Atlanta, Part II

Oops, almost forgot to do this!

So, I arrived in Atlanta on Monday evening, traveling a day early so that I'd be refreshed for The Knight Agency party on Tuesday night. I got into my blissfully air-conditioned hotel room about 5:30 (we'd been having a horrible heat wave in the Pacific Northwest the week before, and we don't HAVE air conditioning in most of our homes here because this never happens), unpacked and reveled in the luxury. These rooms were NICE! Down comforters, fluffy pillows. The rooms were small, but dang, best hotel I've ever stayed in.

After unpacking, I set off to find some dinner in the attached mall. I was starving, having only eaten a few snacks on the airplane, and a bagel in the airport 9 hours earlier.

Only said attached "mall" closes at 6:00 and I didn't get there until 6:15. There were a couple of fast food restaurants still serving, so I grabbed a piece of mediocre pizza and scarfed it down. Beggers can't be choosers.

I did some exploring of the hotel. It was really beautiful, and the people were sooo nice. If you passed any type of hotel employee, in any part of the hotel, they asked how you were and if they could do anything for you. Thank you, Atlanta Marriott Marquis! You deserve a great pat on the back for a week well done!

Then I retrieved my laptop, went to the lobby, and checked my e-mail. Contacted my pals, told them where we could meet the next day when they got in, and then retired. Slept like a freakin' baby! Could have been an exhausting day of traveling, but I'm betting it was the wonderful bed and even more wonderful 70 degree temperature. :-)

Monday night and Tuesday were "supposed" to be for writing. I fully intended to finish PARENTS SUCK. Didn't happen. I was too tired Monday night, then too antsy to get the week going on Tuesday. Tuesday morning, I did a lot of pacing, a lot of exploring, and then finally settled in a chair in the very nice lobby to people watch.

RWA'ers were starting to arrive, so it was fun to pick out people I knew. I passed Barbara Dunlop in the hallway on the way back from the mall and stopped her to introduce myself. We'd met in passing at the Emerald City Conference a few years ago, and she's a good friend of my friend, Jane Porter. We had a great chat for about a half hour, talking about her trip from the Yukon (where she is the ONE romance writer!) to Atlanta which took from 6:00 a.m. to midnight the previous night. I stopped complaining about how "long" my less than 5-hour flight from Seattle had been.

Just before noon, my friend from home, Toni Hingleton, arrived. We'd made plans to meet for lunch, so we did. Allie's American Bar & Grille had really good food and very good service. We ate and chatted and pointed out other writers who were dining around us, gearing up for the busy week we had ahead of us. After some wandering around, we parted ways so I could get ready for my party and the arrival of my roommates.

Most of my roommates, Christina Arbini, Erin Eisenberg, and Kelli Estes, arrived about 45 minutes before I had to meet the bus. We got adjoining rooms! We were fully prepared to have a week-long slumber party. :-)

Heading downstairs, I met up with some of my agency sistahs. Some I'd met before (Gena Showalter, Marley Gibson, Diana Peterfreund, Dawn Calvert, Joleen Weiser, and more I'm sure I'm forgetting), some I hadn't (Janet Campbell and Melanie Hayden, whom I'd met a bit earlier in the day, Kristen Painter, Gemma Halliday, and more). I greeted Deidre and Pamela, and was introduced to TKA's newest agent, Elaine Spencer. We all piled onto two buses and took an hour-long drive down the highway to Madison, Georgia, home of The Knight Agency.

It's so beautiful there! The town is quaint and loverly, and the TKA offices? Incredible! If I had to work in and office, I'd want it to look just like theirs. What a warm and inviting place to go to every day!

I'm sadly pathetic when it comes to taking pictures, so I really don't have any. But we had a great time! I met a lot more of my agency sistahs and chatted with friends I hadn't seen since last year's National in Reno. Can I just say that the internet is an awesome thing? Although we don't see each other often, some of my dearest friends are friends I met and/or interact with solely on the internet. So, when we do meet again in person, it's like a grand reunion.

One of the people I most wanted to meet, and finally got to, was Jana Hanson. Jana was my "first fan." My first blog reader who wasn't already a friend. She's now working with The Knight Agency, and I can't tell you how great it was to meet her!

We ate lots of yummy food in a beautiful white tent (see above) decorated with fresh flowers. I tried cheese grits (I promised my dad I wouldn't be a food wimp and would actually TRY some southern food), fresh hush puppies, smoked salmon, and freshly made pralines. Yum! I actually didn't eat that much, though, surprisingly. Probably because I couldn't seem to shut up. I was having too much fun talking!

As night fell, I sat chatting with Susan Grant, Gena Showalter, Kristen Painter, and HQ editor Tracy Farrell. Fireflies danced in the shrubbery and we were serenaded by a wonderful guitar player and about 10,000 cicadas. Man, I thought crickets were loud. But the comparison is a bit like comparing a ceiling fan to a jet engine. :-)

By ten o'clock, most of us northern-dwelling wimps were melting in the humidity and we gratefully piled on the bus for the ride back to the hotel...loaded down with adorable silver "sorority pins" with TKA inscribed on them, a gift from The Knight Agency.

I shared my seat home with the wonderful Maureen McGowan, where we got to know each other, and chatted about our books and the industry and all we'd learned in the business and all we still had yet to learn. Loved talking to her!

When I arrived back at the hotel, I was more than grateful to find out that my roommates, now including Serena Robar, our late arrival, weren't, in fact, out partying (where they would have expected me to join them), but were ensconsed in our rooms watching Pay Per View. Let the pajama party begin!

And now, it's time for MY jammies. I'll continue soon.

Shannon