RT Recap Part 4: The last day.

Saturday was the day of the Giant book fair. Holy Literacy, Batman! There were a ton of people! I'd forgotten to bring a bag for the books and shirts I got, which turned out to be a huge mistake. The lady at the checkout said that I could just take my purchases back to my room and come back with a bag. Nope, didn't work. By the time I made it back, the fair was open to the public and there were lines of hundreds of people stretching out through the entire floor of the hotel. I can't handle crowds, so I popped a Xanax and fled with my tail between my legs... which turned out to be a good idea because apparently things got so packed that those who got in couldn't get out. I heard that the signing made the Guinness Book of World Records.

At least I got to get books from Ashlyn Chase and Kresley Cole. So I got my book collection boxed and mailed home, then I soaked in a warm bath and dressed up for the evening. By the time Jess escaped the mobbed signing (I think she sold out all her books) we were famished. We finally got to go to Oceana's, a place she'd been raving about since I arrived.

Our server was like the coolest guy ever. For an appetizer, we split an order of BBQ shrimp. Holy hell, check out the size of those things!!!

Then I had red fish covered in creamy crawfish sauce. I didn't get a picture because I fell upon it like a ravening beast.

Our server was also a bad influence. He talked us into getting drinks. I had my 1st Hurricane and Jess got this crazy yum Bananas Foster cocktail.

So I was a little giddy when we showed up at the private party that my publisher, Sourcebooks threw. There were drinks there too. I got permission to bring crashers. I had to show my editor, Deb Werksman, the cover of the anthology Jess wrote for: "The Real Werewives of Vampire County." She loved it. I also got to talk with Deb and my associate editor, Susie Benton, about book 3 in my Scandals with Bite series. This is Rafe's book. Rrrrrrrow!

I also bounced around and chatted with Ashlyn Chase, whom I'd been dying to meet in person and introduce to Jess, as well as Terry Spear, Elizabeth Staab, and others.

Sourcebooks also made cool placards with our book covers! Here's mine and I totally took it home and will set it at my table for my first book signing.

The party wrapped up quicker than I would have liked, but we had another one to go to: the Fantastic Day Party. There were more free books. I picked up DUKE AT MIDNIGHT by Elizabeth Hoyt and OMG, it's like a Regency Batman! And apparently there are a ton more books in the series. So while I was jumping up and down to my new friends saying, "OMG, REGENCY BATMAN!" They nodded then pointed at another table. "Oh yeah? OCD Werewolf!"
And that's how I was introduced to the fabulous Shawntelle Madison.

I was then delighted to meet Dorothy Shaw and Kimberly from Book Obsessed Chicks, and Joy from Joyfully Reviewed, who thankfully wore bunny ears so I could recognize her. I took pictures with all  them and we talked books until we were dying on our feet. 

Jess and I then took off and considered going to the Harlequin party but we were starving and tired so we went to Popeye's, which I'd never had before. I decided that I like KFC a bit better but Popeye's had superior biscuits.

Then we went straight to bed because I had to catch the airport shuttle at 4:55 AM.

RT RECAP Part 3: Day 3... The Man-Candy and Food Porn Edition

After staying up so late on Thursday, I slept in on Friday. Jess and I had a quick breakfast before she went to some agent and editor pitches, which I'm proud to say, landed her a ton of requests for her new exciting project... which unfortunately I can't tell you about.

So I went back to pursuing one of my primary goals of the conference: meeting people. I ended up running into a few agents and editors myself, including Margaret Bail, who used to be one of my critique partners ages ago and is now an agent. It was a blast to meet her in person. Somehow I ended up with a few requests for my metal romance. I also got to see my local RWA chapter buddy, Rebecca Zanetti.

And now for another crazy fan-girl moment: Just as I was heading up to an awesome panel on vampires, I ran into Shana Galen again... and of course I didn't have the book I wanted her to sign... and she was on her way out the door to leave!! Eeek!  But, she graciously waited while I raced up to my hotel room and signed it for me and gave me a hug. Fan-girl squee!!

So I ended up late to Jess's panel but I still got to participate in plenty of the fun and I got to meet Caridad Pinero! On our way back to our room we shared an elevator with Charlaine Harris, which was totally sweet.
Jess and I had a quick lunch. Daisy Dukes was full so we went next door to another place that was pretty good too. I had shrimp n' grits again.

We did a bit of sight-seeing and picked up more hard cider before going to an awesome Avon book signing. Among the highlights were Jess getting to meet Kim Harrison and I got to meet Janine Frost and Lisa Kleypas. Lisa loved the title of BITE ME, YOUR GRACE so much she had me write it on a napkin for her. (I'd run out of business cards). 

After the signing we joined Paige Prince, Elise Hepner, Charity Hendry, Jackie Morgan and Casey Harris Parks for dinner at the Palace Cafe. 

And now it's time for some food porn. I had turtle soup which turned out to taste like chili with elk burger. I'd expected turtle to taste like calimari or something. I also had blue crab claws which were tiny, but delicious. And then I had creme brulee for my first time. OMG, heaven in my mouth. Aside from the excellent food, we had a wonderful time discussing crazy stories about our craft and the industry.

I'd thought that we were then going to attend the RT party of the night, but instead some dude dressed up in a police uniform gathered us up and escorted us down Bourbon Street to a bar called OZ. On the walk I met book reviewer, Jo Lacey Wood who turned out to be a fellow Megadeth fan. We sang "Sweating Bullets" on our way there. 

Then we sat at the bar and talked books and watched everyone dance. I also had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with 2 charming actors: Zac Bostrom and Eric Carpenter. I told them that they should totally be cover models. 

"People keep telling us that," they replied.

Gee, I wonder why.

And then the stripper showed up. It was my first male stripper. Needless to say, I was delightfully amused by his outrageous costume and antics. The guy was even doing ballet poses. I was only able to get pictures of him from the back view, but due to the PG-13 rating on my blog, maybe that's for the best. 2 more strippers arrived and though they were nice eye candy, the first guy eclipsed them with his funky craziness.

You guys won't believe how he looked from the front.

Sara Humphreys showed up and bought me a drink. ::Fan girl squee:: We chatted a bit and showed off our muscles (hers from working out, mine from turning wrenches). 

Then the noise became too much for Jess and I and we went back to the hotel. I hung out in the lobby with a few more nifty people and got a few hooked on hard cider. I then finally got to hang out a bit with my other fellow RWA chapter buddy, Shoshanna Evers. We had so much fun talking about the convention that I tripped over a palm tree when walking her back to her hotel. She was really worried but I turned out okay.

RT Recap Part 2

Part II, Day 2

Jess woke me up so we could have breakfast with Lia Davis, Carrie Ann Ryan, Charity Hendry, and a couple other awesome people. I thought they meant down in the lobby... I also thought the table with the array of food was a free continental breakfast. So I had a delicious spinach and ricotta stuffed croissant. So when Jess and the others announced that we were ready to leave for lunch, I was all, "Huh? I thought we were eating breakfast here."

"No way. It's too expensive."

Oops. I'd thought it was free.

We went to a place called "Red Gravy." Here's some fun pics.

I'm still half asleep and rocking my Megadeth shirt... Jess's shirt is better though.

I was bummed to discover that the Red Gravy was only marina. Needless to say, it didn't go well with the biscuit I ordered. So I spent a lot of time ogling everyone else's plates. :)

After breakfast, Jess and I attended some publisher spotlights to see where the market is going. I was beyond delighted to discover that rock stars are IN! I ended up with a ton of requests for my rock star romance. While giddily bouncing around after that, I spent a little time socializing and meeting more people. I'd purposely brought books by authors I'd hoped to meet and was over the moon when I ran into Eloisa James outside the elevator. She cheerfully signed my worn out copy of POTENT PLEASURES and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Jess hauled my gasping fan-girl ass back to our room so we could get ready for lunch.

Gratuitous Pic of Eloisa with Courtney Milan and PJ Arshendaut at another event because I was too wimpy to ask for one with me.

Jess and I had another visit to Daisy Dukes and OF COURSE I ordered the New Orleans sampler. I had shrimp n' grits, crawfish etouffee, red bean & rice, gumbo, and a biscuit. We hung out a bit with Amy Ruttan and visited with Shoshanna Evers and Jess's associate editor, Peter Senftleben and then went to a corner store and a shoe store. I found my hard cider!!! Alas, I also had to get a bottle opener. I had the choice of one that looked like a beer mug or one that looked like a naked lady. I went for the beer mug.

We got all gussied up for the Kensington party, where Jess had a table with really nifty crystal balls showing her book cover. I ran around and visited with a bunch of other authors and readers while Jess interacted with her fans. Damn, there were some cool people!

After the party, everyone lined up for the pub crawl. Jess, Charity, and I took one look at the line and changed our minds. Instead, we sipped hard cider in our room. Then poor Jess had a sore throat so she went to bed early so she could speak at her next event. I wandered down to the Samhain party, which was off the hook.

I can't remember who these lovely ladies were, but they were awesome.

Then there was this other awesome chick dressed up as Mallificent!

Best of all, she totally didn't mind the random crazy girl in the Spinal Tap shirt bowing down and taking pictures.

Then I ran into this awesome lady all decked out old southern style. She turned out to be Cynthia D'Alba and her swag was the best: MATCHES.

Anyway, Cynthia was a total darling and insisted that I have a picture taken with her cowboy cover model, who happened to be from Spokane, Washington which is the town next to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, my stomping ground. Between our impromptu photoshoot, we had a good giggle about how real northwest cowboys don't look or speak like media cowboys. I grew up on a cattle farm. We drove the cows with tractors, never rode horses, never wore cowboy hats, wore T-shirts, beanies, jeans and workboots (Oh shit, we looked like Nirvana!) and sounded like CBS newscasters.

Still, it was good times.

I also spent a lot of time in the smoking area out front and met some awesome Texan booksellers who had a HAUNTED bookstore. I wish I would have gotten pictures of them. I loved the smoking area. I met a ton of cool people and it was quiet enough to carry on conversations. Quiet is more my pace.

I ended the night by going on a pizza run with cover model DeLonn Donovan and a publicist. I can't remember her name, but DeLonn is easy because apparently he's everywhere and a total sweetie!

After the pizza run, I was dead on my feet and shambled back to my room and promptly fell asleep, dreaming of my own personal romance hero.

Day 3 coming soon!

RT 2014 Recap: Part I

Sorry for the delay. Some personal stuff happened right after I got back from my trip.
Anyway, as you all know, I recently returned from my very first book convention, which was none other than the RT Booklover's Convention in NEW ORLEANS!!!!!
I figured for my first con, I'd go big or go home.

Well, it was more than big, it was HUGE.

My best description for my mental state during those action-packed four days was "Overwhelmed and Overjoyed." There was just so much going on that I'm going to split this into at least 3 posts.

I'll start with the overview. After a long plane ride across the country, I arrived in NOLA and thankfully didn't miss my airport shuttle. On the shuttle I met some fellow excited attendees and a nice local who point out the cemeteries and landmarks along with recommending some good restaurants.
The Marriott in the French Quarter was large and imposing. However I managed to check in and get my badge and track down my roommate, Urban Fantasy author Jess Haines.

Releases July 1st!

If you haven't read her already, CHECK HER OUT!!!!

Anyway, she showed me to our room and since we were both starving, she immediately took me to a nifty restaurant called Daisy Dukes and we split a basket of the best fried shrimp that I've had in my life. She then played sherpa and took me on a mini tour around the block. I just gaped at everything and forgot to take pictures. She treated me to my first beignet. OMG, the fluffy, sugary goodness!!

Still joyous and staring at everything, we returned to our room to get ready for a Mardis Gras party. I got to meet my first book reviewer, Casey from Literary Escapism and she is a doll, so I totally gave her one of my few copies of WRENCHING FATE.

We talked books while changing into festive costumes and heading down to the bus that took us to Mardi Gras World. Jess was to participate in the event so I tagged along with Casey and Amy Boggs, a charming literary agent. I pretty much stayed glued to them as we headed into the building because they were the closest to familiar people I knew. We really had no idea what to expect and were awed and delighted at what came next. Ready for a slew of pictures? Great!

Lining up outside Mardi Gras World

There were some awesome statues that I think they use on floats.

BATMAN!

Headless Horseman!!

After that, there was a parade with Jazz musicians and authors in floats and stuff throwing beads at us.

Sara Humphreys yanked me out of the crowd so we could take a selfie with her and Susanna Kearsley.

It was freakin' awesome.

After the parade we got to visit a bunch of booths and try New Orleans food. And that is how I fell in love with Shrimp n' grits and Crawfish Etoufee.

I also met a bunch more authors and reviewers and readers and industry people.

The bar outside was too spendy and exact cash only, so Jess and I took off shortly afterward and she gave me a quick tour of Bourbon Street and we visited a cool outdoor bar called Pat O' Brien's and had a nifty cocktail (I got to keep the glass) before shambling back to the hotel.

Then we passed the heck out because we were exhausted and had a full schedule of more RT fun early in the morning.

So the first day was... WOW!

Stay tuned for part II!