biancadarc.com Blog

Almost Home

I’m on my way back from RT. Yes, I drove. It’s just over 1000 miles from my house to FL, so I took it in stages, visiting family all along the way. Whenever I go southward, I like to drive and mix the drive with visits to people I otherwise wouldn’t see. I’m almost home now – just a few hundred miles to go – but I stopped to recover a bit and visit with my folks for a bit.

RT was stupendous! Although I really didn’t enjoy the hot sun of Florida, I did enjoy seeing everyone and meeting new people. My presentations, both to the booksellers, and my moderating duties on the “Demons Unplugged” panel went really well. Larissa Ione’s one-word answers notwithstanding, that panel was a very big big success and even Larissa got a lot of laughs with her reluctance to talk in public.

Hanging with Samhain people, other authors and meeting all kinds of great new people really made the week fly by. I also was on a mission to try to find an agent, but I’m not entirely certain that will pan out. I met with a few agents at RT, but I like to surround myself with positive people – not silly/happy people, but people with a positive outlook on the world, on their business and on life in general. I’m not sure I encountered that kind of attitude in any of the agents I spoke to and in fact, was incredibly depressed after talking to some of them. :-O I know that’s kind of weird criteria to go by, but having spent most of my life in the corporate world, I know how important it is to find the right fit with people you intend to work with long-term.

So the week was full of ups and downs. I encountered an editor or two who were very enthusiastic about my work. Those were the highest points of the convention, of course. Then there were the parties and events, which are always fun. The usual hotel hassle was slightly different this year – no messing with elevators, but very long walks between buildings. The grounds of the hotel were gorgeously manicured, so the walks weren’t even that bad, except in the heat of the day. The little lizards all over the place made me jump, of course, having never encountered that before. The ducks and other wildlife were enchanting.

I’ll tell you more later, when I finally get home.