A Slice of Orange

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES

By Kitty Bucholtz

I finally recovered from the RWA National Conference that I attended in San Francisco last week. Whew! What a week! I drove up with my friend Lori and her husband and son (both of whom are sweet and cute and fun!). Then I stayed with my friend Marcy for a few days while we brainstormed all kinds of writing-related ideas including weighing the pros and cons of me getting a Master’s in Creative Writing degree. (I think I’m going to do it!) Remember in last month’s column I was stressing because I needed to see my friends’ little baby Grace? Saw her! Spent the whole day with them and I wasn’t even asked to change her diaper – excellent!

After such a great start to the week, I was eager for the conference to begin. It was a wonderful combination of fun and work. I had “not dinner” with some OCC friends (the restaurant was so backed up, we had to leave before we got our food, so we only had bread and wine and water – which Lori termed our Biblical dinner), went to a couple of parties (remembered the next morning why I don’t generally drink champagne), and went to every single workshop session but one. And at the last workshop session, two agents gave us the secret password before the recording began. Those who query them with the secret password get bonus points for having shown up in person when everyone was so tired. LOL!

One of the best parts for me was hearing someone say, “Send it to me.” I tracked down an agent and an editor who I’d researched a few days before the conference, and both want a proposal from me. (Yea!) We heard some great keynote speakers (Victoria Alexander was a hoot!), learned from some great teachers (Eric Maisel’s “Creativity for Life” might have been my favorite class), and met a lot of people! Lori and Lynn and Kimberly and I made a challenge the last two days to give out at least 15 business cards each – and we did it! (Networking made easy!) We also made a point of spending two of our meals together brainstorming, and it looks like we’ll be getting together to do it again now that we’re home. (Plot problem solving made easy!)

The trip was expensive in terms of money and time, and it took me a few days to get my energy back and my life back in order once I returned. But as Lori mused on the long drive home, we received an embarrassment of riches. This wealth is pushing me to work harder and faster than ever before (remember those two proposals I need to get out?), but it feels great, and I totally believe it’s worth it!

Kitty Bucholtz writes romantic comedies because, well, she lives one! She wrote her first book in the NBC cafeteria, the second snowed in at a Reno hotel, and the third from a tiny apartment in Sydney. Even though she loves talking about, writing about, and teaching about writing, she’s pretty sure she knows at least three people who aren’t writers.