Thursday: Room Service and Writing: Meant for Each Other

Thursday morning I wake up and lay across the bed like a comotose dog.

Should I get up and get showered and dressed before room service arrives?

Nope.

I was at least dressed with hair combed. I ate. Impressed with quality of food and service, which is better than the restaurant downstairs. Go figure.

I decide that day to lay low. Traveling always fatigues me, and I know Friday and Saturday will be packed with activity. I eat, shower, and dress, then take my stuff down to the goody room.

I liked the way they had the goody room laid out, in two rooms with plenty of space to walk by all tables. I left cards for The Queen's Handmaiden, bookmarks for Dragon Heat and bookmarks for Immortals. I left several copies of A Lady Raised High (Rita finalling book), Rees (by Allyson James), and Dragon Heat.

I go back upstairs to find I'd forgotten a stack of books. I plop them in my bag and head back down to the goody room.

I was probably gone ten to fifteen minutes with the elevator wait both ways. But ALL the books I had just put in the goody room WERE GONE. Readers are fast!

I laid down my last stack and ran.

I made the mistake of spotting the Borders store they'd set up in one of the rooms. Dang it. There's lots of good stuff in there! I get away this time with buying Ghiradelli chocolate and a cool bookmark. But the store wants me back... I know it's only a matter of time...

See more people and talk to them. The Dorchester contingent is there: Cindy Holby, Marianne Mancusi, Liz Maverick, Chris Keeslar, Erin and Brooke who do publicity, Colleen Thompson, and former Dorchies, Winnie Griggs, Alesia Holliday (Alyssa Day), and many, many more.

Back upstairs to my cave. I brought my laptop with me because I have got to get Highlander Ever After under control, due August 1! I planned to write, then go to the luncheon and hear Lisa Kleypas speak.

Good intentions. I got the writing part done, made good headway. But I was tired, so lay down and took a short nap. The lunch was at 12:15; I woke up at 12:08.

Room service.

Had surprisingly good sandwhich (and even better, iced tea!) while I got myself back to work. If I'm going to miss everything downstairs, I'm going to get something productive done. I did get all the way through the hundred pages I'd already written, seriously revising it. Fixed character motivation and dialog, etc. Wrote some more after that.

I did take breaks to go downstairs and chat with people. Saw Bonnie and Pam Clare again. Pam was excited because her mom was coming in to attend the Rita ceremoney with her. I said that my parents were on a road trip somewhere on the Oregon/Washington coast. Somewhere ...

Marianne and Liz were working to promote their Shomi books. (Some controversies have started on a couple of blogs about whether they should have worn Anime constumes at RWA--by people who obviously need more to do! They were adorable, and the books are awesome! Can you say starred review in Pub. Weekly?)

Anyway, back upstairs. More writing, more room service. It was like a dream vacation. I had brought some DVDs with me (mostly British mysteries), so I had my own movie night. Talked to Forrest a lot on the phone. I loved it.

That was Thursday. Friday and Saturday? Roller-coaster!