lunch Saturday afternoon
What is your choice? And what would you like to eat? I would think that someplace near the conference would be a good thing.
July 21st, 2008
Cannon Beach. Oregon.
Doesn’t it look professional? I love my 35mm camera.
July 19th, 2008
When I was a kid the writing assignments I dreaded the most were “My Summer Vacation.” I would try and try and try to remember things so my paper would be the most exciting. Then we would go back to school and I would write about playing softball, swimming, going to my grandparents during harvest or working cattle. We never really went on big, fancy trips. We lived in Texas during my growing up years, and it really is a whole ‘nother country. It is amazing the adventures you can have and the places you can see and never leave the state.
Then I got older, not really grown up, but older, and my mother found me the neatest job, The Grand Canyon. I worked at The Ditch for two summers. It’s where I decided I wanted to work in museums and where I learned a few other things about real life. You can probably figure them out, but I’m not going to admit them on the internet.
The summers after that I was in summer school then I graduated and having no money would have been a step up from where I was so traveling was out. Did some local camping trips and the like but nothing major.
Fast forward a few years and I’m working full time but not full enough to get things like paid vacation and I’m working three jobs, a pretty good indicator none of them paid diddly.
A few years later and I finally have a “real” job with paid vacation and everything. So how do I spend my vacation time? Going home to see the family of course.
Now we’re at today, or at least in the neighborhood of today, and I finally realized. I have earned that vacation time and I can use it to benefit me. Yep, sometimes I’m a little slow. So, I went to Portland, then up to Seattle, ate chocolate and bbq, drank wine and beer, and ended up drunk dialing a few friends. Went to Bellingham on the train and was so close to the ocean I could have reached out and touched it if those dang sealed windows weren’t in the way. I even saw a baby black bear cub and waved to Canada, or at least the security cameras on the border.
It wasn’t a romantic get away and the adventures I had were relatively tame, but oh boy, it was a very good thing.
In a few hours I’m leaving on a plane for the second time this summer. The trip is going to be different. No sleeping late and relaxing and getting drunk at wine and beer tastings. It’s a family thing. It’s going to be good. I’m going to get to see my daddy and my sister and the world’s cutest nephew are going to be there. My folks are mainly settled into their new house and the old one has become a holding ground for all things destined for the mother of all garage sales. My mother hasn’t decided if it is good for us to come home or not, in fact I think we pretty much told her we were coming. I’m not sure why my sister chose Oklahoma in July but there you are so there I’m going.
And where have I been in between the PNW and melting in OK? I’ve been melting in CO. And cleaning house. And hiding my head in the sand.
Talk to y’all later. I’m going flying soon and I don’t have clean undies for the trip.
July 15th, 2008
Once upon a time there was a group of Strong Minded Women (Lou’s description) who decided to gather in the upper left hand corner of the U.S. for what we euphamistically called the Summer Solstice. I’m pretty sure this isn’t what the Druids had in mind. The good news is that no volcanoes actually erupted during the weekend, but we kept a close eye on them just in case.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when GP decided to have herself a little adventure on the MAX since she had been itching to do just that for weeks. And that would have been fine, just fine, except this was the one day for which Plans Had Been Made. It was the day designated for visiting Powell’s and collecting CC, who was flying in that day and who also, apparently, had been yearning to ride the MAX. She, GP, goes off while the Residence Inn residing half of the whack was breakfasting. I think the Residence Inn has become the official CherryBomb hotel, bless their hearts. The staff is always so patient and tolerant of our, um, whackness. Plus which they do a fine breakfast buffet. And a breakfast buffet is an important component in a Whack meet because it gives everyone a place and timeframe for gathering. They close the buffet at 10 a.m. so you know everyone will show up by then. In my case this might mean 9:59 a.m.; but, by Bob, I was there by 10.
Now, the good news about GP wandering off is that it meant there were only six of us at the hotel so we could all fit into Lou’s truck and would not need additional vehicles. The bad news is that we do still need to collect GP and CC from their seperate adventures. Note, however, that while both were adventuring on the MAX that day, they did not adventure together. Oh no, that would be too organized. But at this point all that is needed is to get the remaining whack together in the same vehicle at the same time. Right. Huh.
Do you know what happens when you try to get six Cherrybombs to be at the same place at the same time and without food as an incentive? Herding cats. And Fate, it seemed, had decreed that it was my turn to be In Charge. All my worse control-freak tendencies broke out. Haven’t I given everyone fair warning about what happens when I am put in charge? Did this warning influence anyone at the Residence Inn in any way, shape or form? Nope. First CMS disappears, I think in the company of Lou and Edelweiss. Then JenB goes off on her own. Then the first three are back, but we quickly lose Edelweiss again. And so it went. I finally had to break out the wand and start threatening people with it before we got everyone into Lou’s truck. On a side note, JenB does a very spry quick-step with only a little encouragement. And that’s when they dubbed me McBoss.
Meanwhile back at the ranch there is much cell phone activity with Merry and GP as we try to figure out how to get both of them in the same place at the same time so that GP can be picked up and rejoin the herd - uh, whack - which was a bit tricky since I had only the vaguest idea where they each were, GP wasn’t exactly sure where she was going and Merry, it later came out, wasn’t real clear on where she should be. And she lives there. That is another story altogether, and one which I am leaving to those two to tell.
But we did finally get everyone together and made our way to Powell’s. Well sort of. Some of us went straight there and some of us went off to the open air market and some went off to get CC. But eventually all the CBs were actually all together in Powell’s. Phew!
This is some of us trying to figure out the parking meter set up at the lot near Powell’s. Yes it did take all of us to figure it out.
Powell’s. Cue the Hallalueia Chorus.
And after a hard day of bookshopping, gathering, splitting off again to find more books. Splitting off again to use the restroom. Getting distracted by bright and shiney books on the way back from the restroom and other assorted Powell’s related adventures, we’re all here. I think.
And here we have finally all made it from Powell’s to Cary’s. Ms Merry proposed a toast to the 2008 Summer Soltice PNW Whack-a-do. Champagne was drunk. Pizza was et. It was supposed to be burgers on the grill that evening, but we staged an uprising. Also which, we were all really hungry and and had some experience now at just how long it takes us to get anything accomplished. So pizza was ordered instead. And it was good pizza. And the crankies went away and all was good with the whack.
But we did finally have those burgers the next day. This is GP and K.L. putting the grill
together. Well, it’s a picture of them reading the directions for putting the grill together. And it’s one of those occasions when I was very happy to be in the company of other women, because women read directions so it didn’t take them very long.
In case anyone was worried that, what with the pizza and burgers, that we might not have been getting all the major food groups in there, rest your mind. We ate quite healthy.
Here we have Dr. T and Pam preparing to hang a picture over Ms. Merry’s mantle. No, it’s okay; she wanted it up there. I think. There were a lot of other people standing around doing the armchair quarterback thing, but eventually the picture got hung.
And was duly admired.
Then some CBs went off to find out if the water on the left coast looks different than the water on the right coast. Other CBs hied themselves off to see Portland’s famous roses.
Their fame is well deserved.
And after this we headed back to the Residence Inn because I had a flight out later that night. And while I finished packing and took a quick shower, folks gathered in the hotel lounge area and looked a centerfold pictures of nekkid men, debating whether or not they had been airbrushed. The picture, not the men. Well, maybe that too. For info on what happened after that, you’ll have to ask those who remained behind a little longer.
July 13th, 2008
Moot climbed into my luggage for the trip west. Smuggling an alligator through airport security was a lot easier than one would think. Perhaps they’d heard of her. Getting her into a restaurant was considerably more difficult. She startled a scream out of the waitress when she climbed in through the window.
Once inside she shared a drink with Me. Note the two drinks. Hence the fuzziness.
From there she hung out with Cerise and waited for Louis to come pick up the popcorn maker.
She claimed to have made this sign for the airport but I’m sure I saw OH’s hands in there more than once. 
She also helped GP with Merry’s garden.
but that was exhausting work and she required a little more energy.
Scope found some snack food for Moot down at the market 
but she was more interested in Tanji’s Sweet potato treat. 
The dog refused to share so Moot wandered of to discover why someone would wrap a tree. 
I never did hear the answer to that one.
There were plenty more adventures that wonderful weekend in Oregon but as time wore on, and her energy wound down, Moot found a sign in the mountains that it was time to go home.
This just found in Scope’s purse. A self-portrait Moot drew depicting a lovely lunch at McMinimins. Weebils wobble but they don’t fall down. 
June 27th, 2008
I arrived in Portland late Friday night to be greeted by McB and Orangehands holding up a “Dr. T” sign. I burst out laughing. That right there just about describes the weekend for me. Lots of laughter and smiles and hugs.
After collecting Mary and my luggage, we headed back to Mary’s house where the guessing of who people are started and didn’t end until late the next morning. I’m fairly sure I failed this test of CBness, but they let me stay anyways. :+)
The rest of the weekend was full of good conversation, and lots and lots of the afore mentioned laughter and hugs. I didn’t take very many pictures until Sunday afternoon when six of us (Cary, GP, McB, Lou, Pam, JenB and me*) went to the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. I could innundate you with pictures of roses, but I will try to restrain myself. They were beautiful and amazing! And a special thanks to GP for the lesson on roses!
I think I’ll stop now. Hope you enjoyed your visit with the roses!
June 25th, 2008
I’m too tired to write a coherent post, but the comments are over 100 and inquiring minds want photos, so here’s one for you. Yes, that is our own darling Scope in Oregon with CMS! It was a wonderful surprise.
I think everyone survived, but it was a lot of work having that much fun. I don’t mean the cooking or housework, because that was all done by kind helpful CBs. I mean meeting friends that I’ve never seen before, and talking and laughing and hugging and talking and laughing some more, sometimes until two in the morning. That’s work! I loved it.
And yes, we did make it to Powell’s. In fact, I’m a little puzzled about that bookstore. When I walked in, I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker:
Attention! If there’s a minister or a wedding officiator in the store, would they please come to the Information desk in the Gold room? Thank you.
What the heck was that about? A woman was 9 months’ pregnant and suddenly realized that she really, really needed to get married right now because her water just broke? A man who got the love of his life to say “yes” and now wants to rush to the wedding before she changes her mind? It’s one of those things that you have to wonder about.
Too tired to write more. Later!
June 23rd, 2008
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