RWA day 3: Jessie Potts checks in from the NYC conference
Day three of the Romance Writers of America convention has been my favorite so far because not only were there amazing book signings (complete with free books), but I got to watch the awards ceremony at breakfast, where HEA curator Joyce Lamb received RWA's Veritas Award (yay!) for this post responding to Entertainment Weekly's October spread on romance novels, and Julia Quinn, bestselling author of The Duke and I, was the speaker. She was empowering and so well-spoken. She read a letter from a fan that brought tears to everyone's eyes and riffed on her mother comparing her to Judith McNaught — and not in a good way: Julia's first novel was, according to her mother, "no Judith McNaught." Julia raised the authors up and urged them to continue to write despite some negative reviews and criticism. That started a fantastic day!
The book signings I went to were for Berkley, Pocket Books, Sourcebooks and St. Martin's Press. I got to see Nalini Singh and Kresley Cole again (can you tell I love them?). I also loved seeing Shayla Black, P.C. Cast and Marie Force, and I grabbed an awesome-looking steampunk book by Delphine Dryden. The authors were all warm and welcoming and more than happy to talk books, romance and hunks. As I fangirled my way through the authors, I realized I wanted to know who they wanted to see at RWA and, of course, what they wanted to do while in the lovely Big Apple.
Kresley Cole, author of The Master
Author she can't wait to see: Gena Showalter
NYC wish: To see a Broadway show.
Elizabeth Fama, author of Plus One
Author she can't wait to see: Huntley Fitzpatrick
NYC wish: Go for a six-mile run through Central Park.
Poppy Dennison, author of Creature Feature 2
Author she can't wait to see: Nora Roberts
NYC wish: Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cat Johnson, author of Protected by a SEAL
Author she can't wait to see: Nora Roberts
NYC wish: "I'm a New Yorker, but I love walking through the Central Park Zoo. It's a gem of Central Park."
Rayna Vause, co-author of Amazon Heat with Melinda Leigh
Author she can't wait to see: Nora Roberts (we're sensing a trend)
NYC wish: "I can't wait to see The Book of Mormon on Broadway."
Damon Suede, author of Bad Idea
Author he can't wait to see: Sonali Dev
NYC wish: "Showing people all the small, greasy hidey holes in my hometown."
Cynthia d'Alba, author of Texas Bossa Nova
Author she can't wait to see: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
NYC wish: "I would love to see the Broadway musicals/plays with actors and actresses I want to see on stage, like Act of God."
Shayla Black, author of His to Take
Author she can't wait to see: Jayne Ann Krentz
NYC wish: To watch Beautiful on Broadway.
Jessie Potts, also known as Book Taster, adores books in all forms. She also does reviews for RT Book Reviews magazine and works in the submissions departments at Dreamspinner Press and Entangled YA. You can follow her on Twitter (@BookTaster).