The Marriott Marquis is to the right, in the midst of Times Square, New York City.
This is a night view out my hotel room window.
If you get the urge to play the piano out in Times Square, there’s one available at the moment.
But there are plenty of other activities to keep one busy, even only a block from the conference hotel.
My RWA chapter, Passionate Ink, had a great party – the theme was burlesque, and besides a talk on the history of the art form, there were three performances from a local troupe, White Elephant. Some of my fellow chapter members had great costumes!
More great outfits.
I wore a blue dress and elaborate blue eyeshadow.
Romance scholar Sarah Frantz is almost always wearing red, her favorite color – but I discovered at this party that even her food is red!
My table at the Literacy Signing.
The crowd became somewhat…dense.
I did get to meet Diana Gabaldon before the signing began!
Kate Pearce and Crystal Jordan. Aren’t they adorable?
I’ll be signing tonight at the 2011 “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing at the RWA Annual Conference.
It’s open to the public, and free! You do not have to be attending the conference to go to the signing.
Date: Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Time: 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Place: The New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square, Broadway Ballroom.
“More than 400 romance authors participate in this two-hour autographing event, and each year we raise thousands of dollars, which are donated to ProLiteracy Worldwide and local literacy organizations. Since 1990, RWA has donated more than $670,000 to literacy charities.”
The Bobst Library, where the conference is being held.
The supercool lobby.
Check out the awesomeness of the lobby floor!
The banner!
Romance Divas’ annual virtual conference features workshops, publisher spotlights, pitch-your-book opportunities, fabulous doorprize giveaways and more.
It’s FREE!
And nobody says you can’t wear fabulous shoes while you’re recharging your writer batteries from home.
LIKE the NGTCC on Facebook for future updates in 2012 and beyond.
Pioneers
There is no word of thanks to hear,
No word of praise to gain,
But we, that must, in sun and dust,
Tramp on across the plain:
We know not how the orders come,
Who bids the bugle blow …
But we, that may, track out the way
Our comrades soon shall go.
Far, far behind our army drags
The wagons and the guns;
Along the line, beneath the flags,
A noise of cheering runs;
Full-seen in all the blaze of noon
Set forth its proud array…
But we were up beneath the moon
And out before the day.
Where age-long in the dank ravine
A swamp-fed forest grew,
’Tis we that back the jungle back
To let the sunlight through;
Across the desert no man dared,
Up cliffs where none might win,
By down and dale we blaze the trail,
The highway for our kin.
The noonday or the nightfall knows
The flickering of our fires,
The flung-down pack, the stretcht repose,
The talk of dreamt desires.
We camp, and go, and care no jot
How soon, how far we roam…
But each camp-fire has marked a spot
That men shall call their home.
A sudden bullet flicks the air,
A comrade slacks his stride;
Small time have we for surgery
Whose errand may not bide:
Stanch, as you go, the jetting blood,
Set teeth against the pain,
And feel the grip of comradeship
Stir you to strength again.
Ours is the shattering night-surprise,
The crawl of lifelong days,
The slow set stare of aching eyes
Across the drifted haze:
Lonely in hidden lairs we spy
The march of stealthy foes;
What work we do, what death we die,
Not even a comrade knows.
By beaten roads the mainguard goes
With banner and with band;
Yet we, that dare, find everywhere
New work that fits our hand;
We know not how the orders come …
But hark! the bugles blow:
Across the plain day breaks again;
Pick up the packs, and go!
–Arthur W. Jose
collected in The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse, edited Walter Murdoch, 1918
I’m over at the Novelists, Inc. blog today, posting about romance in academia in relation to the IASPR conference in New York City.
I’ll be at the conference next week, followed by RWA Nationals, but am not sure of my posting schedule here. I’m hoping to be able to share some photos.
If you’re not going to the RWA conference –
Romance Divas’ annual virtual conference features workshops, publisher spotlights, pitch-your-book opportunities, fabulous doorprize giveaways and more.
It’s FREE!
And nobody says you can’t wear fabulous shoes while you’re recharging your writer batteries from home.
LIKE the NGTCC on Facebook for future updates in 2012 and beyond.
For those who are attending the IASPR and RWA conferences in New York City next week, author Louisa Edwards compiled a list of recommended restaurants for the Times Square area, near the RWA conference hotel.
Sarah MacLean offers tips on how to leave Times Square.
Her Campus has a guide to the best new restaurants near NYU’s Union Square campus, where the IASPR conference is being held. They also offer a guide to the Flatiron District (between Union Square and Gramercy).
Also in the Flatiron district is the Museum of Sex. Nudge nudge, wink wink.
Also, check out this handy post about the RWA Conference Hotel, which has information about their elevator system and internet charges.
