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Nationals Recap: Day 3
 Posted by Sara Ramsey Jul 1 2011, 12:25 am The 2011 conference is rushing headlong towards its conclusion, but there was still a ton of business (and fun!) to take care of today. This correspondent may not have been the best one to do a recap of today. Due to a scheduling conflict, I missed the fabulous workshop given by several Rubies, and due to a severe need for a nap, I missed the lunch. Oops. But, our field correspondents gave me updates, so let’s do a quick roundup of Day 3! 8:00am: Breakfast with Sarah Maclean and Sophie Jordan So, this was entirely personal, but it might be of interest to the historical/YA authors out there. I won the Brenda Novak auction for lunch with Sarah Maclean and Sophie Jordan, and it was totally fabulous. While the New York Marriott’s huevos rancheros leave much to be desired for a Californian accustomed to awesome Mexican food, the conversation was utterly delightful. Sarah and Sophie have a lot of experience with writing across two genres and launching breakout careers, and they were two of the nicest people you could hope to meet. I think (?) I managed not to act like an utter fangirl, but it was difficult — still, I don’t think I scared them with my exuberance, so I’ll count it as a success! 8:30am: Ruby workshop! Our very own Vanessa Barneveld, Anne Marie Becker, Jenn Bray-Weber, Tamara Hogan, and Autumn Jordan (with Liz Talley moderating) gave a workshop called “The Road to Novel Completion”, covering how to finish a novel while handling life’s demands. According to my sources (and by “sources” I mean “Gwynlyn MacKenzie”), the room was nearly full – quite an accomplishment for 8:30am! All day: Book signings Several publishers did booksignings today. I only made it to the Avon signing (where I restrained myself to only eight books – so minimalist, I know), but Vivi Andrews captured pictures of a couple of Rubies in action:  Tamara Hogan's booksigning  Darynda Jones Awards Luncheon: Sherrilyn Kenyon The awards luncheon honors the recipients of the RWA Service Award, the Bookseller of the Year, and the Librarian of the Year. I missed the lunch (although I would bet $100 that they served chicken), but all reports say that Sherrilyn Kenyon’s speech during the lunch was quite inspiring. Julie Brannagh, a 2011 GH finalist, told me that one of the pieces that meant that most to her was the comment that you should aspire to be the best *you*, not a second-rate version of someone else. If you attended and were inspired by any other comments, please share them with us. Afternoon workshops I only made it to one workshop today – Sarah Maclean and Lauren Willig’s workshop on “Familiarity Breeds Success: Recurring Characters, Places, and Themes in Your Historical”. They said that historical series are popular for the same reasons that small-town contemporaries are – they create a small, knowable circle of people that readers can follow and fall in love with without getting too overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters. They also suggested creating a smaller number of memorable secondary characters – for example, Sarah Maclean always uses the same dressmaker in her books, which is an Easter egg that makes her loyal readers feel ‘in the know’ without making new readers feel clueless. There were lots of other tips and suggestions; if you weren’t able to attend, it would be a fun workshop to get the audio recording for. 3:00pm: 2011 Golden Heart/RITA reception The RWA Board of Directors hosted a champagne reception for this year’s Golden Heart and RITA finalists. It was a lovely event on the 16th floor of the Marriott, and the finalists were all quite excited to be there. I had a fangirl moment when I ran into Deanna Raybourn (author of the Lady Julia Grey novels that I devoured recently), but otherwise kept myself mostly in check. I wasn’t able to get pics of all of the Rubies who finaled in the GH again this year, but I did snap one of Kelly Ann Riley, our very first RITA finalist!  2011 RITA Finalist, Best First Book - Kelly Ann Riley, FIRESTORM (and 2009 Ruby GH finalist!) Harlequin Black and White Ball No, I didn’t attend; I’m sitting in bed in my pajamas, thankyouverymuch. But, the rapid-fire tweets coming in from the attendees indicate that everyone is having a blast. My roommate, Vivi Andrews, sent some pics (below) from the party, and even though it’s already midnight here in New York, it shows no signs of slowing down.  Liz Talley at the Harlequin Black and White Ball Okay, it’s time for me to go to bed – Day 4 awaits! If you attended and have anything to share, please leave a comment! Share:
              
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Sarah,
I’m Shea’s buddy who sat across from you at the Italian dinner in Orlando for the Ruby’s…the one who has relatives in Iowa as well. I told Shea (Or Sherri, as we all know her) on the walk back to the hotel that you are gonna be a superstar! Still thinkin’ that!
Best wishes!
Tammy Baumann
Thanks for the recap, Sara! I loved getting to see the picture of Kelly Ann, our Ruby RITA finalist (and what a gorgeous room that champagne reception was in!!).
I heard Sherrilyn Kenyon speak at our chapter retreat earlier this year and it truly was inspirational. She’s had an amazing journey as a writer and as a person.
When is the big awards ceremony? Is it tonight??
Ooh, Liz, you’re stylin’! Rubies in NY, are you getting tired yet? smile.
Oh, this all looks so fun!!! So great to see our first RITA finalist up there!!!
And Liz, you should wear feathers at all times!!
[...] Day 3 with Sara Ramsey (who was also a GH nominee this year and is probably having a very cool time in Germany right now) [...]