Flying Into The Sun

 I left the RWA (Romance Writers of America) Conference, in San Antonio, late Sunday afternoon.

My flight to Anchorage changed planes in Seattle, of course. Seattle is practically our center of the universe. As I got to my gate in San Antonio and settled into a seat I nodded to a familiar face from the conference. 

We began to chat, and another, and another, and another friendly vibrating face joined our animated conversations. It turns out Seattle is also the center of the universe for several parts of the northwest. I felt sorry for the few passengers who were clueless as our mini-convention continued in the waiting area and they were inundated by the raucous banter being flung about.

Our chatter varied from craft and industry to decompressing into the expectations at home. Jobs waited, weddings were planned, children and grand-children were anxious to see us and we all looked forward to implementing the lessons we had learned.

There were so many lessons.

Lesson #1: Texas in July is hot. I’ve lived in Alaska too long to easily slide back into 90+ degrees and not be affected.

As I flew north from the late afternoon and evening of Texas and then Seattle I could see out of the airplane window headed north, the strip of sunlight growing wider and brighter - flying into the sun.

Flying home.

It will take weeks if not months to catalog the information, to network with new connections, to implement the astounding amount of material (books OMG, the books) I’m bringing back with me. As I consider what I gained from this convention it feels as if there is a mega-burst of information crammed into my head.

   

I highly recommend attending at least one National RWA convention. Passion and enthusiasm feed you for the week (because there is hardly time to eat) and overwhelming exhaustion takes over when you return.

I hope to see all of my friends, new and old, next July.