On Jetlag and Conferences... #RWA17

I have just returned from a 6 week jaunt around the entire continent of North America and I have to say I am crippled with jet lag. I am now intimately acquainted with 4.00am, 5.00am and 6.00am... and on Thursday hit the wall with what I can only describe as 'jetlag' vertigo. Ah, the joys of modern travel!

As I last wrote, my journey began with the Historical Novel Society Conference in Portland... it ended with the Romance Writers of America Conference in Orlando, Florida (26-29 July). As my travelling companion said... the rest was just filling in time!

I am an infrequent attendee at the RWAm conference (my last being Anaheim in 2012) and it is interesting to look at the programme and reflect on how the industry has changed in a few short years.

My observation is that this year there was nothing on blogging or, indeed, the nuts and bolts, how to of indie publishing. In fact Indie Publishing now warranted a whole stream of its own (how that worm has turned!). The shift seemed to be toward marketing and promotion - something all authors, traditionally published or otherwise, now need to do. 

In terms of 'What Next?' for the industry, it seems that the emphasis is on writing series, rather than single, stand alone stories. 

For me, personally, the conference was timely. With my retirement from regular employment at the end of March, I have had to do a great deal of soul searching about where I want to take this new full time writing career. With 8 full length novels now 'on the shelves', I can either going on doing the same thing (and expect a different result!) or look at taking my writing in a slightly different direction. 

So with that being my mindset, I attended several sessions that spoke to me, articulating precisely the questions that had been going around in my mind, namely: Can I reinvent myself and yet still remain true to the sort of story that I like to write. Thank you, Suzanne Brockmann, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jayne-Anne Krantz and Virginia Kantro. Your sessions have convinced me that ... yes, I can! (This decision entailed a great deal of 'thinking' by the pool with a Margerita in hand...)  

And as if a cry went out to the universe, the answer was waiting in my Inbox on my return. At the risk of doing a thing I loathe...'vaguebooking'... I will have to leave it at that but watch this space for some exciting news in the near future! 

Thinking by the pool... assisted by ducks!