I Have Arrived! (From "Newt Kincaid Blogspot" July 24, 2019)

I've arrived at the Romance Writers of America conference at the Marriott Hotel. First of all this hotel is huge! It is a little complicated getting from floor to floor and there are a ton of people here, not just for the conference. When you check in they give you a name tag as well as ribbons representing who you are and your role in the industry. People have many ribbons hanging from their name tags. The ribbons will read, for example, PAN, Contemporary, Plotter, Pantster, and on and on. My name tag has one ribbon. It reads: First Timer.

A woman with multiple ribbons started to approach me to ask me a question. She saw my sad little First Timer's ribbon and immediately changed course. I've been trying to spot other people with just a First Time's ribbon, and nothing else, in the hopes we could start our own First Timers Lonely Hearts at the RWA Conference Club. But so far I haven't found anyone else. Maybe I can make up my own ribbons to represent who I am. My ribbons would say: Friendly, Chubby, Huggable, Chocoholic....