The RWA Conference

As promised, here is a collection of photos I took at the RWA  — mainly of the costume cocktail party that traditionally kicks off the conference. I wrote about the conference on the WordWenches Blog, so rather than repeat myself, you can read it here.

Tasmania is an island — comparable in size to US states West Virginia or South Carolina, and around the same size as Scotland,  Ireland, Switzerland, and Belgium.

(It’s affectionately known as Tassie — pronounced Tazzie.)

Flying in, I was glued to my window and taking snaps of all the water views.

The hotel where the conference was held overlooked the large bay on which Hobart is situated.

We were very lucky with glorious sunny weather, though when you stepped outside the wind was bitter, coming direct from Antarctica. But the views were gorgeous, sparkling water with yachts heading out for a day of sailing. Here’s one from my breakfast table.

And below is the view from my window at dawn. I never sleep well at conference — too many thoughts whizzing around my brain — so I was generally wide awake at dawn, and enjoyed the view coming to life in the rosy light of sunrise.

I described the program on the WordWenches site, so if you’re interested in that aspect of things, click here.

And now, onto photos of  the costume cocktail party.

One of my favorite costumes was this one of a white witch with a beautiful ‘Harry Potter” type  white owl, that could turn its head and look at you. The full length photo is on the Wench site,  but you can’t see the gorgeous hat there. Isn’t is lovely? I confess, I have a fondness for hats. And owls.

Here I am with author Alyssa Montgomery. The theme for the cocktail party was “Writer Wonderland” but the theme for the conference was “A Winter Wonderland” and many of us thought that was the cocktail party theme as well. Clearly I was one of them — my spotty top is meant to be snow, and that “hat” is actually a length of icy-looking Christmas tinsel wound around my head and every bit of crystal jewlry I could find. I decided my usual “trademark” feather boa would be too hot, but it still got used. Scroll down to see how.

And if you’re wondering why I’m wearing sunglasses — and no, I wasn’t attempting to look like a pop star in disguise or some gangland villain. *g* They’re my long-distance driving glasses and I accidentally left the clear ones at home. They were great for the bright sunshine outside and at breakfast, but I also needed them to see across a large room clearly, and also to read the subtitles on the panels and keynote speeches — see the photo below — and  to read the screens in workshops.

And if you’re wondering how my feather boa got used, you can see it here worn by my friend Janet Gover, an Australian who lives in the UK, and is friends with some of my UK writing friends. She didn’t have a costume — though that silk top of hers is gorgeous — and happily wound the white boa around her head, this being “snow.”

Georgia Moore made the costume below, and I thought it was brilliant.

Tracy Brenton (below) was the Queen of Hearts.

Here I am with guest speaker , historical author from the USA, Sarah MacLean. This wasn’t at the cocktail party, but after her excellent keynote speech.

Here is Maryanne Ross, also a Queen of Hearts ‚ but you can’t have too many of those at a romance writing conference, can you?.

Below is Erica Hayes, and to be honest I’m not sure what her costume was — a scarecrow maybe? Any suggestions? Erica writes  fab, very original  paranormals.

Below is Leisl Leighton, who always has a great costume with wonderful makeup. Her skin this time was shimmery blue.

And finally, here is Milly after I got home and collected her from the kennels. She loves it there and they put her in with another dog and they play and play and play. So when she gets home, she sniffes every corner of the house and yard, and then, because she’s all tuckered out, she goes “thunk” for the rest of the day.