A Sweet End to A Sweet Conference

Like the other Mavens, I'm wiped out, but blissfully so. The end of my trip to Dallas was pretty nifty. I took a shuttle to the airport with a bunch of other writers. All of them were flying American, but I was flying Alaska operated by American. We debated on whether I should go to the American terminal or the Alaska terminal (for the record, I thought American - but if I'd listened to myself, I wouldn't have this cool story to tell), but the majority agreed I should check in at Alaska. I got out at terminal E only to be told I had to go to American at Terminal A. Out I went to wait for the airport shuttle to get to terminal A.

Now, why is it that when you want transporation to a hotel, all you see are airport shuttles? And now when I needed an airport shuttle, all I saw were stupid hotel shuttles?

Here's where things get warm and fuzzy. Another passenger on my flight, an older woman with a cane (Sally - which is also my grandmother's name) had also gone to the wrong terminal. I'm not sure of the relationship between her and the younger woman who drove her to the airport and nor do I remember the younger woman's name, but I will call her Romance Fan for the purposes of this post. Romance Fan went to fetch her minivan to drive Sally to Terminal A. Sally asked Romance Fan if she could fit one more. How sweet of them to drive me! (When my mother told me never to accept rides from strangers, I don't think she had this in mind.)

In the minivan, Romance Fan asked what I was doing in Dallas and I told them about the RWA Conference. She gushed that she loved reading romances and asked what I'd written. I chuckled and explained that I am just starting to query and pitch my book. She was very interested in the whole process and I ended up giving her my card because she wanted to remember me for when I am published. How sweet is that? Now, I had a bag full of books in the back of Romance Fan's minivan and thought a fitting thank you would be the conveyance of one of the books I'd gotten at the conference. As it happened, I decided to give her The Leopard Prince, not because it was the one book in my bag that I'd already read, but because it was the one book I had that was signed by the author, but not specifically to me (and I love this book a lot and it was nice to give Romance Fan a personal favorite). I can't tell you how touched this woman was to receive the book and that it was signed by the author. The whole exchange just gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling. She then promised to buy all my books as soon as they're published. I laughed and thanked her profusely. I can't express how cool Romance Fan thought it was to meet me, a writer. It didn't matter that I was unpublished and not remotely famous. She's a romance reader who connected with someone who writes the stories that she loves.

I know I made her day. Romance Fan, you made my year.