I'm in Augusta, Georgia at Augusta State for their annual writers conference.  I didn't get to go last year because I was in Paris celebrating my birthday.

I've always enjoyed this conference and I love being in Augusta in the spring time......the Dogwoods and Azaleas are absolutely gorgeous!

While I'm here, I'll be getting together with author, Karin Gillespie, for a drink.  We met about five years ago at another conference in Athens, when her first novel was being released by Simon & Schuster.  Her fourth novel just recently came out, and I'm looking forward to seeing her and "talking shop."

So I'll see you here at Island Writer next week after I return, when I'll be giving you updates on where I'm at in my publishing process.  Till then, everyone take care and HAPPY EASTER!

Yes.......I'm at a writers conference for the weekend.  I have appointments to meet with two agents.  Here's hoping they might be interested in representing SEEKING SYDNEY. 

Wishing all of you a good weekend.  Can you believe that a week from today it's February 1?  If you can figure out a way to slow down time......please do share it with me. 

See you here at Island Writer next week after I return............

Some of you may recall that my unpublished manuscript, SEEKING SYDNEY, was the recipient of the Royal Palm Literary Award for First Place in November at the Florida Writers Association Conference in Orlando.  I've always been a firm believer in giving back.  Therefore, I've volunteered to be the Chairperson for the Royal Palm Literary Awards for 2008.  I won't be entering my work this coming year and felt it was a good chance to give back to other writers.

It will be a very time-consuming job, but it will also be a challenge and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.  I've been in touch with the Conference Director, Chrissy Jackson, and we've already had a very informative telephone meeting to start preparing for November.  The first of many meetings to come. 

In order to be eligible to enter the contest, one must be a member of Florida Writers.  You don't have to live in the state of Florida to be a member.  Annual membership is $35.  If you think you might be interested, please visit the website at http:www.floridawriters.net  Information about membership is there along with lots of other information. 

I know I have many writers that visit Island Writer, in addition to many avid readers.  One of my duties as Chairperson is to find judges that will be helping to choose the winners of the Royal Palm Award this year.  Each entry must be read by three judges.  We have a wonderful set of rubrics to guide the judges in their scoring.  Rubrics consist of all the criteria to be considered when giving scores to each piece of work.  Writers and readers will easily be able to make fair and intelligent choices based on these rubrics.  And it is the scoring of the judges that will determine the winners.  Also, judges remain anonymous.  If you feel you'd like to participate as a judge, please contact me privately at my email address:  ParisTJD@bellsouth.net

Entries will begin being submitted March 1 and must be postmarked by August 1.  The entries will be tracked by me, given a number (no names are allowed to be on the work) and sent blind to the judges.  Return postage will be provided for the judge to return the scored work back to me.

Not everyone likes to read the same things and some writers or readers may feel more qualified in certain genres.  Judges will choose which genre they'd like to read.  Here's the list of categories for the 2008 Royal Palm Awards.

FICTION:

• Mainstream

• Horror

• Children's

• Young Adult

• Romance

• Women's Fiction

• Humor/Satire

• Sci-Fi/Fantasy

• Mystery

• Thriller

• Flash Fiction

• Short Story

NON-FICTION:

• Educational/Informational

• Biography

• Memoir

• History

• Essays

• Humor/Satire

• Travel

• Poetry

If you think you'd like to enter the contest in one of the above categories, please visit the Florida Writers website to become a member.  Contest entrants do not have to be present at the Banquet to receive an award.  For many beginner writers this is a wonderful opportunity to get your work "out" there, be critiqued with constructive feedback and possibly win an award.  Awards open doors to climbing up that very difficult ladder in a writing career.

If you think you'd enjoy being a judge, please do contact me via my email address above. 

And as you can probably see.....I have my work cut out for me in the coming year.  But I guess I thrive on staying busy and staying involved and doing something like this also gives me a sense of satisfaction. 

See you here next time.........

Wow....where to begin!  It's Tuesday morning and I'm not sure I've recovered yet from the conference.  It really was overload.  So much information.  So many women to meet.  So much to do.  But it was definitely worth it!  I came away with a wealth of new information and it was beyond beneficial to me.  Plus, it was a lot of fun being there in Dallas with Alice. Our flights out of Dallas Sunday morning went very smoothly.  I landed in Tampa at 2:30 and Alice arrived in Boston with no delays.

As I'd mentioned, on Thursday we really needed to get away from the noise and constant crowds and lines at the hotel.  So we got a taxi and went over to the West End and had dinner at the highly recommended RJ's Mexican restaurant.  Authentic and delicious!  And the Margarita's were super!

And here's Alice enjoying her meal and drink.......

And no girl time would be complete without shopping......I got myself a great pair of Minnetakas sandals. (Actually, they were mandatory....based on the blisters I'd already acquired!) And I got tee shirts and assorted things for the grandchildren.  Wild Bill's was a great shop with lots of western/Texan type things.

I've been a member of RWA for five years, but this was my first conference.  So I wasn't sure what to expect.  What I didn't expect was the incredible friendliness, support, encouragement and friendship I found there.  It didn't matter if it was Nora Roberts or an author with her first sale.....everyone wanted to be helpful.  Since Nora Roberts is also a smoker, she was always outside talking to all of us.  It was hard to believe that with all her success she's so down-to-earth and natural.  I was impressed. 

They only had one book signing where you purchased the books and the money was donated to Adult Literacy......we were told at the luncheon on Saturday they took in $50,000 from that signing, which was great.  All the other signings were free.....loads of books.....all from the publishers for promotions.  And many of them were advance copies.....so we got signed copies before the book has even been released to the public.  If you weren't familiar with a particular author, their hope was that you'd take the free book, enjoy her writing, tell your friends and purchase books in the future.  So I'll keep you posted as I read them.  Oh...but the lines!  They never ended for the book signings.  There were two a day. 

Without exaggeration, I bet I have enough reading material to last me the whole year.  The hotel's business office provided the service of shipping the books home UPS.  Just about all of us took advantage of this......there was NO way you could get all those books and goodies home in luggage.  So my shipment will probably arrive by the end of the week.

Another author that I was very impressed with was Lisa Kleypas.....stunningly beautiful with a personality and friendliness to match. (I found out from her website that she was Miss Massachusetts back in 1986)  Not an ounce of ego in her.  She was so chatty at her signings, asking questions, not rushing anybody and proving she's one author that remained balanced despite her huge success. (My kind of woman) Here she is signing......

So....what did "I" personally get out of the conference?  Well....I did meet with the editor of Silhouette Sat. morning and she's asked for my complete manuscript.  As many of you might know...this is far from a guarantee.  But if it's something they think they can sell, then it's another step up that difficult ladder.  I also learned all the different and varied lines that publishers have.  And I also realized that maybe I need to begin branching out in my own writing.  I have a paranormal partially finished manuscript in my computer.....I started it about 4 years ago and got no further.  It takes place in Salem, Mass. (my home town and birthplace) Maybe I need to focus and finish it.  I also found out one publisher wants nothing but medical romances and they want RN's as the authors.  Perhaps I need to continue utilizing my nursing career and education and put it to use with some writing. 

I came away from the conference with unlimited possibilities and options.  All of which I'll be focusing on over the next few months.  And the friendships.....I met so many nice women but two in particular.....Dawn from Milwaukee and Donna from Alberquerque.  The four of us just seemed to click from day one and over the five days, we learned a lot about each other, our writing, etc.  So if you're reading this....hello to Dawn and Donna.  We exchanged emails and will most definitely keep in touch. 

Needless to say, I'm very glad that back in January I decided to attend this conference.  Who knows what the next year will bring for me?  Next years conference will be in San Francisco....so if you're an RWA member, you just might want to think about going.  And I just might see you there.

I'm now back to being buried on my final revisions to send off my manuscript, so I hope you'll understand that I'll be scarce in the blog world for a little while.  But I'll be stopping by to see what's going on with you very soon. 

Till then, take care and I'll see you here next time........

Here I am in the Lonestar State.....All went fairly well with the flights on Tues.  I arrived 25 minutes late due to a delay from Tampa and Alice arrived 50 minutes late as she was delayed out of Boston. Got our shuttle van and a half hour later we were at the hotel.  Very swanky.....the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas.  We're on the 18th floor and the photo above is the flower arrangement in the front.

The Texas Book Depository and grassy knoll, where JFK was killed is also seen right from our hotel window.  Alice has never been to Dallas before but Ray and I were here back in 1978, so I have photos of the highlights in an album at home. 

The conference is quite different from all the others I've been to......it's like a whirlwind of women.  Yesterday was registration.  They have a goody room here where loads of books are available, ink pens, you-name-it.....all promotional items from authors.  And all free.

Alice and I took a break late afternoon and went up to the Reunion Tower, which is a revolving lounge to have a drink.  It's located on the 50th floor and we had a fairly strict security before being allowed to board the elevator.....had to show cell phone and push "#1" and had to turn on our cameras.  But we got a 360 degree view of Dallas as we slowly revolved and enjoyed our drink.

The hotel is really gorgeous, lots of restaurants, lounges, areas to sit and relax. 

And last evening, they had a book signing with all the authors present.  It was neat to see the faces of so many....like Nora Roberts, Carla Neggers, etc.  But.....as I said.....the crowds here are a bit overwhelming.  This is what Alice and I saw when we walked into the book signing area.....

The very few men here are here with some of the authors....other then those few, the estrogen is running VERY high here.

And here I am with author, Lisa Jackson.....I'm not familiar with her books but did buy "Shiver"...she writes romantic suspense, so I thought I'd give it a try.

And here's Alice with some of the books she purchased.  She's really excited to be here meeting so many of the authors that she reads and it's easy to see she's having fun. 

Today the workshops begin and we have a luncheon with Lisa Kleypas as the keynote speaker.  This evening Alice and I are taking a taxi over to the Westside for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

I'm not sure I'll do another blog while I'm here, but if not....I'll have lots to tell you about the conference when I return home.  So that's it for it today.....

See you next time.......