The Nicest Day Ever!

Long post warning!

I met up with April Alsup today: and later on I saw Karen Schwartz, who was such a delight to meet. Karen celebrated her first sale, at auction, after 27 years of writing.

I also met up with Tess Harrison and felt like a complete moron because her name was so familiar to me and yet her face wasn’t. Duh. Blogland.

At the literary signing, I visited tons of authors (and yes, Robyn, I got your book). Here is me with Kristin Hannah: Then I went to find Teresa Medeiros. I love her historicals. My favorite is called Yours Until Dawn. Anyway, here is a picture of Teresa and me: . Next, I found Debbie Macomber: Last, I went to see Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

I was about to leave, and I thought I’d say goodbye to Julie Cohen (a Mills & Boon author) once again before I left. Guess who’s standing next to her? The goddess of all editors, you know, the one who has worked with me over the past year on my historical His Chosen Bride? Anyway, my heart leaps into my throat and my blood pressure just shot up. “My” editor (please pardon the use of my, since technically she isn’t my editor, but she’s been working with me for a while) is gorgeous, very tall, and very trendy. See the picture here.

So we’re chatting with Julie and the editor at first has no idea who I am. At last, Julie introduces us, and the editor yells, “Oh my gosh!” and hugs me. I’m thinking…okay, this is probably a good thing. I tell her how grateful I am to her for all her help and revisions. Truly, she saved me years worth of mistakes and I will always be thankful for it. Toward the end of the conversation I asked, “So is the book still sitting on the senior editor’s desk?”

She shakes her head no. Cue the heart attack on my part. Here I am, gearing up for some Really Bad News. She said that the senior editor read it, and I almost made her cry at one point in my book. They passed it to the editorial director, who has also now read it.

Cue the second heart attack.

She said, they like my book, and they have a few more revisions they’d like me to do. I blurted out, “I’m your girl! Whatever changes you want me to make, I’ll do them.”

She beamed and said, “Great. You’re very, very close. And I’ll work with you to help make it happen.”

SCREAM!!!!!! OMG!!!! THIS IS AN ALMOST-SALE!!!!!!

I’m supposed to meet with her again tomorrow. Other editorial folks will be there and we’ll chat a bit. Then she’s going to email me a detailed revision letter. I am just praying that these are minor revisions. But no doubt about it, guys. I will make this book work for them. No matter what it takes!
I’ve made it all the way through the editorial chain. Now I just have to do these revisions right and I’m there.

So, here’s popping a virtual bottle of champagne. Blog celebration time!! :drunk::streamer:

Meeting up with friends in Nationals

So this morning at Nationals, I met up with Amy, Jan, and Julie for breakfast. We opted for the $5.00 Food Court entrees instead of the $18.00 prices for eggs and bacon at the hotel. After that, we perused the Goody Room for free stuff. I always love getting chocolate, but this year there were some interesting giveaways. There were To-Do lists, fridge clip magnets, styrofoam airplanes, hairbrushes, and…wait for it…

condoms.

Yes, I thought I was getting a little piece of cherry candy. When I picked up the condom, I nearly fell over. Okay, it was for an erotica book. But holy cow! :confused2: I guess it… fits the idea of her book….okay then. Maybe I should give out miniature swords when I sell my first historical.

In desperate search of a ladies room, I finally had my first experience in a men’s room. They converted one of the men’s restrooms into a ladies room, given that there are over 1000 women here. Smart people. But they tried to hide the urinals with potted plants. You can see the evidence here.

So after that, two of my best friends Kacey and Suzanne met up with me in our room. Suzanne is signing tonight at the Literacy reception, and I’ll be taking pictures of the authors I meet. Can’t wait! There is nothing more wonderful than a room full of books.