Parties and Cheesecake! Om nom nom... RWA Conference Pt. 4

Back to the conference!

In between workshops and (possibly) breaking delicate body parts, there was everything else.  

And this constituted a lot of socializing, eating, drinking, and dressing up.  Yeah.  It was awesome.  

Let me clarify...

"Partaaaay!"

Being my first RWA nationals conference and Shelley's second, we wanted to check out a lot of what was offered.  And since neither of us are published (preferring the title "PREpublished" instead of "UNpublished" because of the more positive connotations), there were certain things that we naturally wouldn't get invited to, but might possibly attend in the future.  Example: one of the publishers held a black-and-white ball at the Waldorf Astoria.  Yeah, that place in the picture.  I'm still jealous, and it's been nearly a month.  If we published with that particular publisher, then we'd be invited.  

The same goes for belonging to other chapters or specialty chapters of the RWA.  Example: the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal (FF&P) chapter held a party where the party-goers wore super-hero (or super-heroine) costumes.  Passionate Ink held one where a lot of dominatrix gear was worn.  I'm not sure what it was for, but it made for some interesting people-watching, I'll tell you that.  

Not too many looked like Angelina, but who cared!  It looked like a fun party!

So, we attended events that were open to all, such as a fun PJ party that Harlequin was throwing one night.  Sadly, neither of us brought PJ's we wanted to wear out of the room, so we just wore regular clothes.  It was a fun night, and we met a lot of wonderful people!  

Shelley and I also enjoyed the Atrium Lounge, where we were often joined by other writers and people we met along the way.  It was a great way to network, and I think I gave out more of my cards this way than through any other socializing I did at the whole conference.  It was great to meet other authors who were letting their hair down after a nice long day of workshops.  Conversations ranged from talking about the workshops we'd attended, to what our books were about, to where we were from and more.  I even had a chance to meet a couple that I'd met on Twitter.  That's kind of a surreal experience, meeting someone you've met only online, but I had a lot of that going on on this trip.  

The luncheons, of which there were two, were good as well.  The food was definitely good for the staff having to feed 2,000+ people, and the speakers were motivating, especially Sherrilyn Kenyon, who is a well-known author of many paranormal and fantasy romance novels.  

Yeah. She's that awesome.

The RITA and Golden Hearts ceremony which was held on the final night (Friday), was pretty interesting.  Normally I can't stand awards ceremonies.  They're boring, and the people who win go on and on and on and no one will shut them up, yadda yadda yadda.  But, I quickly discovered that if you get a bunch of writers in one spot, even if they suck at public speaking, the speeches will be interesting.  Because we're writers, bitches.  We can come up with something appropriate, be it short-and-sweet or funny and amazing at the drop of a hat.  Meg Cabot, the lovely writer of many novels, including The Princess Diaries, and who was wearing glasses at the ceremony and looked uncannily like Tina Fey, was the MC and hilarious.  I officially add her to my growing list of people I want to be when I grow up. 

Additionally, we ate mass quantities of cheesecake at Junior's, which was right across the street from the Marriott Marquis.  I'm surprised I didn't gain a ton of weight on the trip, because the cheesecake was to die for.  

I will end with a picture that will make you run to your refrigerator and sob because this is not in there on a shelf.  

Junior's Devil's Food Cheesecake. The white layer is regular cheesecake and the other parts are regular chocolate cake and thick chocolate frosting.  This was in my tummy.  You're welcome for the jealousy.

xoxo Sarah

"W" is for Words With Friends

Seriously?  She's writing an A-Z challenge entry about an iPhone/Android app?

Yep.

Bear with me.

Words With Friends.  After watching people tweet for the past month or so and keep mentioning this app, I had to see what it was.  From what I could gather, it was basically Scrabble, but you could play with anyone online.  I was right; you can even link the game to your Facebook profile and find friends to play with that way, too.

As a kid, I really enjoyed playing Scrabble.  Everything about it was awesome for someone who loved to read and write: I could show off my impressive vocabulary, expand said vocabulary, and even show up the adults around me.  

I think the only thing I hated was how the tiles would always be off-center whenever anyone bumped the board, setting off the OCD anal retentiveness in me that insisted that I played better when they were lined up.  This unfortunate aspect of playing was corrected in later versions of the game where the board had a grid-like pattern of ridges on it to hold the tiles in place.

Obviously you don't have to worry about your tiles being knocked all over the place with Words With Friends, but all the positives apply. As a writer, it's fun to see what you can make from the random letters you're given.  Will it be a simple word?  Something no one knows the meaning of?  For the record, the game doesn't accept proper nouns or gibberish words, and will tell you it's not valid if you try.  Strategy, too.  Will you try for more points using a small word to hit that triple word score, or use up more letters to get new ones on a longer one?

I love the connection aspect of it.  You can play with people you haven't seen in forever, or who don't live anywhere near you.  I have four games going on now, including one with a lovely writer friend who lives in Australia.  How amazing is that?  My husband compared it to when people used to play chess over the mail, sending their moves to each other.  I think that's an apt comparison, especially if you only check the game once or twice a day.

Do you play Words With Friends or Scrabble?  What are your favorite parts?

xoxo Sarah

"G" is for Gaga

My "G" for the A-Z Blogging Challenge is for Lady Gaga.  I could have done "grammar" or something else that starts with a G that's writing related, but since I'm going to see her in concert tonight with my dad, she's the only thing on my mind right now.

Whether you're a fan or not, you have to give Lady Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) credit.  She says what she wants, dresses the way she wants to, and stands up for what she believes in.  Whether she's wearing a hair bow, a meat dress, horns on her head, a lethal-looking outfit, or arriving somewhere in a giant egg, she marches to the beat of her own drummer and is proud of it.  She's unashamed to be herself.  


She's also quite the songstress, writing (or, at the very least, co-writing) her music and singing live in her concerts and other performances.  She pours her heart into her craft, and it shows.  Part of what I like about her being so genuine is while she puts out pop music (which I love, but some people think can't be socially significant), it makes the connection to her so much stronger.  She adores her fans (affectionately called "little monsters") and encourages them to be who they are.  And the themes of self-acceptance and universal rights that run through her songs and even what she's said in interviews and at her concerts are good ones.  Her song, Born This Way, is about being yourself and being proud of who you are because, well, you were born this way, baby.  It's one of my favorites of hers.    


I find her "this is the way I am, so either accept me or don't" attitude to be a refreshing one, and I try to incorporate it into my life as much as I can.  Even as a writer, it's sometimes surprisingly hard to just be yourself and do what's right for you and not for everyone else.  I'm not going to change my writing or the subject that I'm writing about to make something more socially acceptable...it is what it is, and I'm happy about that.  Editing issues aside, of course.


Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some pork chops, chicken wire, and glitter glue to wear tonight...  


xoxo Sarah