Cindy Nord, Golden Heart Finalist, Blogs from RWA in San Francisco

Romantic to say the least, San Francisco is built on a narrow peninsula between the mighty Pacific and its namesake bay, and it overflows with cultural diversity. From its neighborhood hills of Nob Hill to the breathtaking Russian Hill, which contains the twisting, flower-strewn block of Lombard Street, and from Chinatown to the quaint magnificence of Fisherman's Wharf, all are connected by the clang-clang-clang of the century-old cable cars; this glorious city is the perfect setting for an RWA National Conference. And this is Cindy Nord, honored to be choosen as one of the nine finalists in the 2008 Historical category of the RWA Golden Heart Contest. For the next four days, I've been invited to blog about my exciting adventures as the count down concludes at that BIG Golden Heart banquet where the winner for the RWA Unpublished Golden Heart will be announced. So stick with me as I take you through this surreal moment in time....I promise it will be enlightening AND entertaining!!

Wednesday proved to be a day of relaxing & reacquainting with romance writers from all parts of the globe...It also became my day of registration. With the majority of attendees arriving later in the day or even early on Thursday morning, registration proved to be a breeze. I received my packet containing the schedule of events, a CD of workshop literature, a small 2008 RWA National Convention pin to adhere to my name badge, a small journel for jotting down notes during workshops or simply my thoughts as I progress through the next four days, and....oh, yes....one last thing....it also contained my PINK RIBBON that announced to every passerby that I was one of the unpublished GH finalists. (OMG, even now, I can hardly believe it.) Indeed, there it sat glowing back at me from inside its luxurious velium envelope to remind me, all over again, that they hadn't actually made a mistake and that it wasn't a dream after all! After I slipped on my name badge, a royal-blue lanyard supplied to every conference attendee by Harlequin Publishing, I then ever-so-carefully attached my Golden Heart Finalist ribbon securely to the bottom. It was then that my husband, Tom (who's accompanied me to this big event), softly stated, "It's all about the ribbons, isn't it, honey?" I laughed as I slowly perused the half-empty room, noticing several other writers with different colored ribbons attached to their lanyards....ribbons that proudly proclaimed "Volunteer", or "Speaker", or "Rita Finalist". I nodded, "....Indeed, without all those ribbons, without all those wonderful volunteers who man registration or other important positions throughout this event, or without the speaker ribbons attached on lanyards that belong to the people who bring every writer's dreams a little closer to life in workshops, or even without the highly-coveted 'Published Author Rita Ribbons', which is the creme 'de la creme ribbon, Tom. NONE of this would be possible." He quickly swept me off to the hotel bar, a glass and leather masterpiece resting in the center of the Marriott lobby, where I ordered a celebratory Cosmopolitan and he, an $8.00!!!!! glass of beer. We raised our glasses high in a toast to the next few days and then, I deposited him back in the hotel room and took off again in search of other writers.

And now................let the fun begin!!!! So...until tomorrow, where I'll blog about the 'Pixie Chicks', about the luncheon & dinner banquets, about the Golden Heart Dessert Reception, and about the speakers and their workshops, this is Cindy Nord, basking in the glow of the 2008 National Writers Conference in the magnificent, mist-shrodded city by the bay.

Cindy