I’ve not been kind to Romance Writers of America on at least one or two of my previous posts. There have been membership changes that may eliminate beginning writers and there have been changes to the way the individual chapters can elect board members that have eliminated many smaller chapters.
That all being said, RWA is still the largest writing organization in the country, probably because it represents the largest genre ( 50% of the books sold are considered Romance). A professor of English called it one of the most professional conferences he’d been to (ah, ending a sentence with a preposition just for him).
And as much as I regret the possible loss of my chapter, I also regret not being in New York City this week for RWA’s annual conference. I was at the last one in New York and enjoyed it. Of course, at the time I was gainfully employed and could afford it…barely, New York is expensive. I will wait for the 2019 conference when it’s back in NYC, even though I’ll be almost 72. I love being around a bunch of writers. I love being in New York. I was twice blessed each time I went to a NYC National.
I’ve attended several RWA national conferences and talked with other writers, published and prepublished, and agents and editors.Each conference was a learning experience. I was at a general meeting years ago when authors who wrote ebooks fought to be allowed in RWA’s Published Author Network. They lost then. That has since changed.
I’ve been to the RITA Awards and watched as favorite authors go up on the stage to accept the award for best Romance book in a specific category. This Saturday I’ll be watching the live streaming of the awards right here on my laptop. possibly with a glass of wine.
So to all my fellow writers in NYC at National this week: Enjoy! Have fun! Learn! And post pictures on Facebook so I can pretend I’m there.
Mitzi Flyte 