No, not Christmas. It's conference season! Around here, the rest of the year is known as cake eating season, because there's been no cake eating these last few months. Lots of working out and eating right (mostly) in anticipation of fitting into conference clothes.
Today is my RWA Nationals shopping day. I'll be headed out for a little retail therapy with one of my author bffs, who will also be looking for a few good buys. It's a fun way to prepare for the week ahead. Really, it's just a great excuse to shop and spend the day with a friend.
I know some women don't like shopping (I think they have medication for that now), but I love it. I excel at shopping the way some people do math. If shopping were an Olympic sport, I'd be the Michael Phelps of shopping. It's in my genes. If you could see my mother shop, you'd understand.
So, I'm off to peruse the stores and see what fabulous things need me to bring them home. Wish me luck!
As you may have guessed from my book cover, I'm very into dance. I've been dancing pretty much my whole life. In fact, the 30th anniversary of my very first dance recital is this weekend!
Growing up in NJ, we used to go to shows on Broadway often. Eventually I started seeing my old friends from the dance studios in the shows, but not until I was a teenager (well, just for one show...Rick Faugno, who was my tap nemesis, played Will Rogers, Jr. in The Will Rogers Follies) and then in my 20s. Now that we're all in our 30s, I'm not certain if any of my old buddies are still on Broadway. Most have moved on to owning dance studios, or dancing at Disney World, or in Vegas, or TV work.
But even so, Broadway is still a thrill for me. So when I looked at my RWA National Conference schedule and realized I had a hole one of the nights, you better believe the very first thing I did was check the listings to see which show I might be interested in seeing.
Every year around this time, I get an itch to go to NYC. You see, the Tony Awards were just this past Sunday, and as always, they managed to remind me of the glitz and glamour of my favorite street in the Big Apple. The performances were wonderful!
If you didn't see the awards show, then you missed out on some fantastic singing and dancing, including host Neil Patrick Harris'...wait for it...LEGENDARY rap recap.
THE hot ticket on Broadway this year is The Book of Mormon, a hilarious and irreverent (yet surprisingly touching) musical from the creators of the trash-talking cartoon, South Park. I've heard it's fantastic, but what do you expect from the guys who wrote the song "Blame Canada"? If you didn't already snag yourself some tickets weeks ago, don't expect to go while you're in town for RWA.
It's been a challenge to score tickets ever since it premiered in February, but now that the show has won NINE Tony Awards, landing a seat is even more daunting. Many performances are sold out weeks or even months in advance, and the day after the Tony Awards, the producers hiked the price of tickets by an extra $13, bringing the top non-premium ticket price to $155 (although during a holiday weekend, you can tack on an extra $20.) If you want to take your chances with scalpers, expect to pay nearly $500 per seat. Each day, a ticket lottery is held outside the Eugene O'Neill Theatre for a limited number of full-price same-day seats, with the lottery drawings hundreds of people ecery day.
So yeah, RWA-goers, The Book of Mormon just ain't gonna happen. But there are still plenty of other fabulous shows. And if you're patient and flexible, you can get your Broadway fix on for 25-50% off!
How? I'm glad you asked. Check out the Theatre Development Fund's famous TKTS booths, famously known as "The Half Price Ticket Booth." You may even be able to see the original TKTS out your window from the Marriott Marquis, in the middle of Times Square. This location is very convenient to the conference, but the lines are crazy. You might be better off venturing down to the South Street Seaport location, where the lines are about 1/10 as long.
Does TKTS have tickets for every show? No. It's hit and miss, to be honest. You never know what shows they'll have from day to day. So it helps to have a list in mind ahead of time, so you can easily choose a replacement if your #1 choice isn't available.
Here's a listing of the shows that appeared on the boards at the TKTS booths last week:
http://www.tdf.org/TDF_SupportPage.aspx?id=68&do=v
Just because something was there last week, doesn't mean it will be available two weeks from now, during RWA, particularly if the show happened to win some Tony Awards a couple of nights ago. But it's a start.
Almost three weeks ago now, many of us came home from the Romance Writers of American National Conference. It was a great week for me and several "firsts" happened that week.
1. I was part of my first workshop panel. One thing few people know about me is that speaking in front of crowds gives me wicked nerves. This surprises most people because I'm such an out going person, but it's true. Even when I taught college, I would get shaky hands and an elevated heartbeat. It's just one of my "things" but I got through my panel and feel like I did a good job.
2. I ran my first mile. Yes, I know this isn't conference related, but it happened while I was there, so I'm including it. I've been running for a while now, off and on on my treadmill at home. I think the longest I'd gone before was maybe 8 or 9 minutes. Something came over me on that fitness room treadmill and I just pushed it until I ran that full mile (12 minutes). What a great feeling! And I've since duplicated it at home, so it wasn't a fluke.
3. I participated in my first RWA Literacy signing. Every conference, RWA holds a massive literacy signing where the publishers donate the books and all the proceeds go toward literacy. This was my first year and I sold almost all my books. As you can see from the pic below, I was a pretty happy camper just to be there.What firsts have you done lately? Share!
Had a great time at conference last week and I'll be heading home today. It's a long drive from Florida to Arkansas, so it's a good thing I don't mind time alone.
One of my favorite things from conference was getting to meet Gwen Hayes in person. She's a lovely, lovely, lovely woman and I had a very hard time not packing her in my suitcase and bringing her with me....Here we are in a very blurry, dark picture from the Berkley party. Sadly I don't have an iPhone 4 yet, so no flash for me! Only Fictionista left for me to meet in person is Rhonda. So Ms. Stapleton you better be in New York or else I'm gonna have to hunt you down!
One more thing...LOVE SUCKS! is in the wild! We stopped by the Gainesville B&N and I introduced myself to some cool folks and I signed stock. I love signing stock! So fun!!
Half the Fictionistas are in Orlando this week, having a wonderful time at the Romance Writers of America conference. The other half of us are stuck at home.
Can you guess who is where? OK, I'll help you out...I'm not in Orlando. :(
But Mel, Kristen, and Gwen are! Mel signed LOVE SUCKS last night at the Literacy Booksigning. My copy arrived in the mail from Amazon yesterday and I'm SOOOO excited to read it! BITE ME was really good, so I know this one will totally rock!
Are you at RWA? Having fun? Attending any good workshops?
RWA Nationals officially begins today, although there were some events last night, including the Literacy Autographing (picture 500 authors all signing books in a ballroom with thousands of fans) and the Diva Drinks.
Kristen, Mel, and I are all in attendance, wishing desperately that Chrissy, Rhonda, and Gwen could join us.
None of us are signing (not this year at least), but Mel and I are both presenting workshops tomorrow, so if you're attending the conference, please stop by and say hi!
Mel's workshop is entitled "I Sold to New York, Now What?" and she's on a panel with Crystal Jordan, Maria Geraci, Kate Pearce, Lilli Feisty, and Lynn Rae Harris. It's from 9:45-10:45 am on Friday, July 17.
My workshop is entitled "Intellectual Property: How to Protect Your Rights and Avoid Infringing Upon Others." I'm on a panel with fellow attorney Jennifer Williston, and New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts is our moderator! How cool is that?! It's from 11 am to noon on Friday, July 17.
So if you're around, please come say hi! We'd love to meet you!
Here's the YA RITA winner, Melissa Marr, and I right after the awards ceremony Saturday night. Note the pretty shiny gold lady! And yes, I am an amazon.
I had a chance to talk to her in person and was happy to find out she spends her working days in pajamas just like I do. She's very sweet and gracious in person. Melissa, if you're reading this, all the glum is gone! LOL
No, not Christmas. It's conference season! Around here, the rest of the year is known as cake eating season, because there's been no cake eating these last few months. Lots of working out and eating right (mostly) in anticipation of fitting into conference clothes.
