Dave rapped on the door at six Saturday morning.  Again, bleary eyed, I answered.  I think he got a kick out of dragging this poor owl out of her nice, warm nest at dawn.  I was up, showered, and dressed—surprise!  No surprise to me however because my roommate was up when the sun rose.

     The breakfast and general meeting was from 8 to 9.  The first three sessions offered ran from 9:15 to 10:15.  Sci-fi/Fantasy breakout—Tim Esaias Colleen Lindsay, Jonathan Maberry, John Lamb—Homicide 101:  an overview of murder investigations, Romance Panel—Esi Sogah, Susan Gable, Susan Meier.  You can guess where I was… John was fantastic!  He has that great, cop’s sense of humor and dry wit that I live with every day.

     10:30 to 11:30  (my free hour since none of the sessions interested me.)  Paige Wheeler—key concepts for career novelists, Bobbi Carducci–Children and YA panel, Jonathan Maberry—making money as a writer.  I was in the hospitality suite filling out tickets for the Chinese auction.  I had my eye on a couple of nice baskets.

     Noon to 1:30 Lunch, awards, and keynote speaker Tim Esais—fun, fabulous, speaker.  Tim had us in the giggles.

     1:30 to 2:30  Crime fiction panel—John Lamb, CJ Lyons, Nancy Martin, and Kathleen George.  FABULOUS session.  Susan Meier—Story, Theme, and Idea.  Nate Hardy—Marketing made easy: success strategies for writers.

     2:45 to 3:45  Kathleen George—playwriting.  Agents Panel—Lucienne Diver, Paige Wheeler, Uwe Stender, Colleen Lindsay, and Becca Stump—moderated by Nancy Martin.  Nancy Christie—essentials of essay writing.  I had another free hour so I was back in the hospitality suite dropping tickets into bags.  There were three baskets that had really caught my eye.

     Then we went to dinner in the hotel around 5.  The rest of the night was ours to do as we wished and it was very much the same as the night before.  Many people in the lobby all having great conversations.  Our group grew, and grew, and grew.  That was Mudslide night for me. 

     Did I mention that Friday night was Bahama Momma night?  No, I didn’t do any table dancing either night, although I think Dave was waiting for it both nights and had his camera handy.