It still feels weird not to be at the RWA conference. I’m seeing pictures, hearing stories and it just seems surreal. I miss not being able to see my friends, my agent, and my editors, but man, I don’t miss the traveling, and I used to love flying, too.
The other thing I won’t miss is how the conference left me drained–physically, emotionally and creatively. Some people come back from National feeling all fired up to write, but I never did. It usually took me a week or longer to feel like writing again. I’ve been to a couple of smaller conferences–one in Minneapolis and two in Eugene, OR–and after those I was excited to write. Must be the size of RWA and the constant go, go, go that makes the difference.
The other thing I’m going to miss is the award show tonight. Sometimes they go on too long (Reno anyone?), but sometimes they’re great fun and I always have friends or at least acquaintances up for the Rita. It’s huge fun to cheer them on. The RWA website is supposed to post the winners tonight as they happen and I’m going to check in and see who won. I can’t wait!
I think Logan and I have settled on a last name. Finally. I’m vowing to never again complain about characters who come in and tell me who they are. I used to envy authors who were able to choose their hero and heroine’s names, but after going through The Great Surname Hunt with Logan, I’ve changed my mind. It’s much easier when they come in and say: My name is Ryne Frasier. 
Okay, it isn’t quite that simple. With the exceptions of Cai and Mika who did tell me their names, I usually get something along the lines of, “My name starts with an R.” And of course, Ryne is not a common name to begin with and only one of my baby books had it under girls’ names since it’s mostly used for boys.
Speaking of Ryne, In the Midnight Hour comes out in just over two weeks and I’m getting nervous every time I think about it. I totally want this story to do well for a lot of reasons. I also get anxious when I think of all the things I have to do around the time the book comes out. I’m guest blogging at several places, which means writing different posts for each blog. I’m speaking about the book to my local writing chapter and to a local readers group, which means working out some kind of outline of what I want to talk about for each place. The stuff I’d say to my writers group wouldn’t interest readers and vice versa–probably. I have a newsletter to send out, which means I have to write that. And my To Do List is on my desk at the EDJ (Evil Day Job) and I can’t remember what else is on it. Too much. 
I’m stressing myself out thinking of all the things I have to do, including regular household stuff like cleaning, laundry and weeding the flowers, so I think I’m going to stop here before I really put myself on edge. My writing chapter meeting is today, so I need to get going anyway.
