Gearing Up

It’s two days until the Romantic Times Convention in Orlando Florida. I’m packing and trying not to forget anything.

I’m also a teeny bit nervous. After all, this will be my first conference as a Brava author and I’m introducing The Education of Madeline to the world. Since it’s my fourth RT, I should be an old hand at it. Yet each one is different.

When I think back about the conventions, that was where I met a great deal of my friends in the romance world. Our own Sylvia Day, Diane Whiteside, and of course Kate Duffy. But many others as well – some from far away places like South Africa (hey Rita!) and Australia (hey Alex!).

I used to be painfully shy, no really I did, and being published has pushed me out of that shyness almost completely. I still am not as outgoing as other authors, but I pride myself on just how outgoing I am. It’s amazing to me just how much becoming a published author has changed me and yet I’m still the same.

For example, I still have to clean toilets, do laundry and go grocery shopping. I have no personal assistant and still balance my own bank account. Yet, I’m a better person, I think. Actually the more I contemplate this notion, the more I am sure that I have become the person I was meant to be, the one who’d been hiding beneath the layers of shyness all these years.

Look out Orlando, I’m gearing up for a fun, exhausting, and exhilarating good time! If you’re attending RT, I’ll see you there!