Since I didn’t have Internet access while I was at the RWA National Conference last week, I’m going to be recapping each of the days this week. Today being Monday, first up is Monday of last week.

I was all packed and ready to go early. Fellow Noodler Priscilla Kissinger swung by and picked me up. Having someone to talk to makes the drive to Atlanta fly by. Amazingly, we had no traffic problems, not even in downtown Atlanta. We got to the hotel, unloaded, checked in (they gave each of us a peach when we checked in), and got settled in our room before heading to the food court of the Peachtree Center Mall next to the hotel for some lunch.

Later in the afternoon, we ran into another Noodler, Stephanie Feagan, who was just coming out of the RWA board of directors meeting. Much hugging and squealing ensued.

It was a Noodler evening as six of us loaded up in Pris’s van and headed out to local Italian restaurant, La Grotta. We came, we saw, we ate great food. Here we are, seated from left: me, Priscilla Kissinger, Stephanie Feagan and Anna DeStefano. Standing: Terry McLaughlin and Diane Perkins.

I’m home from the RWA National Conference, and even though I didn’t win either of the categories I was nominated for in the Golden Heart, I’m still thrilled with last night’s awards results because four of my buddies won RITAs, the top award for published romance novels. My critique partner, Beth Pattillo, won Best Inspirational for her hilarious book Heavens to Betsy. Here’s Beth kissing her brand new RITA statue.

We had four members of the Wet Noodle Posse up for RITAs, and three walked away with them. Here are Stephanie Feagan, who won the Best First Book RITA for Show Her the Money, and Dianna Love Snell with her Best Romantic Suspense RITA for Worth Every Risk.

I didn’t snag a picture of Noodler Diane Perkins (aka Diane Gaston) with her RITA, but here she is earlier in the week after winning the National Readers’ Choice Award for The Mysterious Miss M. She’s standing with Harlequin Mills & Boon editor Joanne Carr.

I was bummed for my fellow Noodlers (Esri Allbritten, Jennifer Smith and Mary Fechter) who were also Golden Heart finalists and didn’t win, but maybe this just means the four of us are on the verge of selling. Think positive, ladies!

I finally wrote the last scene of the new YA manuscript today. Whew! Not only am I finished with that, I’m finished packing and preparing for the conference except for the few things I’ll need in the morning before I hit the road. I won’t be blogging this week since I’ll be conferencing. But I’ll be back July 31 with a conference wrap-up, photos of the fun and hopefully some good news. Hope everyone has a good week.

There are two types of entertainment I’ve loved since as far back as I can remember — reading and watching TV/movies. I’ve read and watched romances, historical epics and mysteries. But for some reason, when it comes to science fiction, I don’t read it but love to watch it. I can remember watching Star Trek reruns when I was a kid and watching the mini-series V. Now, I’m a big fan of LOST, Stargate: Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica. Since it’s summer, there are no new LOST or Battlestar episodes, but Atlantis just finished it’s second new episode of its newest season.

SciFi also premiered a new show called Eureka (cast picture second on left) about a town in the Pacific Northwest that is home to a top-secret facility filled with the world’s most brilliant scientists. Much wackiness ensues when a federal marshal has an accident and ends up in the town and eventually becomes the town’s “sheriff”. The first episode was on this past Tuesday, and I play to watch it again once I return from the RWA conference.

Any other sci fi fans out there?

Yes, my patheticness at blogging has continued. Here are the things I’ve been doing instead:

1. Packing and preparing for National. This includes final edits to the workshop I’m doing with Mary, typing out my schedule so I don’t miss being somewhere I’m supposed to be, making travel and dinner plans, etc.
2. Cleaning the house and weeding the flowerbeds (while trying not to expire in the 100-degree heat) because we’re having company this weekend. It’s nice because it’ll be done when I get home from the conference. That is unless my hubby decides to have a wild party and plant more crabgrass while I’m gone. Hahahaha.
3. Last-minute shopping. I hate shopping for pants and shorts. It’s depressing.
4. Reading the first Anita Blake book by Laurell K. Hamilton.
5. Watching Buffy and Angel. I watched the last of Buffy today.
6. Working on two freelance projects.
7. Kicking myself in the heinie because I still haven’t written the last scene of my new YA. Determined to get that done by Sunday night so I can start revisions when I get back from the conference.
8. Miscellaenous errands to exciting locales such as the Walgreen’s pharmacy (needed new inhaler), the library, the grocery store, etc.
9. Laundry
10. Fun on SciFi — new season of Stargate: Atlantis and a new show, Eureka.

I’ll blog more about No. 10 later. And after the conference, I’ll have lots to blog about, including tons of photos!

I leave for the RWA National Conference in six days, so it’s busy, busy, busy this week. I picked up my Golden Heart ceremony dress today. Turquoise, very pretty. I’ll try to imagine I’m as thin as Keira Knightly. Just about everything I need to pack is spread across the guest bedroom, but I’ll be packing it up tomorrow so I can mark another thing off my to-do list. Have fleshed out my portions of the workshop I’m doing with good buddy Mary and will practice it each day for the rest of the week so I don’t do a dear in the headlights routine during the workshop. And I must get lots of rest this week too because the week of National is always tiring and cram packed full of workshops, receptions, get-togethers with friends. And the week after National? Recovery.

The hubby and I went to see Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest yesterday. The theater was full even though this wasn’t opening weekend. This film is raking in bucketloads of money, and rightly so. I thought it was fun and really enjoyed Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly in their roles. There were lots of quirky Captain Jack Sparrow lines, lots of action, lots of heroism (particularly on the part of Will Turner, Bloom’s character). I did have problems with a scene toward the end of the movie. Something happened that I believe was out of character for one of the main three characters and tossed in to generate tension and interest in the third Pirates movie. It seemed wrong and gratuitous. Still, it was a fun summer day at the movies.

Something else I noticed while there was that many movie trailers now give too much away. I mean, foreshadowing is okay but don’t hit us upside the head with the foreshadowing two-by-four. There was one in particular that had hubby and I shaking our heads because you can pretty much see the entire story arc, including what seems like an inevitable ending, in the trailer. Leave some questions and suspense, people.

Have been Miss Absent Blogger. Just not been on the computer that much the past few days other than doing some work. But here’s a funny for everyone:

http://www.fabioifc.com/

Be sure to scroll down to the Nationawide Insurance ads. Hilarious!

If you’re a fan of Joss Whedon, creator of some of the best TV shows to have aired in recent years (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) , you might be interested in this blog.

More decent progress on the WIP today. I think I only have one scene left to write in the first draft. Can’t wait to have that finished.

There are a lot of people in the world who aren’t particularly fond of Americans right now, and I’m not saying they don’t have valid complaints. However, when the 4th of July rolls around, I’m especially proud to be an American. Take out the politics and the wrong turns the country has taken throughout history, and the ideal of America is pretty awesome. It’s a land founded on freedom, and that’s a powerful idea and something of which to be immensely proud. I felt that American pride (along with a sense of relief) when the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off into the beautiful blue Florida sky today.

I watched the launch, praying for the crew’s safety. I’ll be doing the same when they return to Earth. But for now, the launch was amazing. We have friends from college who work for NASA, so we’re big supporters of the space program. I’m hoping that we can travel to Florida to watch a launch before the end of the Space Shuttle program in a few years. I think that would be one of those awesome, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Firecrackers and fireworks have been going off all over the neighborhood tonight, background noise as I finally got down to business and got some serious writing done. I cranked out 16 pages, so I hope this means I’m over my slump.

Another proud moment came yesterday when I picked the first ripe tomatoes off the two plants I put in pots on the front porch. Our back yard is too shady for a garden, so potted tomatoes are about all I’m going to get. It’s almost funny how proud I was of this little group of roma tomatoes.