Last official post of 2010

And so now we've come to the last official post of my first full year blogging! I had so much fun doing this and I hope that you guys did too and that maybe you learned something you didn't know before.

I met two of the three goals I had for 2010 and I think that's pretty darned good!  In case you were wondering, my goals were to write 2 books, acquire an agent, and to have a publishing contract.  Well, I wrote 2 books, started 2 others, finished a short story, and, of course, found my perfect agent.  Came pretty darned close to having a publishing contract, so...I guess it's really 2 1/2 out of 3 goals.  :D

This year I have some more writerly goals and I've decided to share them in the hopes it'll help me get them in the coming year!

1)  I want to write 3 books (finishing books from last year is fine) and 2 short stories

2)  I want to have one short story accepted somewhere

3)  I want to have a publishing contract

4)  I want to attend at least 1 writer's conference.

As you can see, I've upped the ante a bit there from what I accomplished this year.  I think it can be done.  Though, arguably 2 of those goals are out of my hands. So, those are the ones that I'm most worried about.

So, let's hear it.  What are your goals this year?

And to sweeten the pot, I'm holding one last contest.  But, I'm doing it different.  As always!  YOU get to pick the prize.  Sorta.  It's a book prize, not like a car or something.  :D  Just comment below with a goal and what book you want and I'll choose a random winner.  It is open internationally.  And, yes, you do need to be a follower of the blog, but that's easy.  Just click over to the left and become a follower.  :)

That being said, I hope you have a very happy new year!!

ETA:  Comments are moderated (can't figure out how to turn off moderation.  :)  Just be patient, all comments will be approved.  )

RWA 2010- Day 0.5

RWA 2010 Day 0.5

Okay, so I’ve finally gotten around to blogging about my first conference.  At first I wasn’t planning on writing about it because I didn’t feel I had enough to share, but so many of you have been emailing me and asking me how it went that I’ve decided to give you a day by day.  As short as they’ll be.

First let me start by saying going to Nationals for my first conference was completely overwhelming and I’m so glad I had my friends (and roommates) to be with me.

We’ll start with Wednesday as that’s the day I officially arrived on Disney property. Let’s just say, it wasn’t good.  LOL.

My friend and I arrived late.  Yes.  I know.  I live in Orlando.  How the heckleberries did I end up arriving late.  Let’s just say it’s almost impossible to 1) leave ontime in my house and 2) drive through Orlando without getting stuck in traffic.

However, despite the fact that we arrived with 30 minutes to spare, my friend and I ended up driving for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot (she refused to pay $12 for 2 hours—I don’t really blame her). 

So, we arrived at the registration desk at 8:01 pm.  It closed at 8.  I’m not even kidding when I say they were closed tighter than a virgin’s legs.  Crude?  Yes.  But, very, very true.  

That, of course, meant I couldn’t get into the First timer’s Orientation, which meant I couldn’t meet my roommates. So, my friend and I walk back to the Boardwalk where our room is and try to get keys. 

Easy right?  Wrong.  LOL.  Our names weren’t on the register, so my friend left me with my bags and hers to wait for our other roommates.  She wasn’t staying in the hotel.  I was. 

When they finally came, we fixed the registry, which took, oh only another 30 minutes.  LOl. 

But finally we get into our room (which was, of course, in the room farthest from everything.  Literally.  But at least we had a corner room and a patio that overlooked the pool.  

I finally caught a break when my friend Cate Hart and I went to Kimonos and listened to our friends and fellow Romance Divas sing at the Karaoke bar, before finally turning in for the night.