Back from the RT Convention

Conventions are exhausting. I’m drained, physically and mentally. But I had such a great time at the RT convention! I have loads of pics that I’m not even going to begin to post here, but I do have a link so you can peruse. I even labeled the pics. It took hours. But I hate when people put pictures up and then don’t tell you who the hell the people are in the picture. Look here for mounds of pictures from RT.

The great thing about going to the RT Convention every year is that, first of all, there are readers there. And I get to meet not only my old friends whom I love dearly, but new ones. This year was no different. Several of my friends from my Paradise chat group came – Kelly, Sue, Dobby, Renny, Claudia, Danny, Patrice, Cap’n Bob, Jackie, Debbie. It was so good to see them. They’re like family to me because we spend every day together….online anyway *g*.

And I got to meet new people too. Robin, who lurks in my chat group *g*, and then some new authors I hadn’t met before. Tara Nina is a fabulous new EC author and I adore her, she’s such a sweetheart. Joey Hill I met for the first time and I’m a huge fan of hers. She’s one of the nicest, sweetest people I’ve ever met, she’s gorgeous and she and I share the same agent! *grin*. She also just sold to Berkley Heat, so congrats Joey! Wooo hooo!!!!!

I got to meet one of my breakfast babes, Mandy Roth! She’s just as funny and vivacious in person and she brought her husband Shane, who seemed to be having a really good time at the EC party! I got to meet MacKenzie McCade who’s an absolute riot and made me laugh constantly. I saw Ann Wesley Hardin again who I’ve known since the days we were targeting Harlequin and it’s like stepping into the familiar and the comfortable whenever I see her. So many authors I’ve met before and I really like spending time with – Ruby Storm, Titania Ladley, Arianna Hart, Rhyannon Byrd, Lisa Stoddard, Shelley Bradley, Sylvia Day. Dakota Cassidy brought her babe, Rob…the man of her dreams…the pea in her pod….they’re adorable together….she seemed to be missing a tiara, though *g*. (I love you Dakota 😉 ).; Leigh “Bouncing Around Like Tigger” Wyndfield (I want whatever happy juice she was having *g*). People I just really like a lot because they’re warm, friendly and have not an ounce of pretention. You can simply walk up to them and talk or sit next to them and never feel like you’re intruding. Believe me, not every author is like that. 😉

The Ellora’s Cave party was a blast. We were all introduced onstage and escorted by a cover model. yummm. Charlie, since he’s now an author, declined having a male cover model escort him onto the stage *g*. The music was loud but the dancing was fabulous.

I had dinner with my Bantam editor, Shauna Summers!! It was great to get to meet her for the first time, and not only that, we had dinner with another Bantam editor, Anne Groell, and Linnea Sinclair, Kelley Armstrong, Keri Arthur and Lois Greiman. Talk about total fangirl moment. Wheeeee!!! It was wonderful.

One of the highlights of the convention was being able to be there in person to receive my Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Paranormal Erotic Romance. The lunch food sucked, but the people who stayed for the whole awards ceremony rock and I will never forget them. It was a truly amazing experience.

The Faery Ball was Friday night and absolutely amazing. The decorations were phenomenal – they turned a ballroom into a fairy forest and it was beautiful. Those of us on the fairy court were thrilled with how everything turned out. Connie Perry and Jo Carol Jones of RT are magical fairies in their own right – I don’t think those women have slept for months. I was proud to have sponsored that event.

The bookfair was great. We sold out of OUT OF THE DARKNESS within an hour which made Charlie happy, because then he could wander the bookfair *g*. I got several books signed, we shipped two boxes of stuff home via UPS, and of course came home completely wiped out.

All in all, a great conference. And Charlie and I managed to hit the beach every day for at least an hour, so I have a great tan. No way was I going to Florida without taking advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and beautiful beach and ocean. It was lovely there.

Now it’s RWA coming up in July and I get to do all this again.

I’m tired just thinking about it *g*