Getting Ready for Nationals

I leave for Washington, D.C. and the RWA National Convention in a week! I'm flying out on Sunday night, taking a red-eye so that I can squeeze in two days of sightseeing before the conference content starts on Wednesday afternoon. Then it's three more full days of mayhem, culminating in the awards ceremony for the Golden Heart and RITA awards on Saturday night. One of my friends is flying in to accompany me to the ceremony, so I'll have someone to celebrate/commiserate with depending on what happens and whether I trip on my own foot and wipe out in front of an entire room full of women. While there is much to be done in terms of packing, primping, plucking, etc., the most critical task that I need to accomplish is girding my loins to be active and socially "on" for four days so that I can meet people and take advantage of the one week a year when I'm actually able to meet other industry professionals. My friends wouldn't believe it now that they know me, since I'm one of the loudest people in any gathering of my peers, but upon first meeting I'm actually quite shy. It's not a debilitating sort of shyness, but it's possible that I come off as somewhat aloof, since I'm carefully watching in new situations to try to gauge the group and understand my surroundings before I leap into the fray.

Luckily (or unluckily), it seems like many writers have a tendency toward shyness -- perhaps it comes with the territory, since social butterflies are unlikely to lock themselves away for the endless hours it takes to write a book. On the shyness spectrum, I'm not too bad. It's just a matter of reminding myself that this is my *job*, just like writing or talking to my agent or doing my taxes -- and making new friends is far more fun than doing taxes.

I'll blog from the conference, so you'll get more information than you ever cared to receive about the RWA Nationals. Until then, it's a mad dash to the finish so that I can wrap up everything I need to take care of for the day job before taking off, so please send me all the luck you can spare me.