Well, I’m back from Romance Writers of America’s national conference in Dallas, and I’m feeling almost human again. No, I haven’t unpacked yet; let’s not get crazy. But I have gotten a little sleep, and had a chance to decompress from several days of nonstop networking and socializing. Here are a few pix and a few highlights, in no particular order:

• Lisa Kleypas’s keynote luncheon address. What a lovely representative of the romance genre she is—beautiful, articulate, and classy. She made the point that romance is an important genre—no matter what the critics say—because it’s one in which the WOMAN is important. Is that a great message, or what?

• The literacy signing, which raised over fifty thousand dollars.

• Meeting romance reviewers like Jane, Sybil, and Michelle Buonfiglio, all of whom are lots of fun. Jane gets extra credit from me because she let me play with and post a comment from her iPhone, which is way cool and has pictures of her painfully adorable daughter on it.

• The Harlequin party, which really has to be experienced to be believed. Where else can you see dozens of your favorite romance authors (many of whom do NOT write for Harlequin, BTW—crashers welcome!) sipping cosmos, eating gooey chocolate desserts, and dancing to BOTH John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy and Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer?

• Seeing Nora Roberts dance barefoot and with joyful abandon at the Harlequin party.

• The Kensington party, where they had DELICIOUS nibblies—with me, it’s all about the food.

• Making new friends, like Laura Drewry, Nalini Singh and Dona Sarkar-Mishra.

• Catching up with old friends, like Eve Silver, Caroline Linden (who also let me see her iPhone), Patricia Sargeant, and Lori Devoti.

• The book signing at the African American History Museum, where I met legends like former bookseller Emma Rodgers, Francis Ray, and Beverly Jenkins, greeted readers who came from far and wide to enjoy cake and punch with us, and laughed with Kayla Perrin (and to think I once thought she was quiet and demure ) and Karen White-Owens, among others.

• Winning a gift basket in the raffle at the Death by Chocolate party, where I sat with Marcia James (who also won a basket) and Pamela Clare. Marcia and I credit Pamela with our wins because she touched us and/or said encouraging words in the seconds before our names were announced.

Whew! I’m re-exhausted just thinking about it! I can’t think when I’ve had so much fun.

Is it too soon to start counting the days until next year’s conference in San Francisco?