RWA 2011 Photos!

As promised, and only a few days later than I said I would put them up (let's all pretend to be surprised that I'm slightly behind schedule, okey doke?) we have the RWA Nationals photo album!

I arrive early in NYC to see some of The Broadway. It was quite awesome.


I get gussied up to go to the ballet at the Lincoln Center, wearing my brand new favorite shoes... (I love you, Strappy Heels! I love you so hard!)


Then, while sight-seeing downtown, I find a good location to dock my yacht, should I ever feel the need/have the stupid money to buy a yacht. (If you squint you can see the Statue of Liberty...)


And finally, it's conference time, baby! The conference kicks off with the Literacy Signing - for which eager readers lined up over five hours early!


Five hundred authors in one room... luckily the air conditioning worked so it was only the temperature of the second circle of hell...


Even amid all the conference hustle and bustle, I still manage to take time out to grab one more show (Jersey Boys) with some Ruby cohorts.


On Thursday, at the Carina Cocktail Party, I reconnect with some of my all-time favs: Leah Braemel, K.A. Mitchell and Vivian Arend.


And Leah Braemel scolds Viv Arend & I for tempting the universe to implode by being in the same place at the same time. Had Vivi Anna been there, Mayan Prophecies might have started coming true on the spot...


We zip over to the Harlequin Black & White Ball at the Waldorf Astoria (where we are issued dancing socks, though I resisted wearing them for at least two hours because I am IN LOVE with my new strappy black shoes)


I party it up with fellow Rubies Rita Henuber & Anne Marie Becker...


The always elegant Jeannie Lin...


The delectable Liz Talley...


And there is much dancing...


And as the clock strikes midnight, we put our shoes back on (reverse Cinderella!) and are whisked home in a white limousine.


The following day, Samhain has it's inaugural Publisher Signing at Nationals and I get to give away books! This was hands down the most fun I had at Conference, because Samhain readers are beyond awesome. I was high for hours afterward. Which may have been entirely due to the fact that I got to gaze across the aisle at Viv Arend. ;)


That night, it was the Rita & Golden Heart Ceremony. The lovely and talented Sara Ramsey snuck me into the VIP section as her plus one...


And we enjoyed Meg Cabot's playful MCing as the ceremony zipped along.


Sadly, no one at our table took home necklaces or trophies, but I did nab a blurry picture of a nearby Rita...


Afterward I said my goodbyes to fellow Rubies Vanessa Barneveld and Sara Ramsey (and everyone else I ran into in the bar)


...and went up to my room to pack up for my morning flight to the Family Fourth Festivities. Thus Endeth RWA 2011.