Deborah Cooke: Author

I’m home from the RWA National conference, which was held in San Francisco this year. Phew! After a long travel day yesterday, it was good to get home – even if the laundry elves had failed to keep up and the dust bunnies had bred like, well, rabbits in my absence.

But, that said, it was a great conference and a lot of fun. I met up with a number of old friends and made some new ones. I saw a little bit of San Francisco, too, which was great.

My Conference Highlights:

• The Literacy Signing blows my mind every time that I participate. Somewhere between 300 and 400 romance authors sign their latest releases simultaneously. Rows of 8-foot tables are set up, two authors to a table, in the largest room in the hotel. (It’s usually called the Something Ballroom.) The books are donated by the publishers, then sold by RWA, and every dime goes to promoting literacy through RWA’s literacy partners. It’s open to the public and also the kick-off event to the conference.

You really can’t imagine the noise volume in that room until you’ve experienced it. It’s the first time people see each other, so there’s a lot of squealing and air kisses and laughter. I had copies of KISS OF FIRE to sign and it was fun to meet so many readers who are waiting for Donovan. I saw chapter-mates and booksellers and other writers and had absolutely no voice left after two hours.

• At the NAL signing on Saturday, I had KISS OF FURY copies to sign. Wow! How fun to see a whole pile of those books, gleaming. I just wanted to play with arranging them. I really like the silvery-blue foil on this cover. I sat beside Jo Davis, who had copies of her first NAL book TRIAL BY FIRE – we were hot hot HOT!

• At the Tor signing on Saturday, I had ARC’s of FALLEN to sign. I love that cover so much and it was exciting to meet so many readers who were curious about the book. My Tor editor told me that the cover for GUARDIAN is even better – I was skeptical, until I caught a teensy glimpse of it. WOW. Wow. I can’t wait to be able to show you all Rafe’s cover. It’s beautiful.

And Tor had these groovy little keychains to give out – they have a purple heart and when you squeeze the heart, a red light lights up at the base of the heart. Of course, you can make it beat by squeezing at intervals. Cute and fun. Pix later, because my extras are in a box en route from SF.

• You knew there had to be knitting wool, too. Yarn is, after all, the perfect souvenir. It’s light; it squooshes into small spaces in luggage; it’s not fragile. First, the Pam and I made the pilgrimage to Artfibers. This is a kind of Mecca for yarnies and it didn’t disappoint – in fact, it overwhelmed. These people make their own blends, which they sell in their store and online. It was really something to discover several dozen exotic yarns that I’d never ever seen before.

That made it really tough to choose something. I did buy some Tsuki, which is like Kidsilk Haze but less fuzzy. (Yarnfact: some knitters call KSH “Cracksilk Haze” because it’s so addictive. Now you know.) A wonderful place – I also came home with a fistful of snips for future online shopping. (Be afraid. Be very afraid.) Pam was the high queen of restraint – or maybe she just didn’t know where to start.

Pam and I also went to Imagiknit, a LYS in SF, which was GORGEOUS. If that was my LYS, I’d just move into the stockroom and stay there forever. They had such a wonderful selection and very helpful staff – so many yummies artfully displayed.

I tried to focus on things I can’t get (or get easily) at home, so scored enough Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock for two pair of socks and a skein of Aurora Yarns Whisper, which is dyed in Moss Beach, CA. It’s a scrumptious 100g of laceweight merino in yummy rich reds. The colours were all so beautiful and rich that it was hard to choose just one. Between that and the Tsuki, my copy of Victorian Lace Today is destined to pulled from the shelf a couple more times soon.

Did I really need more yarn? You know the answer to that – big hint: it’s NO! – but I was concerned that my stash might vapourize in my absence. It’s never happened before and it didn’t happen this time, but I was ready – with new stash in my carry-on. 🙂

I made a complete mistake with my travel knitting, though. I cast on a pair of socks in Cookie A‘s Pomatomus pattern. It’s a good pattern – her patterns always are – but required a bit more concentration than was ideal while travelling or talking. (I had to follow the chart.) Plus I messed up and chose a yarn that wasn’t as gradual a self-stripe as expected, so the stitch pattern is a bit lost in the colour. I should have just taken some Noro Kureyon Sock and knit a plain sock – the self-striping would have amused me just enough, then done the Pomatomus pattern in a solid wool. But I have one sock done down to the heel so will just carry on. I do like the pattern and will knit it again.

Phew! Now, off to talk to those slacker laundry elves…