CELEBRATE ROMANCE 1999

A Reader's Diary

By Mary Lynne Nielsen

Friday, May 21^st, 1p.m.

Dear Diary,

At last, I’m on the road. I’m off to Celebrate Romance 1999, the yearly gathering of online romance readers and writers. I’m so anxious that I’m beside myself. I’ve got the directions Margie gave us on the passenger seat. My luggage is in the back, the food is in the hatch, the books are packed (heck, they were the first things packed). Let’s go!

5:00 p.m.

Dear Diary,

OK, so my clothes are wrinkled. Every room has an iron and ironing board! The phone has rung, and it’s Anne Kirby. I know her from the work we both do for the Bookbug website, and now she’s stuck in the lobby. Her roommate hasn’t returned from the Amish trip yet (a large group arrived on Thursday to be able to go to the Amish country on a specialized tour prepared by Sara Reyes). But the group isn’t back, and Anne doesn’t know what to do. Of course, I tell her to come on up.

5:45 p.m.

Dear Diary,

This is amazing. I’ve never met Anne in person before; there’s just been the exchange of binary information, the flow of emails over the Internet. But when she walks in, we start chatting like we’ve known one another forever. It’s the most wonderful, comfortable, lovely feeling in the world.

6:40 p.m.

Dear Diary,

I’m in the lobby to meet with Michele Gomez, Terri Brisbin, and Colleen Admirand to go get dinner for 40 people. Yes, dear diary, 40. And all I did was send one innocent little email about how I was longing for a good Philly cheese steak. But once the Californians and the Canadians asked what a cheese steak was and then someone mentioned how good cheese steaks were with ham and pineapple, and I knew I had to defend the good name of the Philly cheese steak, so 40 orders it is. Thanks to Judy DiCanio, we’ve found the classic little roadside stand in South Philly selling all the various cheese steak gastronomic delights. I just want to know how we’re going to carry all this stuff.

7:30 p.m.

Dear Diary,

We’re back. We talked the whole time the food was being prepared! I have a feeling my voice is going to be tired very soon. We’ve roped Timiko, the overwhelmed doorman, to bring all the food up to Carol’s room on a luggage cart.

But wait. There’s a dull roar coming through the lobby. I look up to the second story atrium, and I see a crowd of people. A loud crowd of . . . women!! Wait! That’s got to be our dinner group! Time to redirect Timiko!

Now 40 people are throwing money at me and telling me who they are. I’ll never remember anyone’s name! But everyone’s eating cheese steaks and hoagies, chatting in various groups. You’d never think most of us had never met before.

9:00 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Everyone brought food. There are snacks. There are appetizers. There are cookies. There are drinks. There is a veritable groaning cornucopia of food on a banquet table. And we are never going to eat all this stuff. Not with all the talking going on!

It’s amazing how many authors and fellow readers I’m meeting. Jo Beverley is so nice. Sandra Hill is so gracious. Shirley Hailstock has the most contagious laugh in the world. I can’t believe we’re all able to interact this way.

12:00 p.m.

Dear Diary,

I’ve been talking to this woman for ten minutes before I realize she’s June Folk, the lady who runs Bookbug! The talks have been silly, the talks have been serious. Authors have shared about the business, friends have whispered or shouted their favorite titles. I’m wiped. Karen, my roommate, has made eight tins of cookies. I can’t believe I have to be in the same room with those cookies overnight.

12:30 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Finally, Karen and I make it to our room and sit down and get a chance to talk to each other! So, of course, we discuss books. We share the gems we’ve brought for the book trade tomorrow. We talk about newer titles we’ve read and some favorite keepers. We could do this forever.

Saturday, May 22^nd

7:00 a.m.

Dear Diary,

I roll over. Wasn’t Karen supposed to wake me up right about now? Is she up? Nope. Never rely on hotel alarm clocks! I don’t think I’ve showered this fast in a long time!

Breakfast of cookies. Of course. I couldn’t withstand them any longer.

7:40 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Down to the conference to help set up the book trade. I can’t believe this is the official start of the program. I feel like I’ve already been in it for a while, what with last night! Connie Ramsdell’s badges are lovely and wow! What a great goody bag. Not one, but two ARCs from Rachel Lee and Kimberly Cates, along with two other books! Not two goody bags are the same, so I hear.

8:05 a.m.

Dear Diary,

The book trade has started. Folks are bringing in books found for the advanced trade, where someone requested a title and it was found for them, and the general trade to be held this afternoon. I don’t think I can keep all these trades and colored tags for single title, category, and regency straight! But what an amazing array of books.

10 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Jo Beverley is giving a rousing keynote speech—her commitment to the online community and Celebrate Romance is just so inspiring. I’m having a good time listening to her, even if I can’t see a thing. Too busy sitting on the floor sorting through all the advance trade books to make sure they’re all here! Falcon’s welcome was amazing--her ABC’s of Romance have to be heard to be believed!

Of course, we’re behind the announced schedule already.

1 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Breaking up to prepare for the interactive discussions. But what a great group of speakers we heard this morning! Shirley Hailstock reminded us how we learn from reading romances, and how authors gain from their readers. Miranda Jarrett offered a hilarious summation on the perils of romance novel covers, and the glory of that first $44 royalty check! Our readers also offered some really interesting insights. Susan Bontley gave a presentation on book collecting that was rich in detail and useful information. And Sara Reyes and Linda Hurst have to be seen together in action to be believed. I know their column at Writerspace must be just as much fun. Seeing Sara wave her instrument of choice in book shopping—the Palm Pilot for book cataloging—and confronting Linda’s stool (used for sitting, accessing those hard-to-reach top shelves, and beating off rapacious challengers to books she wants) was priceless. And remembering to use a fanny pack to free your hands to hold more books is a great tip!

Suzanne Coleburn, Linda Cutler Smith, and Gail Link offered some great advice, complete with tip sheets, to encourage us to set up book groups at our local bookstores. Their group, the Belles and Beaux of Romance, is legendary for its commitment to romance. Some of their great ideas were to contact the community relations person at your local store to start a group, and a recommendation to authors to make "drive-by signings" to promote their books.

4 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Wow. The author/reader groups were extraordinary. Really. I’ve never seen anything like them and, judging from the comments I’m hearing the authors make, neither have they! We had four panels, so the authors split into four groups, each one with a theme, and discussed that theme in each of the four rooms that were filled with readers! The first panel offered insights to new authors, with all the new or recently published authors attending joining that group to ask for input from the CR99 readers. Lots of great tips on making yourself known in an amazingly competitive industry were offered, particularly addressing the online avenues, since CR is a conference of online readers and authors. Inside the Industry offered readers a chance to talk about cover designs, back cover copy that doesn’t relate to books, and how to contact the publishing houses to tell them what we want and don’t want. Another panel focused on plots we like and don’t like, which gave everyone a chance to vent about cowboys and secret babies. And discussing what makes a romance novel let us emphasize the need to focus on the hero and heroine, the need for a happily-ever-after ending, how much sex belongs in a romance novel, and other driving points of the romance genre.

At two of these sessions, the authors next to me leaned over and whispered, "wow, this is the lively group, isn’t it?" Hmmmm. I wonder what that means.

4:30 p.m.

Dear Diary,

The general book trade is going fast and furiously! This part of the trade lets everyone wander around tables where the books are separated by category and use the tickets they received earlier for the books they brought to pick up other books in trade. I’ve made some great finds. And there are some really wonderful selections on the table. The best part is being able to recommend a title I’ve read to someone else!

6:30 p.m.

Dear Diary,

The Bookbug web site has ten of its fourteen staff members at CR99, so we decided to have dinner together to meet in the flesh! Philadelphia’s City Tavern is marvelously nostalgic and historic, and the knickered waiters are a treat. What fun it is to get to know everybody, and to meet Dorothy Garlock, one of the genre’s bestselling authors. She’s such a sweet and gracious lady. I especially liked it when she told us about meeting someone she didn’t like and making her a whore in her next book!

11:30 p.m.

Dear Diary,

Back at the hotel—just finished talking on the mezzanine level with all the folks there, and now I’m visiting with Carol Carter, the organizer of the book trade and book cover maker extraordinaire. How lovely to get to chat with all the folks you know online in person!

1:30 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Just about to turn the lights out—but I did have to start reading one of the books I got in the trade this afternoon!

Sunday, May 22^nd

7:50 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Breakfast of cookies again. This is getting to be a dangerous habit.

8:15 a.m.

Dear Diary,

What a long line to buy new books for the book signing! I manage to contain myself, but I still walk out with a dozen books. I’m buying a lot of books by authors I’ve met here at CR99 but never read before, like Jo Goodman, who offered great insights during the panel discussions in our room. Some authors’ books didn’t make it, unfortunately, but I’ll be looking for those in the bookstore!

10:00 a.m.

Dear Diary,

Another great group of speakers this morning, Dear Diary! Stephanie Mittman was easily able to shake off our morning stupor with her joie de vivre and her sense of wonder as she told us how she comes up with her story ideas. And Mariah Stewart was just as gracious in her presentation on this theme. Lori Foster had us all in stitches with her stories of how she balances her writing with her family life—and her tale of how her son’s wrestling teammates spent one match reading "Mrs. Foster’s" book and glancing back at her all the time they were doing it was hilarious!

10:30 a.m.

Dear Diary,

What great fun--the book signing is going on at a great pace!! I’m so happy that I could bring in a lot of books by authors I love and have them sign multiple copies! Getting bookplates for all my books by Jo Beverley is a real bonus, having a book signed for my sister by Mary Jo Putney is an honor, and finding the time to meet one of the authors I really admire, Deborah Simmons, is a true highlight. And all through this, the raffle of prize drawings is going on. There are enough wonderful prize submissions so that everyone can receive a prize!! The generosity of the romance community is impressive.

1 p.m.

Dear Diary,

As I head on home, I am reminded the many gifts that we’re given in this world. And I think the sense of community that we share online is one of our greatest gifts. We’ve never met in person, yet we feel we know one another well, that we agree with the opinions of one person, disagree with another’s, but fundamentally share we the right to those opinions as part of the diversity of romance readers. We share our sorrows and our joys with one another. We celebrate the highs and bolster one another during the lows. The online world has taken two essentially solitary tasks—reading and writing—and allowed them to become communal. And now Celebrate Romance! has taken that one step further by allowing those virtual relationships to become tangible, to give us the chance to meet in person, to laugh together, to share a friendly hug or have a worthy argument. I’ve spent two days in the whirlwind. I’m exhausted, but so thrilled that it’s difficult to express. All I know is that I’ve been given some special gifts--memories to cherish for a lifetime, or at least until I add to them at the next Celebrate Romance!