Sometimes I Scare Myself...

Driving alone back home from Nationals, I didn't turn on the radio or play any CDs. Just me, the hum of the tires on the road, and characters and scenes playing through my mind. Kind of scary, huh?

Not for a writer. In fact, I plotted an entire book from opening scene to end. What an experience!

Interviewers often ask if I need certain music or sounds to "set the mood" when I write. Actually, I brainstorm best in complete silence. Well, no interruptions anyway. I need some "white noise" to keep the ordinary sounds from intruding. Usually I play a Creative Minds cd at home, but that's when I'm actually writing. I find I do my best brainstorming when I'm in the car. for instance, the story I wrote for Cup of Comfort came to me when I was driving on my lunch hour.

I guess the next time I get "stuck," I'll have to get in my car and drive around.

Thursday, I'll be interviewing with Joan Bryden with Port Clinton Radio host for "Food for Thought". August 1st, I'll be attending a booksigning at The Book Exchange in Port Clinton, and the authors are being promoted by the local radio station. The interview will air on Friday. I'm very nervous! The book I'll be signing is JOSHUA'S HOPE, so if you are in the area, stop by and see me! I'll be giving away hand crocheted cross bookmarks with each book purchase. HOpe to see some familiar faces there. It should be fun as there is a car and truck show benefit for cancer going on at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Goodbye D.C.!

Thursday, July 16

I started out the morning by running into friends from my local RWA chapter in line to get a bite to eat and coffee prior to the Keynote Speaker opening session. Suddenly, I didn't feel alone! You can't imagine being in the midst of a huge hotel (which was previously three hotels) with over 2,000 romance writers and seeing no familiar faces! I love people watching, but come one!

Janet Evanovich gave the opening speech. After the RWA President introduced her, she hobbled onto the stage with a (in her words) Herman Munster boot. Her explanation: She fell stepping off a stage at a booksigning event and broke her ankle. Then, to top it off, two days prior to the speech, she lost her glasses! Her speech wasn't really a speech, but a question and answer session. The mc handed her a stack of questions and somehow she managed to read them, without her glasses. Her answers were witty, humorous, heart-tugging, and inspirational. Talk about a family business! Her husband is her business manager, her daughter is her web mistress, and her son is also involved. She writes until 3pm and then stops. Many nights her daugher and son in law come over and they have dinner together to talk business. I love my kids, but I don't think I would want to live that way.

After the opening session, I went to the "goody" room where I gathered up several books for the chapter. The crowd was pretty huge so even though I heard the room was filled with different and new material each day, I didn't go back again.

I came back to the room for a brief time and dropped off the books and then headed back to the ballroom for the luncheon with Linda Howard giving an inspirational talk. The food was pretty good and the staff very quick to serve thousands of people. We sat eight to a table and one waiter for each table. Our meal consisted of a greek salad, chicken parmesan and a sinfully delicious chocolate dessert. Linda Howard was hilarious. She should have been a comedian. Honest! She began by telling us about all the nuts in her family and describing them in such a way that everyone doubled over with laughter. If you ever see her, ask her to tell about her uncle, her aunt, and the tractor, wheelchair and bunge cord. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you here. You have to hear her do it in person! I left full and very relaxed after all the laughing.

I spent the afternoon workshops. The first one was "What Not to Write." I didn't get much craft wise that I didn't already know, but Eloisa James gave a humorous approach. The next workshop was by my all time favorite romantic suspense author, Brenda Novak. She gave fantastic examples of the way to invoke emotion into the sotry. The title of the workshop was "Emotion: the Heart of the Novel." She used examples from her novels, one of which will be released next month, but the publisher had released some early copies (with a cover which will be revised). Of course, I had to leave the workshop and head to the bookstore on site to get my copy! Then I went back to my room for a regroup. I changed into comfortable slacks and met some friends at a restaurant in the hotel for dinner. Decided to treat myself to a New York Strip steak! Yummy!

The rest is history. I came to the room, spent 45 minutes talking to hubby and mom and then collapsed in bed. I was asleep before ten.

Friday, July 17

Slept in and didn't get up until 7:00. Headed down to the deli for a ham, cheese and egg croussant and orange juice. I decided to skip workshops and opted to go to the Harlequin and Pocket book signings instead. The publishers invite some of their authors to sign books to give away to the RWA participants! Wow!! I filled up my bag and headed back to the room with all the Harlequin books and then went back and did the same for the Pocket books. I introduced myself to Roxanne St. Claire, who is going to be our keynote speaker at our COFW conference in September. Went back to room and dumped books! I have no idea how I'm going to get all these books out of my room and into my trunk! Guess I'll have to tip the bell boy a big bunch!

I ran into some friends and chatted for a while and then headed off to an 11am workshop: "Under Their Skin and Straight to the Heart:Creating Emotion with Significant Detail." Interesting and helped to show how to use details properly. The workshop very well followed what the description said. I enjoyed it and picked up a few tips. That, for me, is always a measure of a good use of time.

Next stop was lunch with Marcia James and writers who had attended a workshop I copresented with Marcia. It was fun to put faces to names. One lady brought her husband with her so that was fun, too! Our lunch speaker was Eloisa James. She shared a lot of inspiration about how to use examples from our real lives in our books to truly capture the emotions we have gone through. Lunch was delicious, but I was getting a bit tired of eating chicken.

After lunch, I headed off for more workshops. The first was "Face Off: The Many Faces of Suspense." I really thought it would be a better workshop, with each presenter giving a short speech, but instead the coordinator asked questions of a four person panel. I did gather a bit of information, but I sure was getting sleepy. Could have been the ibuprofen or too much chicken!

Next workshop, I ran into Laurie Kingery, my friend who I'd had dessert with on Tuesday night. The workshop was titled "The Threaded Synopsis." I really need help with writing a synopsis. I wasn't sure what to expect. The presenter provided a unique tool, which can be created easily in Excel, to track your chapters and the actions in the scenes. By continuing to fill in the information as you go along and make changes, it gives a great tool for writing the synopsis when you are finished. Also, it gives a snapshot to make it easy to do edits. Great workshop. I began to wake up a little.

One more workshop to go. I chose"What Came First, the Plot or the Character? The Yn and Yang of Creating Great Characters within Great Plots." This workshop was pretty good at cementing plot and characterization. I'd always thought characters were the most important part of the story, but these two authors showed how one drives the other and how important it is to weave them together. Though I was getting sleepy again, I enjoyed it and gathered a few tips to help.

I left the workshop with a sense of relief. It was over for me. I stopped and purchased a roast beef sandwich and tomato basil soup and brought it to my room. After eating, I felt a bit revived and decided to do some writing.

Saturday, July 18

Today, many of my friends will be enjoying workshops, sight-seeing, and later enjoying getting dressed in evening gowns for the gala awards banquet. Me...I'll be driving back to Columbus, Ohio. Goodbye, D.C.!

Thanks for stopping by!

Checking in from D.C.

For those who are following my D.C. RWA Conference journey, I promise to post later tonight.

Yesterday was an intensely full day and I was too pooped to blog. Heading out for Day Four now.

Thanks for stopping by!

Books and People Everywhere!!!

What fun! My day started at 5:30 am today. I spent time writing before getting ready to head down to the Leadership Retreat. The attendees of the retreat received a very nice manicure and grooming set and a thumb drive with Harlequin books to read! When I reached for my free gift I noticed it had a maroon dot on it, so I thought maybe it was for something special...namely not me. So I took the one next to it without the dot. Geesh, smack me upside the head with a big sausage! The person who had that gift won a Sony e-Reader!!!! Not a good way to start my day. : (

The retreat was a day filled with governance information, how to's, IRS regulations, and a nice lunch with a presentation by Heart of Dixie Romance Writers. I actually got to see Linda Howard up close and personal!

The literacy booksigning at 5:30 was beyond description. Five hundred authors and a bazillion more readers all crammed into one room! Luckily the authors were lined up alphabetically, making it easier to get to the ones I wanted to see. I really wish I hadn't been too tired to stand in Debbie Macomber's long line.

After leaving the literacy booksigning with three new purchased books, I met with fellow COFW member, Kris Branch, for dinner. We ran into Rhonda Penders, co-owner of The Wild Rose Press coming off the escalator. She recommended a little pub across the street from the hotel for good food at reasonable prices. Great recommendation!

Now I'm back in my room, tired, and wishing I had the energy to type up all the stuff I gleaned from the meeting today.

Tomorrow's events begin at 9am! So, it's off to bed for me.

Looking forward to posting pictures of the literacy booksigning. It's so interesting to see a sea of heads. LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello D.C.!!

I drove to Washington D.C. yesterday for the RWA National Convention. What a beautiful drive! I love the trees and hills of West Virginia. The entire trip gave me fabulous scenery to enjoy. I'm grateful for purchasing the Garmin GPS, which brought me all the way without my having to watch for routes. Love it! The only weird thing is Garmin told me to turn left on Woodley NW, take the next first left and I had arrived at destination. Not true! I found my little Camry dwarfed by huge apartmen buildings on each side. That's when my heart started pounding. How in the world would I find my hotel? I must have put in the wrong address! I don't know how I wound up back on Woodley NW again, but headed in the opposite direction. I went across Connecticut Avenue to the opposite side and there was the hotel! The good Lord watched out for me.

First adventure was to wait for the concierge to help me load my luggage on a rack and turn my car over to Valet attendant. The concierge then stood holding my receipt until I handed him a tip. I knew it was coming, but he was so obvious! How much do you tip for a 50 foot walk into the hotel? I handed him a $5 and he gave me my red receipt.

I went to the registration desk where the clerk happily entered my name and took my ID and credit card. Then she told me the hotel had overbooked for that night and they would happily put me into another hotel and pay for the room. I could come back the next day and check in at the Marriott. She must have seen the total panic in my expression as I shook my head and said, "No, no." She smiled and said she did have a room with one queen bed that was ready. I accepted. "The room is available for your entire stay with us." Well, that was nice. I didn't want to change rooms or hotels! I couldn't believe it when I was assigned a first floor room. With 2,000 romance writers, getting an elevator would have been a nightmare!

The bellhop brought me to my room along with all the luggage, including a case of water which I'd purchased back in Columbus. Imagine my surprise to see a refrigerator in the room! Yay! Cold water for me.

After letting hubby know I'd arrived safely, I ventured out and checked out the huge hotel! Had a sandwich and came back to get my camera. The grounds surrounding the hotel are beautiful. I forgot to bring my camera usb cord so I can't post pictures until I return home. Anyway, I took some pictures of the landscaping and headed back to my room. I ran into a fellow author, Laurie Kingery, who writes for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historicals. We had a nice chat over some food and I retired to my room for the night.

Hooked up my laptop and logged on. I found a google alert and when I followed the link I found that Sarita Leone had posted an interview with me. I thought it was scheduled for the 21st, so I was surprised. Anyway, if you check it out and leave a comment, you might be the winner of a free ebook copy of my latest release, JOSHUA'S HOPE.

http://saritaleonepages.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-carol-ann-erhardt.html

Thanks for stopping by!