Anita Mae at RWA In New York

by Anita Mae Draper

Last week I had the pleasure of traveling to the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference held in New York City. The flight from Regina, Saskatchewan to Minneapolis, Minnesota was 20 mins late and I was in the back row which meant a mad dash from one gate to the one boarding for New York. By the time I blew in, the waiting area was empty since everyone had boarded except for one small family who followed me on board. To think I almost missed the flight to New York! And this was after Delta changed my flight from a morning one to afternoon.

My first view of the Big Apple was when we broke through the clouds and the first thing I recognized was the Empire State Building.

A few seconds later I caught the long needle-like shape of Roosevelt Island which I'd blogged about a few weeks ago in my post, 19th Century Mission Coffee House and also on my blog with the post, It Can't Be June.

We landed at 9:30 pm at LaGuardia as the sun went down over the city.

By 11 pm I'd reached the Marriott Marquis New York to start the RWA conference. The first person I saw was Missy Tippens and a couple other Seekers from http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/ although I can't seem to find those pictures, now.

However, I have lots of pics taken from the 38th floor room I shared with Caroline Godin, Diane Burke, and Patti (PJ) Ausdenmore. Photos like this view of Times Square:

And photos of a part of the Empire State building. I think the trip became real when I saw the tall building I'd once made out of snow for a snow sculpture contest.

The first official meeting I attended was the Faith, Hope and Love (FHL) chapter of the RWA which included a worship session and the Touched By Love contest award ceremony.

A few hours later I saw many friends and discovered new ones at the Author's Literacy Signing for charity. Like FHL Australian member, Abby Gaines.

Wed night I attended the Harlequin Pajama Party where I found Allie Pleiter playing the role of Lady Liberty.

Laura Marie Altom, Winnie Griggs and Margaret Daley do it up in style with spiffed up matching pajama sets.

Camy Tang and I enjoying the party.

Thurs night Dana Corbit, Merrilee Whren and I went out to enjoy the atmosphere of a real Irish pub. The fish and chips were delish.

For Saturday's lunch, I accompanied Rachelle McCalla and Mary Connealy to John's Pizzeria, a restaurant with a huge brick oven housed in an old church.

Tina Radcliffe, Mary Connealy and Janet Dean were some of the 2,000 people dressed in their finest on Friday night for the Rita and Golden Heart Awards Gala.

Earlier in the day I moderated Deeanne Gist's Bottoms Up: A Look at Victorian Women's Clothing From The Inside Out research session. Overheard by an attendee was the comment, "This is the best workshop I've ever attended at RWA."

I agree. I was able to take a small amount of footage of Deeanne's workshop which I'll be posting soon as part of a History post.

This was one of the last images I caught Sat night as my flight took off from LaGuardia with the setting sun in the background. Such a beautiful sight.

If you were at the RWA NYC conference, tell us something about your experience. If you didn't attend, tell us what's the closest you've ever been to New York.

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Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and 2 of their 4 kids. In 2005, Anita Mae decided to return to writing and make it a priority in her life. She writes old west stories set on the prairies of Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Her characters are strong because the land demands it. Anita Mae likes to write characters who sit up and notice when that special person God’s chosen just for them walks by. The story is all about the courtship between the two main characters. But it won’t be an easy path. And if they don’t know about God at the beginning of the book, they will by the end. Anita Mae has semi-finaled in the Historical Romance category of the ACFW's 2011 Genesis contest and finaled in the Inspirational category of the 2011 Daphne du Maurier, the 2011 Fool for Love, the 2011 Duel on the Delta and 2009 Linda Howard Award of Excellence contests. She’s currently waiting to hear the phone ring and have someone say they want to buy Emma’s Outlaw. Meanwhile, she’s working on another story and trying to keep her imagination in check. A pathological picture taker, she usually has a photo or two of her western world on her blog at http://anitamaedraper.blogspot.com/