KOD Retreat

Returned from the fabulous KOD Retreat in Portland, Maine this weekend. First time I've been to an RWA event outside our own chapter. Wish I had the time and money to attend lots more.

This is Lina Gardiner and Barb Phinney from New Brunswick. Lina was kind enough to have me overnight to shorten my drive. She's a fabulous hostess and fed me Pina Colada cheesecake to die for. I roomed with author Nina Pierce and we hit it off - only stopped talking long enough to get some sleep. The ladies from the Maine RWA chapter were fun and I hope I get to one of their chapter functions.

It was a small group and agent Meg Ruley and author Lisa Gardner mingled with everyone and invited us to ask them questions at any time during the conference. I surprised myself by being very nervous around Meg Ruley. Usually I can talk to anyone - I was practically tongue tied. I'm planning on setting a mystery in Portland, Maine and I met lots of people who can help me with my research. I loved Meg Ruley and Lisa looks very young as you can see from her picture. Lisa presented an informative and entertaining session on Writing Romantic Suspense.

A detective from the Atlanta police department, Danny Agan, presented a great session on crime scenes and investigation. As I listened to his southern drawl I could picture my Savannah detective in my RS. He also gave us his email if we had questions - a great resource for Shattered

Diana Love and Mary Buckham gave several sessions on Beginnings, Conflict and world Building. They're both good speakers and I have templates and notes to revisit as I revise my next story.

The overwhelming message I received, especially from Meg Ruley is: Write what you're passionate about. It shows.

and

Focus on what you want to write rather than flitting from one thing to the other trying to find the next hot thing.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the letter I received from Desire editor Diana Ventimiglia on Unsuitable Mistress.