This past weekend, all eight of us got to hang out together at the annual New Jersey Romance Writers Conference. Since our little group was formed three years ago at this event, we decided to commemorate the occasion with a little soiree, which we called The Violet Femmes’ Ditch the Heels Evening Social.
Diana reserved a suite, and all of us took on some part of the preparations, including (lots of) wine, chocolate, snacks, and soft drinks. Joanna set up a Facebook invitation. JB designed a small invitation that we circulated to everyone we came in contact with at the conference. We hung violet party decorations, poured the wine, plated the snacks, and waited for our guests to arrive after the Put Your Heart in a Book and Golden Leaf Awards ceremony.
We really had no idea how many people were going to show up. Some had RSVP’d online, but there was word-of-mouth and onsite information available, too. Did we have enough wine and snacks? What if nobody showed?
We certainly needn’t have worried about the latter. Here are some pictures of our gathering:
JB caught up with Romantic Suspense Author Mary Burton
Jaye and Joanna
Shirley Hailstock makes her point.
Michele, Tina and guest
Elizabeth John and Maria have a laugh
Joanna and Amy DeLuca
We had a wonderful time visiting with all of our guests, and we could have gone on all night. However, we had put a ten o’clock end time on the invitation, since we wanted to be considerate of the people staying in the rooms adjacent to our suite. As it turned out, that was a smart move. A couple of British Airways pilots (with sexy accents!) were staying next door before flying back out in the morning. Those pilots needed their sleep. We didn’t want them crashing any planes.
Of course we hoped to get something out of hosting the party, although we didn’t want it to be an occasion to plug our own books. Mostly, we wanted to meet other authors, hang out with old friends, and raise the visibility of our blog. Sharing time with other authors, swapping stories and offering up support is what makes the romance community so unique. Screenwriter Michael Hauge has remarked that there is no other writing community that is as generous with our knowledge as romance writers, and we Femmes agree.
Were you able to attend our party? Give us a shout-out and let us know!
Hugs,
Jaye
Diana Quincy
JB Schroeder
Jaye Marie Rome
Joanna Shupe
Maria K. Alexander
Michele Mannon
RoseAnn DeFranco
Tina Gabrielle
The Violet Femmes 
JB Schroeder
/ October 21, 2014Thanks for officially documenting the event, Jaye! I love all the pictures, and am psyched to have a good one of all 8 of us! We had a great turnout, and a fun time both catching up and making some new connections! Well worth doing, in my book!
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014It was fun, JB! I wish I’d taken more pix. There were a lot of people there, tough in a cramped space.
Diana Quincy
/ October 21, 2014It was great to see so many people at the gathering. I was only sorry I didn’t manage to circulate more. It seemed we’d just gotten started and it was time to shut the party down, thanks to some sleepy pilots next door who had a flight the next morning.
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Me, too, Diana. I was too busy pouring wine and cleaning up the bar, but I still got to talk to some new people and make new contacts. I wish I’d had more time to talk to Mary Burton!
Tina Gabrielle
/ October 21, 2014Thanks for the great pictures and post Jaye! As the newest femme, I had a wonderful time with everyone and getting a chance to talk with all the wonderful people who came to our party.
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Tina, so glad you’ve joined our little group! Hugs.
Marlo Berliner
/ October 21, 2014It was a fun get-together! I just wish I had known agent Sarah Younger was in the next room, LOL. I pitched to her and it went very well, but I would’ve loved to chat with her some more! I was very impressed with her. All in all though, great little party and a great idea you guys had. Thanks for hosting!
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Oooh, I didn’t even realize she was there, Marlo. I liked her at Anonymous Author. I thought she was very insightful and funny. Thanks for coming to our party!
RoseAnn DeFranco
/ October 21, 2014Great documentation of our first official soiree, Jaye! It was a great night, but went by way too fast. Next time we’ll have to request no pilots next door, or maybe we just invite their sexy accents on over? I loved hanging out with the Femmes and all our friends. Thank you for documenting the night. I LOVE the new Femmes photo! 🙂
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014I wish I could have said what everyone talked about, but I think everyone was just ready to unwind. I love the new Femmes photo, too!
Nicole
/ October 21, 2014It was so lovely of all the lovely Femmes to host the party. The snacks were yummy..especially those flower-shaped sugar cookies. The Scribes made a tail end appearance, but we all had tons of fun just kicking back with friends and attendees. Thanks for having it. Next year…no pilots.
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014From your lips to God’s ears on the pilots, Nicole!
JB made those cookies with her kids. You’re right…they were yummy!
Nancy Herkness
/ October 21, 2014It was a great party! Thanks so much for giving us such a wonderful post-awards event. I had a blast. Love you guys!
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Back at you, Nancy! So glad you stopped by the party. It’s always fun to spend time with you.
Nancy Herkness
/ October 21, 2014P. S. I’m with Nicole on how delicious the flower cookies were. 🙂
Jennifer Walkup
/ October 21, 2014Thanks to all of you for hosting! I was only able to stop by for a short while but I really enjoyed meeting so many people and saying hello. It was a lot of fun.:)
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Jenn, I’m glad you could stop by. I’m only sorry I didn’t have a chance to chat with you more!
Joanna Shupe
/ October 21, 2014Great photos!
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Thanks, Joanna! ❤
Roni Denholtz
/ October 21, 2014Great photos! Elizabeth John told me about it but I was exhausted and went back to the room to crawl into bed.
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 21, 2014Hopefully next time you’ll be able to join us, Roni! We had a blast! I bet you got a lot more sleep than the Femmes did that night, lol!
Diana Cosby
/ October 22, 2014Thank you for hosting the social! Great photos, and it was wonderful being able to talk to so many people. I agree, the time went by too fast. A terrific time!!! *Hugs*
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 22, 2014Diana, it’s always a pleasure to see you! I’m so glad you stopped by!
Maria K. Alexander
/ October 27, 2014The party was a blast, Jaye. Thanks for taking the photos. I got there late because of the award ceremony and didn’t get to circulate the room that much. But I met a new friend, Hi Jen Doyle, and got to chat with people as they were entering and leaving. Loved the flower cookies, JB!
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 29, 2014I wish I had circulated more, too, Maria. We had quite a turnout, it was hard to get to everyone. Good thing there are 8 of us to go around!
Amy Patrick (@AmyPatrickBooks)
/ October 29, 2014Hi Jaye! It was a wonderful party and wonderful to meet you there. Thanks for the incredibly warm welcome that night– one of the major highlights of my first NJRW conference. 🙂
Jaye Marie Rome
/ October 29, 2014Amy, so glad you had a good time. It was so nice to meet you and all the other newbies. It felt like there were a lot of new faces at this year’s conference, which is GOOD! Thanks for stopping by the blog. Hugs!