So it feels like the entire universe is headed to San Francisco for the annual RWA conference. Including some of my Australian buddies. Have I mentioned lately that I love San Francisco? That it is one of my favorite cities in all the world? That I went to my first conference ever there? And more to the point, Chez Panisse is there. Alice Waters is the mother of the local, whole, gourmet foodie movement and I would dearly love to visit one day. Linger.
Alas, a writer must sometimes….well, write. There is a lot on my plate just this moment, and I need to work. With all the other stuff going on this year ( Texas, remember? And New York City, and Santa Barbara, and the Avon walk and all the training for it, and then in three weeks to Australia) there was just no way to squeeze out the time. Not even to see one of my dearest writer friends, who said on the phone, “I can’t believe you aren’t going.” Not even to sit on the beach in SF and remember twelve other versions of myself, sitting there.
Today, I mailed galleys back to Bantam, which means I’ve read through The Lost Recipe one more time. Whatever happens, I really love this book myself, and that’s not such a bad thing. Loving it doesn’t mean I think I’m some fabulouso genius, just that I love the material, the people, the story, and I think some of you will, too. I think you’ll cry, and eat, and want to go have sex with somebody, and cook something beautiful, maybe some pomegranante baklava (oh this recipe! You will love it!) and adopt a dog.
Also, to occupy myself today, I found a cool B&B in the Rocks area of Sydney, upon the recommendation of a man who played the didgereedo a week or two ago at Unity. I am seriously, seriously looking forward to the Australia sojurn and will post more soon.
But tonight, I’m eating worms. Wish I was headed west in the morning, to San Francisco and RWA and all the glamour and pleaure of it all. Have fun everybody!
Anyone else staying home?
Me! I’m considering stowing away in someone’s suitcase and crashing Melissa and Aviva’s or Barb and Lynn’s room, though, and wandering the streets of SF while everyone else is in class. 😉
I just finished reading the Year of Fog (Michelle Redmond) last night and it’s a sad, sad story, but the SF setting is vivid and haunting. Made me wish I were going.
Hmm, I have a pomegranate bush in my back yard. It was planted directly in front of our house, per Asian formula for good luck, by the former occupants. Our Vietnamese neighbors were highly concerned for us when we dug it up, so we replanted it in the back yard to ease our conscience and try to stay out of trouble! Perhaps this year, I will have a use for the fruit if the birds don’t get it first like they usually do.
Check out brothermusic.com for a crazy combo of celtic and didge!
I’m not attending. Among my four or five close unpubbed writer friends, no one is attending this year for various reasons Two have a child getting married this summer.
A few names I noticed missing from the Literacy Signing.
Liz Bev
Jenny Crusie
Eloisa James
Lisa Kleypas
Elizabeth Lowell
Heather MacAllister
So I didn’t tell you this on our brief phone conversation on Sunday but one of my new roommates works in publishing and will be in San Fran for RWA. Bummer that you won’t be there, I told her to look out for you. Next time you are in New York we should all have coffee or something.
I’m not there, despite my best intentions…okay, so maybe my intentions weren’t quite as strong as they should have been. I’d agreed to forgo SF for a family holiday, which also isn’t happening. Still, I do have the RWNZ and the RWAustralia conferences to look forward to so I’m busting my gut to get this book and a new proposal finished so I can really kick back and enjoy conference mode in a couple of weeks time. Oh my, only a couple of weeks…I’m so not here right now!
I had the best intentions too – our whole crit group planned to go to this conference but circumstances have meant that only Mel made it.
Go Mel!! have fun!
But Wah!!! for the rest of us. I’ve only been to SF once. I had no idea Chez Panisse was there. I wonder why my chef hubby didn’t hunt it down, he’s been in love with Alice Waters cooking for years 🙂
I feel almost guilty for Australia being the reason you can’t go B. Almost….lol
Caro! That’s so cool. Email coming.
Believe me, Robyn, I am psyched about going to Australia! I’ve been to SF and RWA many, many times, but never to Oz, and I cannot WAIT! I can give you and Yvonne and all the rest of you big hugs. 🙂 We’ll have a good party in Melbourne.
Oh, I’m not there, either. Today I’ve been feeling lonely and blue and left out ’cause nearly everyone from my chapter went. And I hadn’t checked the blogs ’cause I figured you’d be in SF. Now that I know I’m not missing out on seeing you there, I’m (almost) glad I stayed home. Grins. DC next year, for sure!
DC next year? Thought it was Nashville, which sounds like more fun to me. Either way, I’m not skipping next year. Many writers go for career opportunities, to network, and well, yes, I do that. I see my publishing connections and I go to workshops on subjects that seem important, but mainly? Talk. I go to talk.
Wherever it is, we’ll all hang out.
Yes, it’s DC next year — my fav city (which you already know from the voice class). RWA is looking for workshops. Will you do one? I’ll be in the classroom if you do. Of course! Nashville is in 2010 and my cp is already excited about going there.
I’m starting to feel like a total hermit with deadlines etc at the moment, and while I’m presenting a couple of workshops at the RWNZ conference I feel like I’m hanging out for the mental health break that the Melbourne RWAus conference promises to be. I’m so looking forward to Melbourne as my consolation prize for missing SF.