Romance Wins

Hi Guys!
I know it has been a month since I last posted, but I have just got to tell you about a wonderful event that I attended last Saturday. It was the Heart of Dixie Romance writers Association luncheon (local chapter of the RWA). It was such a BLAST!!!!! to attend. I got to meet quite a few of the most wonderful romance/thriller/suspence/inspirational writers on the market today, as well as a couple would-be writers just waiting for their publishing day, and several wanna-be writers.
The luncheon was a great "get-together" for their "public" to meet and greet them on a social basis. For the writers and wanna-be's it was a forum for networking...the best of both worlds.
I got to sit at Debby Giusti's table. She is a fairly new inspiration /romance /suspense writer. Her third and latest book is called "MIA: Missing in Atlanta" which she gave to each of us sitting at her table She was such a joy to talk to that I can't wait to read it. I'll have to go and look for her other titles "Nowhere to Hide" and "Scared to Death"
The speaker for the luncheon was Roxanne St.Claire. She was a delight to listen to! she told of her foray into broadcast journalism and her mentor suggesting that she legally change her name because who ever heard of a boradcaster's name with a "Z" or a hard consenant "C" at the end of their name. So she did. Her real name was Roxanne Zinc. The whole crowd roared with laughter when she said..."...it's funny no one ever told that the Katie Couric or Paula Zahn ." She also did a short stint as an actor appearing on "Bussom Buddies" with Tom Hanks. Later she worked in New York City in multi million dollar PR firms. Now she resides in the Cocoa Beach area of Florida writing away at her new career in romance/suspense fiction.
I won a gift basket from Kelly St.John of "To Catch a Cheat" and "Real Women Don't Wear Size 2". She too was a lot of fun. After we ate, the authors then had a book fair... where you could buy books and have them personally sign them for you. There I met Linda Howard (one of the founders of the Heart of Dixie Chapter) who is always on the national Best Sellers List. You can find her in every bookstore and every book/magazine area of your grocery store on the "best sellers" shelf. A great romantic suspense writer.

This was so much fun, that I hope to go again in November to the Birmingham's local chapter luncheon. You ought to look your local chapter up and give it a whirl!
Take care... I hope to be blogging with you again soon!
Oh! I forgot to mention, I also got to meet again Debra Webb. She is another romance/suspense writer (having just won a RITA award) She is the author of "Traceless" and "Nameless". I met her at a convention booth earlier this year and she handed me some information about this upcoming luncheon. I invited my friend Rachel to come along with me and she too won a great 'writers' basket from Linda Winstead Jones.