Thursday: Our new Personal Assistant

What can I say about Thursday? Had to wake up way too early, because genius self that I am, I scheduled a breakfast with the Steeple Hill crew. So, at seven in the morning, I was up and at ‘em, meeting Brenda Coulter, Abby Gaines, Margaret Daley, Debbieleen, and Camy Tang. (Dana was with me too) Anyway, had a lovely breakfast, then I went to the Pro Retreat, which was good, except I was so tired, all I heard was, “blah blah blah”. I did get my Pro booklet, so that was a good thing. I ended up going back to the room, and we did something, but I don’t remember what. OH! The American signing. Then, we got ready for the eHQ lunch. That was way cool, at a really nice restaurant. One of the cabs got lost, but since I wasn’t on it, it’s not my tale to tell. Joannneee…

Lunch was delicious. I had shrimp and grits. I didn’t know if I’d like it, since I always thought grits was breakfast food, but um, no. It was amazing. It was like eating garlic mashed potatoes, only with more texture. YUM! Sadly, due to the taxi mix up, some of our guests had to leave early, but we still had fun. Let’s see if I remember who was there: Jayne, Jeanette, Wayne, Tanya, Me, Sapphire, Julie Cohen, Margaret Daley, Dana, Holly Jacobs, Jennifer LaBreque, Gail Dayton, Marta Perry, Julie Miller, Beth Cornelison, Bronwyn Jameson, and a couple others, I just don’t remember who. Sorry! The memory is not what it used to be.

After lunch, I went to have a little rest in the room, Ang and Jo were there and we chatted for a bit. Well, while I was chatting, I literally dozed off. Eeek! Anyway, Angela saw me dozing, kicked Jo off the bed, and covered me with a blanket. She also ran errands for us in the morning, so we dubbed her our personal assistant. And she’s a very good one at that. So hereafter, any references to our PA, we’re talking about Angela.

Then, I stopped by the bar to find folks to chat with, ended up chatting with a few of our bigwig types, then went to the Everlasting cocktail party. Everlasting is a new line they’re launching, so I went and chatted with the authors, drummed up business for the boards, even found a few folks who needed the scoop on what we do. I love educating people about my job. I also got to meet the editor I was going to be pitching to, and she gave me some tips. She’s a very nice woman. I have to say, because I know how many folks are intimidated by editors, that every one I’ve met has just been absolutely a dream. Seriously. They’re all very nice, very down to earth people. Don’t be afraid of them, because they really do want to help people succeed.

After that was the Steeple Hill Meet and Greet, where I got to connect with all of our author and a couple of our editors. Very fun. Got to hear the latest scoop, and of course, remind folks that I’m here. Ran by the Moonlight Madness, didn’t find what I was looking for (KOD Cookbook), and then up to my room to change for the PJ party.

Now I must say that our party is THE social event of the conference, and we have a super fun time. This year, we gave out fun pillows, although I’m going to rant here, because I’m STILL irritated. It amazed me at how greedy some folks were over a stupid pillow. I’d set aside a few in my bag for our late coming authors, and when I went to get them to hand out, people had TAKEN them OUT of my bag. So, if you went to the party, didn’t get a pillow, and wanted one, I am sorry. I tried to save some. I’m coming up with a new plan for next year. That aside, if you really did like them, and really did want one, you can get one in our bonus bucks catalog. AND, if you really were there, and email me, I’ll send you some of my bonus bucks to get one, since I collect the things but never seem to spend them.

Anywhoo, we had a really wonderful time, and hung out afterward to chat. No, not going to list who all was there, because I KNOW I’ll forget someone. We had a bigger room than usual, and it was STILL packed. Check out my pictures and you’ll get to see at least some of them. After the party, we actually *gasp* went to bed.