Today I went to a meeting of Romance Writer's of America. I always enjoy myself at those meetings; however, I can never wait to get home to write. I get very inspired. The speakers today were Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Agency, Anna Randol, and Jackie Barbosa.

In case there are people reading this that think romance writing is beneath them (mostly men, I suppose), think again. Jackie has a master's degree in Classics from University of Chicago and received a Mellon Fellowship in Humanities.

The slogan for her books is "History Made Hot." I totally love that.

At my table, a lady talked about having given up her career as a scientist (she ran four labs) in order to follow her passion for writing romance. I have also met many lawyers and teachers at these meetings. I myself have a bachelor's degree in economics and women's studies (I'm still a radical-feminist wannabe) from SDSU. In 1978, I gave birth to my son, and then went back to school two weeks later bringing him to my classes in a basket.

There are romance writers who get thousands of downloads and earn five figures a month. We are not women to be written off. We simply like living our fantasies and no one can blame us for that.

The deadline for the "Spring into Romance" contest has been extended to March 31. It is my understanding that you do not have to be a member to enter and you will obtain valuable feedback from professionals. I submitted two entries. For more information, go to the website for Romance Writer's of America, San Diego Chapter.