RWA National-getting ready for conference.

Ever been to RWA National's annual conference? Want to go to RWA National's conference? Well here's a little overview of what to do, what to expect, how to dress and how to have a rockin' good time at RWA National.
This year it's in Atlanta, Hot-Lanta. Yes, in JU-ly, it's going to be friggin' hot and humid, but this is a conference that you actually attend the hundreds of workshops and rarely leave the hotel. I am leaving the hotel to scurry my desert-rat butt over to the Atlanta Aquarium for a luncheon given by the Passionate Inkers, the erotica chapter of RWA. So a few blocks of heat and humidity is worth having a luncheon catered by Wolfgang Puck! (sorry, food gets me off on other channels.)
Get there early! I can't stress enough-early, early, early! As in a day or two early. Beat the mad rush of conference goers who will be checking in an registering by the hundreds, if not thousands. There are approximately 2000 people signed up for this conference and every one of them shows up! My entourage and I are arriving on Tuesday. We can get checked in quickly and head to the bar where the real action is. (more about that later) Then we can register Wed am at our convenience, not swim upstream against everyone else and head to the bar again for afternoon refreshents. (again, more later)
This is a conference you will attend. There are huge numbers of workshops that are for the very beginning, unpublished writer all the way to the advanced and published writer. Workshops are broken down in categories such as craft (which I highly recommend), publishing, marketing type of category, industry, spotlights on publishers and a variety of others. I tend to focus on craft as much as possible, because if you don't know the craft, you aren't going to have a good foundation in writing.
Attend workshops. If you are in one and in 15 minutes you are not engaged, leave and find another. People come and go from workshop rooms constantly. If you are concerned about disturbing the others, sit in the back near the door.
Most of the workshops are taped, so if you miss one because you have to attend a chat with Nora Roberts, (my queen), well then go see Nora and buy the tape for the other workshop. Tapes are available by the end of the conference so you can actually have them in hand and take them home with you.
This is a conference where you will actually learn something about writing! What a concept. You will also have opportunities to hear directly from the publishers and their editor and just what it is that they want. And don't want from a writer. These are called: Spotlights. Go to them. Most are taped, but some aren't, and you don't want to miss a chance to stand up in front of 500 people that you don't know and ask an editor a question. Saves on postage, so you don't have to send a query letter.
Then there are the networking possibilities. Carry business cards with you that list some way of contacting you, but don't put your entire life on your card or you're at risk for identity theft. You might meet another writer you want to connect with again. You might even happen to be in line behind an agent, having a conversaion and don't realize she's an agent. Once you introduce yourself, you can give her a business card. If you happen to be in an elevator with an editor, don't pitch your book to her. Say hello, but that's it.
When you have your editor-author appointment is the time to pitch. If you hang around the appointment table, you sometimes can pick up extra appointments, but you must be ready to pitch at a moment's notice. (I picked up 5, yes, f-i-v-e appointments my first year of conference this way.) If the editor isn't interested in your story, (it's not a novel until it's published), pitch a second idea, but have a second one ready. Don't be afraid of editors, they are people too, but don't waste their time either.
Then there's the bar. (Finally, we get to the good stuff!) A lot of networking and meetings are conducted in the public places of the hotel as well as the bar. Many well-known authors and agents can be seen swilling a few in the bars. I plan to swill a few of my own, though I'm not well known, yet.
There is something called :The Goody Room where an abundance of free, yes something is free at the conference, promotional items and books provided by many, many writers. So stock up and take some back for your chapter members who didn't make it.
Bottom line: if you are interested in or are currently writing anything related to romance, get your ass to RWA Nationa's conference. If not this year, next year. Their web site is: rwanational.org I will write a separate post about the Literacy Event!
Delicia

The Margarita Book

I love a good margarita. My ultimate margarita disappointment occurred in Minnesota. Although the bartender had heard of a margarita and knew that it had some vague tequila connection, he had never actually made a margarita. Being the brave, hearty soul that I am, I gulped down my instinctual fear of this situation and boldly decided to try one of his prototype margaritas.
Big mistake! That particular concoction of lime flavored dishsoap, rock salt, and an alien chartreuse liquid that was supposed to be tequila, but was obviously colored lighter fluid, put the fear of the universe in me.
One sip, and I almost fainted as the delicate skin on my upper lip singed off, and the air in my upper respiratory system evaporated in a whoosh. It was just like Back Draft. (I swear.)
Needless to say, I didn't finish the drink. At least I didn't humiliate myself completely and spew it all over the bartender as I wished I could have done as it boiled the hide off of my tongue.
Since then, I've been in search of the perfect margarita. What I found recently, while listening to a local talk radio station was a chef from Santa Fe who has written and published a book: The Great Margarita Book.
There is a goddess.
I immediately logged on to Amazon.com to find said book and I have it in my hot, intoxicated, little hands right now. Intoxicated with excitement, not booze! Yet. This lovely, slim volume is 154 pages of history and recipes for a variety of luscious margaritas. The history of tequila, triple sec and the making of margaritas is very interesting. You can spend some serious bucks on very top shelf tequila, but it's not necessary to have a great tasting, smooooooth margarita that will not singe your nose hairs.
Great book. Highly recommended for those of you over 21 in most states.
Delicia Diamond
Margarita Lover

Hot Erotica Short Story, The File Room, Available Now!

Prepare to take a cold shower after reading this story, The File Room, at www.erotiquepress.com
Here's the blurb for the story:
One by one, Marcy Jefferson's fellow workers file out of the office at the end of the day. Resigned to more overtime, Marcy heads into the file room to get things going so she can get off quickly, but a hard body pressed up against her in a moment of frenzied heat gives new meaning to the phrase.

When you enter the www.erotiquepress.com website this story is on the left hand page with a lovely picture of a hot, male body revealed by his open shirt and suit jacket. Man, I wish I worked in that kind of office. It could definitely be one of the perks of team building!

So, if you're 18 years or older, go to www.erotiquepress.com and download this story. It's only one dollar and worth every electronic cent of it. Support your local erotica author who is more normal than you could ever guess.
Delicia Diamond

Amazon.com rocks!

Just for the hell of it while cruising around the amazon.com website I decided to click on the link: "sell my stuff." Well! I added a couple of books, looked around the bookshelves at the dust sitting on books I hadn't read in years and decided to add, maybe 12 total books. Before I could finish posting them, I had sold two books! That got my attention. So I further investigated my dusty bookshelves and found a pile of books that I haven't read, was no longer interested in keeping, or wasn't interested in reading. That led me to my video and DVD rack, which was located beside my CD case. So I went to town, posting item after item.
Before I knew it, I had sold close to sixty items and the sales are continuing. This was a great idea that I stumbled onto. I've now gone through my son's bookshelf and his stash of kid videos that he no longer watches and have sold a bunch of them, too. Yes, I'm keeping all the money! Who do you think bought most of the books and the videos? My husband just likes that I'm clearing off the shelves. Unfortunately, he recently cleaned out his own stash of books and donated them to the library.
Posting items to sell is incredibly easy. Easier than ebay. Really.
Click on "sell my stuff" and enter the ISBN number of the book, which is the number beside the barcode on the back of the book, or in the inside front cover or on the copyright page. Amazon.com searches its own database and provides a picture of the cover of the book so you don't have to take your own pictures and upload them, like you have to on ebay. Then you input how much money you want for your item. Amazon.com will tell you how many of this same item are available for sale as new or used and at what price so that you can compete with the marketplace. You may also open your own store if you wish.
Just be aware that amazon.com charges a 0.99 cents per transaction fee for each item, so you don't want to offer something for a very low price and then have to pay money out to ship it. You can make a little on each item if priced right and is not too heavy.
At this rate, my little amazon.com aventure will finance my trip to Atlanta for the RWA conference! Wahoo. I love this. I'm considering asking my neighbors for unwanted books, too.
BTW, I do believe in royalties, BUT I also believe in getting rid of the stuff sitting on my bookshelves that someone else could use.
Thank you Amazon.com!

It's Raining in New Mexico

You may not think a little rain is worthy of a blog subject, but if you don't, you obviously don't live in the desert southwest. Our measurable spring rainfall was 0.27 inches. Yes, that was a dot before the 27. We are in the middle of a drought here and rain is precious to us. I feel like a farmer who watches the sky for rain which will determine whether his/her crop will prosper or fail.
Does rain fall in your writing? Is it a deluge of ideas or a sprinkling of ideas that comes in between droughts? Take the rain when you can get it, save it in a cup for another day when it's not raining.
I keep a file of ideas, just snippets of ideas, or even just a title that sounds intriguing. If you're a writer and don't have an idea file for when there's a drought of ideas, open one today, right now and put one thing in it. Some days are filled with raindrops and rainbows. Plant something, watch it grow.
Look up at the sky and pray for rain!