It occurs to me that I'm probably not the best or most informative person to be blogging Nationals. Disclaimer: If you're looking for the inside scoop on who's here, who's pitching, and in-depth analysis of workshops, this may not be the blog for you. While the good conference attendees were attending Leadership Seminars (formerly the Chapter Presidents Retreat) and checking out the Book Fair and Goody Room, I spent most of yesterday shopping in Chinatown with Kristen Painter. It was actually our second trip; Tuesday afternoon was our inaugural visit with the much larger and more boisterous crowd of Lara Santiago, Anna Whose Last Name I Don't Remember So I Couldn't Link To Her--Sorry!, and Rocki St. Claire.

On Tuesday, we bought beautiful Chinese silk patterned tops to wear to the Chinatown-themed RWAOL chapter party and had delicious dim sum. On Wednesday, Kristen realized she'd been so focused on the top she'd neglected to buy a t-shirt for her husband, and I realized I had the opposite of buyer's remorse over a pair of sunglasses I'd lusted over. I'm so much more likely to regret NOT buying something--why isn't there a term for that? Anyway, we obviously had to go back. This time we were completely successful and also had some of the best Chinese food I've ever tasted at the Empress of China restaurant, a Chinatown institution. Best potsticker I ever ate, with shaved lemongrass on top, and a prawn dish that involved a light batter, shredded cabbage, and candied walnuts all tossed in mayo. I know, but trust me, it tastes better than it sounds.

Then we went back to the hotel and "wrote" in the lobby. Essentially, we spread ourselves over a seating area off the bar, opened up our laptops, and talked to everyone who came by. Okay, fine, that was just me. Kristen and Lara, who joined us, actually both wrote tons. I just suck. But I hadn't seen Naughty Kate yet, and I had to take the opportunity to flag her down and make sure she was coming to the RWAOL party! And to harangue Jen Rementer into buying a Chinese silk dress for the same event! Very important stuff.

The Literacy Signing was a blast, as it always is if you don't try to actually buy any books or wait in that horrible line. We did a lap and talked to all our favorite authors: Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Kresley Cole, C.L. Wilson, Marley Gibson, Roxanne St. Claire, and of course, the incomparable Deidre Knight. News from the ladies? Ok, here goes.
Gena: Made a gorgeous one-of-a-kind original bracelet for Kresley with her own face all over it, and was upset that Kresley was a bit late to the signing and not giving the jewelry the exposure it deserved.
Jill: Let us know that there a quite few Author Talks in our future (yay!) as conference is a pretty good time to get three busy authors together in one location.
Kresley: Was late. But when she did show up, she was wearing the stunning Gena Showalter creation, so all was forgiven.
C.L.: Converted a fine art nature painter to the dark side with one of her bestselling Tairen novels, and now the artist is asking permission to use the books as her muse.
Marley: Went on a ghost hunt in Louisville before she got to Nationals, and for someone who hadn't slept in 24 hours, she looked damn good. We can't wait to read her Ghost Hunter YA novels!
Rocki: Was the first author we encountered who completely sold out of her books. What can we say? The woman has a ton of fans. Some of whom she'd just met the previous day in Chinatown. Seriously, true story, we were chatted up by these retired ladies visiting SF from who-knows-where and Rocki invited them to the Literacy Signing, made sure they knew where it was and everything. And we forgot all about it. But those ladies didn't! Rocki said they were the first people in line for her and bought everything they could get their hands on. Proof that hand selling really does work, people!
And finally Deidre: Who looked amazing in an adorable mocha and white polka dot dress, is running a truly fabulous promotion for her upcoming new Midnight Warriors series. Check it out, I guarantee you've never seen anything like it!

This post is getting out of control, so I'm going to save the rockin' RWAOL party for later. I do have some pics, though, so stay tuned!

Posted by Louisa Edwards at 11:46 AM