Wednesday night was the RWAOnline Chapter party, which was Chinatown themed. We conned Jen Rementer into buying a silk dress to wear, which turned out to have a bit of corset-type action across the chest, but she looked stunning anyway. Even if she could barely breathe. And it didn't seem to stop her from having a good time--see her pictured left after stealing Feisty's crutches. Nic Montreuil had an amazing brainwave to increase guest participation at this year's party, and in a way that couldn't fail to be fun for everyone, considering who we are. We're all writers, yeah? Is what Nic thought. So why don't we write something? Taking a page from former RWAOL President Mel Francis' book, we came up with five words and ask party-goers to write something--anything--incorporating those words. The plan was to read them aloud anonymously and choose winners based on the applause-o-meter (for my money, Pamela Hathaway's hilarious short take on the See Dick Run books was a clear standout, or possibly Mike Myers' incredibly dirty short story, which was the only thing to come close to making Nic blush as she read it out to us), but in the end they were all so wonderful that we gave out book prizes to everyone who participated. Except me, because I had a mini attack of writer's block and only managed to doodle a drawing of the party table's centerpiece, a little red teddy bear with a Chinese hat on. I did give him a t-shirt sporting all five key words, but I just couldn't bring myself to receive a prize for it. Due to the generosity of our published author members, we had enough books to give away that everyone got something to read on the plane home! People seemed to enjoy themselves, the naughty fortune cookies were a big hit, and Theresa Bodwell announced a fun competition for a great cause, the Unleash Your Story contest to fight Cystic Fibrosis--what more could you wish for? Well, other than the longed-for presence of absent friends like Mel and Maria Geraci. *s-s-s-sniff*






On Thursday, we had the Diva Dinner, followed by the TKA Party, which is not going to make it into this already monstrous post. The Diva Dinner was much like the Romance Divas themselves: loud, raucous, fun and friendly. We went to Buca di Beppo, which is evidently a chain of Italian joints in some states, although I'd never heard of it. Even though the restaurant managed to screw up quite a few things (for instance, promising a private room and delivering a cavernous space filled to the brim with other parties, none of whom could compete with the Divas for sheer decibel level) the party was a huge success. Everyone had a blast, especially Kristen Painter. See photographic evidence below. I like to call this series of pictures Abondanza.
Barbara Vey, who blogs romance for Publishers Weekly, was there and telling fabulous stories about her recent trip to Comic-Con in San Diego--apparently Riker (from Star Trek) no longer fits into his onesie. Very sad. Proving that a good journalist is always prepared for anything, Barbara came to Buca with a Tide pen--and so did Mike Myers. Coincidence?
Naughty Kate and I had similar ideas about documenting the evening. A picture is worth a thousand words! I think these really say it all.

Posted by Louisa Edwards at 10:26 AM