Ho, ho, ho...

Color me excited! I'm leaving first thing Tuesday morning for the national Romance Writers of America conference in Atlanta. I'll have a chance to meet and chat with at least three editors that I am working with or have worked with. My agent will be there. I'll be attending workshops and helping present one. I'll be part of the literacy signing where publishers donate the books and all proceeds go to support adult literacy efforts. There will be two great luncheons with speakers Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries) and Christina Dodd.

On Friday I'll have lunch with a bunch of the scamps and vamps and the bookjunkys. And I may even squeeze in a bit of shopping at one of my favorite shopping meccas - Lenox Square. And speaking of shopping - guess what? I told you that July 25th is a red-letter day. But do you know what else it is? It marks the "five months 'til Christmas" milestone! Bet you weren't thinking about that. :)

It just so happens that I have actually started my Christmas shopping. Not in a big way, but a few things here and there. Barnes and Noble has been having a big sale... tables of clearance books and also "gifty" kinds of items. I bought my girls a set of blue suede round nested boxes - really cool. They were half price - about $11 I think. For Anastasia I got a cute little china tea set - half price also - $7.50. For one son-in-law I got a heavy hardback book by Marvel that contains a whole bunch of Spiderman comics - regularly $50, I got it for $21.

Then I got a sale catalog from one of my favorite places - Levenger. Found really cool small clocks that show time zones around the world... regular $25-$35... got them for $9.95 each. They will go to my two brothers-in-law. Some other odds and ends I won't bore you with... stocking stuffers, etc. My hubby and I both come from fairly large families, and we all still exchange gifts, so I like to start early and hunt for bargains. Otherwise I would be broke!! What about you - any early shoppers out there?

I'll be thinking about all of you next week and wishing I could tuck you in my suitcase. Even for those of us who are lucky enough to have achieved our dream of becoming writers, it is always a huge, fun thing to see and talk to writers who have been our own faves for years. Imagine bumping into Nora Roberts enroute to the restroom! I know you're all going to have a blast with Lucy Monroe's "not going to RWA blog party". The prizes sound amazing. Try to be good while some of us are gone. No mutiny on the Loop, etc. :)

As soon as I get back I'll be blogging about all the "goings on" in Hot-lanta. Talk to you soon! Janice Maynard