Conference-Bound!

Next week is the RWA National Conference, and I’ll be attending for the first time. I’ve spent a

Guess where I'm Going....

month carefully planning my outfits for the hot-AF-Orlando-weather-but-mostly-gonna-be-indoors-and-want-to-make-an-impression-while-being-comfortable days. No small task, let me say.

The good news is that I’m packed. And needless to say, I’m excited. And Terrified.

Not terrified as in worried something might happen, but terrified at the prospect of going to such a large conference where I’ll only know a few souls. While I can make a good show of being personal, I’m still an introvert, and the effort to put myself out there can be exhausting and sometimes overwhelming. Usually, I avoid situations where I have to meet and make chit-chat with a bunch of strangers. Again, just because I can doesn’t mean it isn’t a daunting endeavor.

But I know I’ll manage. And even if I end up fading into the woodwork like some wallflower at a ball, I know I’m going to have a memorable experience. The conference is too big, with too many fellow romance writers for me not to. Just as I’ve found my tribe locally, I’m sure at the very least that I’m with a whole bunch of other people who “get” me. We’re all at some point in this writing journey, and that is a voyage that instantly makes us brethren.

I’m also excited for the workshops I’m planning to attend. The kiddos will be going back to school soon after this, and I promised hubby I’d make an effort to find a job (sigh… my Summer of Play is near an end). So I’ll need ALL the inspiration and information I can glean from this conference to help my writing career!

Lastly, I’m just plain excited to go back to Disney World, where the conference is being held. Yes, we’ve used the conference as an excuse to also wrap a family vacation around it. So, I get to spend a few days in the most magical place on earth, which will be an interesting experience in the heat of July. But I have no doubt it will be fun nonetheless.

Because of all this next week, I won’t be posting a Friday blog. In fact, I think the Word Wranglers are all taking a late-summer week off. But I’ll be sure to highlight some of my experiences when I return! Have a great week, everyone!