by Jennie Lucas
Last week, Romance Writers of America held their national conference in San Francisco, California. Here’s a photo album of some of my favorite moments with my fellow Presents authors!
Here’s our breakfast the first morning at the hotel. Around the table, from left: Trish Morey, Abby Green (hidden), Carole Mortimer, Jacqueline Baird (in sunglasses), Sandra Marton, Jennie Lucas (in blue), Sharon Kendrick.
From left: Trish Morey, Jennie Lucas, Abby Green
Jane Porter hosted a “Presents tea” (tea sandwiches, fruit, pastries, coffee and champagne) at an elegant restaurant in a nearby hotel. What a blast! We corralled a really cute waiter into taking this shot of all of us.
From left: Sandra Marton, Susan Stephens, Carole Mortimer, Jacqueline Baird, Abby Green, Kate Walker, Jane Porter, Jennie Lucas, Sharon Kendrick, Trish Morey.
Sitting at the tea, discussing Greek tycoons: (from left) Jacqueline Baird, Carole Mortimer, Trish Morey, Sharon Kendrick (hidden), Kate Walker
Check out the lovely food and drinks at Jane’s Tea. Jane’s holding the first bottle of champagne right before our lovely toast.
Sandra Marton’s famous Mills & Boon post-booksigning pizza party was held in her hotel room on the concierge level. There were so many authors from all the M&B lines–it was fabulous to chat with everyone. Who knew it was possible to fit so many people into a single hotel room? (BTW, Trish Morey got a great shot of the pizza delivery guy sitting on the bed, surrounded by romance novelists!) Some Presents authors below: Sandra in the center, Trish Wylie is the blonde on the far right, with Sharon Kendrick’s foot sticking out in front of her!
Here’s another tea, this one a proper “high tea” at a polo-and-tea shop called Tal Y Tara, hosted by the Harlequin Mills & Boon editors, who’d come out all the way from London.
From left: M&B editor Lucy Gilmour and Presents authors Daphne Clair, Sandra Marton and Sharon Kendrick
Here’s a bigger picture of the tea shop. The girl in black on the far left is brand-new Presents author Kimberley Kerr. (Am I spelling that right, Kimberley?) She’s a young mom from Alabama, and so nice!
Later that night, Susan Stephens had a champagne toast in the elegant bar at the Four Seasons Hotel! Susan looked absolutely gorgeous and glamorous and yet somehow I forgot to get a picture of her… Darn it! You’ll just have to take my word for how fab she looked! Unfortunately, I was a little too giddy on champagne to take many pictures that night…
From left to right: Sandra Marton, Jennie Lucas, Kate Walker, Jane Porter
I am fascinated by Louis Vuitton handbags. And I found out Carole owns 5 of them! So being the shallow girl I am, I bullied her into letting me take a picture of her at Susan’s cocktail party. Carole Mortimer…you’re my idol!
Then came the famous Harlequin party on Friday night. (You can check out my full Harlequin party report with additional pictures here.) Here are some pictures of Presents authors rocking out!
Carole, Jacqueline and Sharon:
We were dancing like crazy, four hours straight, right in front of the DJ! Here’s Abby giving us all attitude like the gorgeous Irish diva she is! (From left: Abby Green, M&B editor Suzy Clarke, M&B senior editor Linda Fildew, Susan Stephens and Heidi Rice.
Studio 54 disco diva Abby Green!
And finally….Here’s a picture of me with the star of the night Sandra, who received a gorgeous Tiffany silver keychain to celebrate her milestone of 75 books!!
Jennie Lucas and Sandra Marton:
Thanks for the wonderful time in San Francisco, everyone. See you next year!
Jennie,
What a fantastic collection of pics. Thanks so much for posting them! I so wish I’d been able to get there for the conference and meet the other Presents authors. Just a little too far from Australia for me this year. It’s great putting names to faces as well as seeing faces I know. It looks like you had a marvellous time and that everyone knows how to party.
I’m gearing up for the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Melbourne next week – much smaller, but still wonderful, if previous years are any indication.
Did you have a favourite part of the conference? Or tips for people attending in future?
Annie
Jennie thanks for uploading all the pics and refreshing the memory. What a brilliant time and so great to finally meet you and all the other authors. Here’s looking forward to next year!
x Abby Green
Jennie – absolutely loved this feature, except for the photos….ha, ha….only joking! It looked fabulous. It WAS fabulous. So fabulous in fact that I can hardly believe I was there – but you have brought it vividly to life with your great resume of a great conference, so thanks.
A bientot,
Sharon x
Didn’t we have a fabulous time!
Thanks Jennie, for bringing it all back. It was so good to get together with you and so many fabulous Presents authors. A real treat.
Already thinking next year, Abby? Now there’s a girl who likes to party:-))
Annie, I’ll see you next week in Melbourne. Can’t wait!
Trish
Jennie, your pictures brought that wonderful week back to life! Hugs to you for posting them.
Didn’t we just have the best time ever???
Hugs from
Sandra
Jennie, fantastic photos! Thanks so much for posting them, and an account of the author get-togethers. It made the conference come alive. Wish I could have been there to share it with you all.
Helen
Annie, we missed you tons! You definitely have to come to DC!
Tips? Hmm….Let’s see. Don’t go to any workshops. The first few years I attended National, I packed in every workshop from dawn till dusk. Now I think it’s better to just enjoy the company of fellow authors, meet people you want to meet, and sign books. That’s it. And you can purchase the CD-ROM that records all the workshops (except the PAN ones). I listen to the workshops all year, mostly while I’m cooking dinner for my family. (I’ve listened to one really great one–Susan Mallery’s “Screw the Muse, I’m on Deadline” at least ten times. She’s utterly brilliant and funny too.)
Do you have any tips for me for the conferences Down Under? I’m still clinging to the hope I’ll be able to pack up my husband and toddlers and come next summer…
Abby, great to see you! Thanks for stopping by. You were so much fun–particularly at the Harlequin party. And who can forget our Wednesday Booze Run to procure wine for Sandra’s pizza party???
See you next month in London. *big hugs*
Sharon, thanks for all your kind words! I just wish you’d taken me with you to the Tiffany shop. I might not be able to justify a Louis Vuitton handbag, but I’m pretty sure I could manage a pretty silver charm.
Hearing about Sandra Marton’s Tiffany keychain and Penny Jordan’s silver bracelet (for 100 books!) has made me yearn for jewelry…Like those fab earrings you got in SF. And now that I think about it, you bought a watch in Italy as well. Isn’t it funny how every time I see you, you’re buying jewelry?
It’s yet another reason I admire you and Carole Mortimer, for buying yourselves the lovely things you deserve, instead of just hopelessly sighing for them…!
Sandra, it’s great to see you! Thanks again for your legendary party and for letting me help a tiny bit. And yes, I totally agree. It was absolutely the best. Time. Ever.
At least until next year.
Trish, thanks again for those Tim Tams that helped me power through my revisions on my return. I’m halfway through The Italian Boss’s Mistress of Revenge and having a wonderful time!
I’m very jealous of you and Annie going to Melbourne. I’m in awe that you’re going after SF and Hawaii. Then London next month, then Greece etc…. I’m jealous beyond measure, you globetrotter! *big hugs*
Helen, it’s great to meet you! I was actually thinking about you last week, because the author sitting next to me at the Literacy Booksigning (I cannot remember her name for the life of me! she’s a popular romantic suspense author) bought my book and said how much she liked Presents. When I asked her who she liked best, she said…
“Helen Bianchin! I buy every book she writes!”
So I think you were there in spirit.
Those are wonderful photos, Jennie. How I wish I could have been there! But with all that nifty camera work, how did you manage to snaffle any of the champagne and nibbles?
Jennie, thanks for the conference tips. I’ll remember them for when I finally make it to a US conference.
Tips for Downunder? Relax and enjoy! Some of the workshops are fabulous but above all don’t miss the author round table. It’s fantastic being able to sit with other published authors (many of whom have immense experience) and discuss whatever comes to mind. It’s wonderfully affirming and invigorating and informative. Get there early – a couple of days ahead of time is great as there’s usually someone else from the conference there and you have a chance to do some catching up prior to the full on conference activities. Check out the shopping – different in the different localities but there’s always something worth scoping out. Bring walking shoes. At the last Gold Coast conference I joined others for early morning walks on the beach – fantastic!
Annie
Great pictures, Jennie. Thanks so much for taking them and posting them here. They brough back such fantastic memories of being with everyone in SF. It was one of my favourite conferences ever and it was so special getting together with all the other Presents ‘divas’!
It was lovely to meet you and I’ll look forward to seeing you again in London in September
Kate
Hi Jennie,
The system ate my message so I’ll try again.
I’m hoping to make it to a US conference soon so your tips will come in handy.
As for enjoying an Aussie conference – I’d say sit back and relax. They’re lots of fun. Don’t miss the published author’s roundtable – a fantastic session where you can discuss whatever’s on your mind with other published authors, most of whom have lots of experience. That’s fun and inspiring and empowering. It’s great to know that others have been there before and have tips to help you.
The Harlequin dinner is fantastic, and so is the awards night.
Arriving a day or two early is great as you have time to settle in and meet up with other early birds in a relaxed way before the conference starts. Shoes for early morning walks are great. At the Gold Coast it was a wonderful way to start the day – strolling out with other authors while the waves rolled in and the energetic joggers and surfers did their stuff!
Annie
Oh gosh! I think I need to explain what Jennie called The Booze Run. I didn’t corrupt anybody’s morals, I promise.
Before leaving for SF, I googled the area near the hotel for wine stores and printed out the map showing the nearest ones. Once at the hotel, I phoned to see if the store would deliver. The answer was a polite ‘no,’ at which point, resourceful soul that I am, I shanghied… uh, enlisted the help of a few volunteers to help me carry everything–half a dozen bottles of vino and assorted snacks– back to the hotel.
I have no idea what the guy who owned the shop thought of me, buying all that at, what, 11 o’clock in the morning, but I had the feeling that my bright-eyed schleppers and I brightened his day.
Christina, it was actually hard to get much to eat those first few days, seriously! Running from one party to the next, really wanting to sit down with a nice chicken-and-veg but just too busy and having too much fun.
That’s why during our Presents breakfast, I ate everything in sight at the buffet. I think the other girls were somewhat aghast at the amount of pastry and bacon I was snarfing, but I tried to explain that it’s absolutely impossible to gain weight at conference. You have to take every chance for a meal, because you don’t know when your next one will be! I’m not sure they believed me, however–at least not until they got home on the scale!
Champagne is a different case, however. There’s always time for champagne. Camera in one hand, crystal flute in the other! I rarely drink at home, so it’s a special treat to be out at a party with such a fun, rowdy crowd.
Kate, it was so great to meet you! You have such a wickedly biting sense of humor–and at the same time so warm and friendly. I’ve wanted to meet you for ages so I feel so lucky I was able to do so!
And I’m still bummed I wandered off and didn’t go on the sightseeing excursion with you, Sandra and Trish. I saw the picture of you three on Trish’s blog and it looked like you had the best time! Ah well. Next conference maybe!
Jennie, it was a real pleasure to meet you – and to dance my socks off with disco diva Abby! At the risk of making this sound like a great, big, fuzzy Presents love-in (but hey, we were in San Francisco right, so maybe that’s allowed), here’s hoping we can all make it again next year.
Sandra,
I’m totally chuckling at your comments worrying that someone might think you were corrupting morals… YOU?! As if!
And I’m sure the liquor store manager didn’t think anything about us being there at 11 a.m. For one thing, as Daisy is Irish and Sharon is British, it’s possible we were all on overseas time.
For another–the next day, I went to breakfast with some friends at the Denny’s next door to the liquor store, and a brawl happened ten feet in front of me. I saw an angry customer grab a chair and smash it over the head of another man, the manager. Then all the servers and cooks rushed him from the back and tossed him to the ground, screaming and cursing until the cops arrived.
In such a colorful neighborhood, somehow I don’t think anyone will think about a bunch of “prim and pretty” girls like us buying wine and peanuts before lunch.
Thanks again for “shanghai’ing” me into helping, Sandra.
It was so wonderful from start to finish.
Sorry–I just realized I made a mistake in my last post. It was Sharon and *Abby Green* who went on the booze run with us. Sorry, Abby–of course I meant you, my Irish lass!
Heidi, your comment about the “Love-In” cracked me up! I really hope we can have the same fun next year too. Heaven knows Washington DC could use some love.
And heck…if we’re placing orders with the universe I’d love to have three new RITA nominations for Presents too, like you, Natasha Oakley and Kelly Hunter had this year!
Sorry for everyone getting a bit weary of today’s gleefully girlish gushing…I’m sure the I Heart Presents site will soon be back to regularly scheduled programming about plot structure and sexy Greek heroes! Promise!
It looks like SO much fun!!! You glam authors you
You have to keep it up for every conference ‘cos one year I hope to get there too…
Natalie, I’m still thinking of a particular photo I saw awhile back that was so great of you. Not particularly glamorous, but still so bright and loving and amazing that it instantly made everyone gasp and sigh. The picture of you holding your newborn twins. Now that was truly great.
I hope things are going well with your family and you’re getting some sleep! In the meantime, we’ll hold your spot in the Glamour Squad until you’re ready to come and over and party like it’s 1999 (and we’re all still in college).