What happens in New York stays in New York...Unless there are photos

I'm home from the national conference of the Romance Writers of America, and I've gotta admit, barely functional. I feel like I could sleep for about three days straight and still not be caught up.

The experience was great though, and I'm glad I went. Rather than blathering on for pages and pages about what I saw and did, I'll show you a few of the highlights...

After 3.5 years of having Michelle Wolfson as my agent, I finally, FINALLY got to meet her in person. She was every bit as fabulous as you might imagine (plus she made me feel tall, which is tough to do since I'm not quite 5'4").

Wait, is she tweeting about me?

Taking a carriage ride in Central Park with authors Jeffe Kennedy (center) and Marcella Burnard. These were my two roommates for the week. They're very nice to snuggle with and don't even hog the covers.

I got to see Bert and Ernie in Central Park. Bert dropped his head, and Ernie (the sadistic bastard) just laughed.

After the carriage ride, I got to feed the horsey. Go ahead and make a crack about the provocative way I'm holding the carrot or how pleased I look to be doing so.

Just to prove we clean up OK (both food and in appearance) here's Michelle and me out on the town.

I got to meet lots of great author pals I'd previously only known online. (Left to right) Jeannie Moon, Patty Blount, Marcella Burnard, me, and Jeffe Kennedy.

Enjoying fruity drinks with author pals Cambria Dillon (left) and Karen Amanda Hooper.

Karen thoughtfully created this lovely promotional piece for me using a Making Waves bookmark and a tropical drink. I agree with her suggestion that everyone who buys a copy of the book should get one of these.

I also got to meet my editor, Deb Werksman, at the Sourcebooks author dinner. We were picked up in limousines and given copious amounts of great food, strong drinks, and praise for being brilliant authors.

Author Carolyn Brown's husband had the best outfit of all for the Sourcebooks author dinner.

In case you're picturing a couple of porn stars groping each other at the dinner table, this is author Carolyn Brown. Both she and her husband were two of the most delightful people I had the pleasure of meeting.

And speaking of delightful, how cool is it that Michelle and I ended up matching during the last day of the conference? This is us with the fabulous Bria Quinlan, another online author pal I was thrilled to meet in person.

I got to meet my idol, Jennifer Crusie, on a couple different occasions during the conference. When I wasn't delirious from swooning, I couldn't help but notice she was speaking beneath a light fixture that looks disturbingly like a giant, glowing butthole.

All dressed up for the RITA awards ceremony with Jeffe Kennedy and Laura Bickle.

So that's a pretty solid recap. I promise to be back to regularly scheduled blogging within the next couple days. Until then, have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday!