Romy Sommer

Not epic in terms of scale, but rather in terms of major events in my life. Day 7 of my first trip to the US (hopefully the first of many) started slowly, with a lie-in and a continental breakfast. Since I only needed to be at the airport late in the afternoon, I decided to explore this new city. But with less than a day in Atlanta, how best to see as much as possible without blowing my constrained budget? I wanted to see as much as I could of the city and the answer was the electric car tour run by ATL-Cruzers . Advertised as a one and a half hour overview of Atlanta's attractions, I figured I could see a large swathe of the city without missing my plane. I took an Uber into town (the only way to travel in Atlanta if, like me, you're too intimidated to drive on the wrong side of the road) and arrived early enough to stroll around the downtown area, taking in the Olympic Centennial park, Peachtree Centre and a Starbucks frappuccino before the tour. Olympic Centennial ...

As much as I wish the RWA conference could carry on and on and on, the sad reality is that eventually we have to pack away our glad rags and go back to yoga pants. Besides, most writers are introverts at heart. I think we'd implode if we sustained that level of excitement, enthusiasm and sociability for too long! I woke on Sunday morning with a terribly deflated feeling, which would have been worse if I didn't have something to look forward to: Atlanta. But first, breakfast with my lovely fellow HarperImpulse author, Lynn Montagano. This time I was even able to hold up my end of the conversation. And thank heavens Lynn has mastered the art of the selfie because I'm useless at it! Lynn's selfie of us At last it was time to pack my bags, shop for presents to take home, and head for the airport. Continuing the theme of meeting people in queues and elevators, it was while waiting in the queue for a cab outside the front of the hotel that I got chatting to Mills ...

Sherry Thomas (image courtesy of Kristan Higgins ) My fifth day in San Diego started with a lovely, healthy breakfast while listening to featured guest speaker Sherry Thomas . Sherry was born and raised in China and moved to the US only in her early teens. Her earliest encounters with the English language were not happy ones, but luckily for her many, many devoted readers that all changed when post partum depression and romance novels came together to convince her she needed to write her own books. The standard of speakers and workshop presenters at the RWA conference is very high. Every one of them have been highly entertaining, incredibly well spoken, and often moving - Sherry Thomas was definitely all of the above. After breakfast I managed to slide in a Skype chat with my other daughter (the one I didn't manage to reach the day before) before Maya and I hurried to catch Michael Hauge 's talk on Story Structure , with particular reference to the Will Smith movie Hitc...

By Friday, I was discovering a trend in San Diego's weather - every morning would start overcast and dull until about 9-10am when the sun would burn through the cloud.  San Diego really has ideal weather - not too hot, not too cold, not too humid, mostly sunny and bright. My room-mate Maya and I had a bit of a slow start, and before we emerged from our room I managed to get in a quick Skype with one of my daughters before she went to bed. We then had to hurry to grab some of the free breakfast on offer for conference delegates - only barely making it as the staff were clearing up. We didn't manage to get in to the featured guest speaker but at least we got free food! In the elevator on the way back to the conference venue for the first session of the day, I met and chatted with author Kristan Higgins - though I couldn't shake her hand since I'd just painted my nails and they were still wet! Courtney Milan & Alisha Rai (photo from Courtney's Facebook pa...

On this first day of the full-on conference, breakfast wasn't provided, so I decided to grab a quick coffee and snack at one of the stores downstairs in the Marriott - only to find the queues at least 20 people long! So I had to sit through the first session of the day uncaffeinated! In spite of that, I really enjoyed the talk, which was historical author  Julia Quinn talking about Dialogue. I love Julia Quinn's books and they introduced me to a new, fresh side of Regency romance. She's a great speaker too, amusing and gracious, and though her talk really didn't introduce me to anything new, it was well worth attending to hear her speak. After a little break I joined the queue for the Beverly Jenkins luncheon, and Oh My Goodness! - the queue had to be seen to be believed! It wrapped around the entire conference centre! Fortunately, I bumped into the lovely ladies from the RWA's Orange County Chapter , some of whom I'd met at the pizza party the evening bef...