#MondayBlogs Recap of @PlanetComicon in #KansasCity

I can't even begin to tell you what a total nerdgasm this past weekend has been! Well okay, I guess I can, considering that's the whole point of this post. I've been to MileHiCon in Denver, and RT in New Orleans and Dallas. So I really don't know how it's taken me this long to attend Planet Comicon in Kansas City, just 3 hours from my home. It was amazing! We're looking forward to coming back next year, and hopefully every year after. : )

Paul and I arrived late Thursday, just in time to set up on the show floor. We were immediately distracted from our task by this little guy...

R2!!!! ♥.♥ 

 

Friday at noon, the doors were opened and the convention officially began! I was at my booth for the most part, which was really hard since there was so much to see, but at least the view was entertaining.

 

 A few of the sights from my little nook of the con.

 There were quite a few Deadpools, but this guy really nailed the personality too!

Is that not the most adorable Hermione ever???

More Star Wars! And a Harley Quinn. She was even more popular than Deadpool. ♥

So many of my favorites! SQUEEE!!!

 

Paul's biggest squee moment. lol

 

There are more photos on my Instagram account--that's right, I finally joined Instagram! Find me HERE for more Planet Comicon pics.

Friday night held an extra serving of awesome when our friends Alice and Ian met up with us to check out Kevin Smith's Q&A that lasted until MIDNIGHT. It was incredible and inspiring, and I was completely blown away. As expected. ♥ 

 

Saturday evening was the Writing With Momentum panel, with me, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, and Ellie Ann. It was a lot of fun! The time flew by too fast, and we didn't get to answer everyone's questions. So if you attended the panel (or even if you missed it) feel free to send your Qs to me at angela@angelaroquet.com  I'm sure Dayton, Kevin, and Ellie would love to hear from you too, if you have questions for them. : )

I saw a few familiar faces on Saturday and Sunday, and then we had a long drive back to the lake. Today we're relaxing and snuggling our kiddo. Tomorrow is set to be a big day. I'm launching a new online store that will have signed books and, eventually, fun swag items like the beer glasses I occasionally order for giveaways and contests. Woot!

 

Hope you had a magical weekend wherever you spent it. : )

 

xoxo

2015 Romantic Times Booklovers Convention Recap #RT15 #Dallas

 I meant to post this on Monday. Really. But then I took a nap. And woke up the next morning, feeling like I needed another nap. Or maybe a coma. Convention decompression will do that. Chasing 5-Hour Energy with Emergen-C for a week solid finally caught up with me. Anyway...

The 2015 Romantic Times Booklovers Convention was held in Dallas this year, which meant it was only a 9-hour drive for me and the man beast. I say only 9 hours, because it sure beats the 14-hour drive we made to New Orleans for RT last year. We've made the Dallas trip before to do a reading with the Circus Freaks at Open Stage and for a book signing at A Real Bookstore in Fairway, which is now closed. T_T  DFW is a fun place. I know lots of awesome people in the area and nearby. I also have some friends in Austin and Houston, so I'm hoping to be back in Texas soon for more signings.

Back to RT. Paul and I arrived a day early to get settled in and to sneak in a movie at the local AMC. Finally got to see Avengers 2!!! It was a great start to our week of awesome.

I met two of my critique partners (Kory M. Shrum and Kathrine Pendleton) in person for the very first time, which was beyond cool. The Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse are really spread about: Missouri, Washington, Michigan, Tennessee. We were really bummed that our fourth horsemen, Monica La Porta, couldn't make it, but my husband is a good sport and he played along so we could at least pretend Monica was with us....

 

The strange looks were totally worth it. 

This year, I was a little more prepared to meet my squee authors than last time. Just a little. I still had fangirl moments, but I was more adamant about capturing them--the moments, not the authors. I snagged these photos before my brain shut down entirely.

This one was taken at Scrapbook Mania, Tuesday night. That's Darynda Jones standing next to me! @_@  The other epic authors pictured include: Rachel Caine, Jennifer L. Armentrout (aka J. Lynn), Celeste Easton, Jeffe Kennedy, Ciara Knight, & Kim Meyer.

With Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson series. I mark my calendar for her releases. She and her husband were super nice and funny.

With Gretchen McNeil, author of one of my favorites, 3:59. I met Gretchen last year too, but I was so in awe of her that I didn't even think to get a photo. If you like horror and sci-fi, monsters and alternate dimensions, weird science and a bit of romance, you really should read 3:59. It's one that I'll read again and again.

With Vicki Pettersson. OMG. OMG. OMG.

This one took me by surprise, and I'm amazed that I managed to form enough words to request a photo. Vicki wasn't actually signing at the big book fair this year. She and her daughter were just checking it out. I read her blog, because it's amazing, but I wasn't online much during the week of RT, so I missed her post about strolling through the book fair with ARC copies of her new book, Swerve, coming out in July! I spent the rest of the book fair completely stunned. Definitely my biggest fangirl moment from RT. ♥

My honey didn't attend as an author this year. His badge said companion which instantly made me think of Inara from Firefly. And he didn't get a fancy ribbon label like my "Published Author" ribbon. So I made him one. It says "Love Monkey". He wore it proudly. ♥  He also met a bearded cover model who inspired him not to shave off his winter fuzz like he'd planned to do by the end of the week...

All in all, it was the best week ever. We saw a lot of familiar faces that we haven't seen since last RT in NOLA. And we made a few new friends. I got to meet some awesome readers (new and old), giveaway books and swag, hang with my horsemen, squee at my favorite authors, learn more about the business of writing from the epic panels. I have more pictures, and they might make it on Facebook eventually. But for now, I need another nap. xoxo

RT14 NOLA Round Up

We got back from New Orleans on Sunday, and we're still recovering...

The RT Booklovers Convention was a blast! Hands down, best week ever! I hardly know where to begin, so I'll just take it from the top...

Monday (May 11th), was a blur. I packed and unpacked half a dozen times before I finally decided that yes, I did need all eight pairs of shoes I'd picked out. Good thing we weren't flying. After my parents picked up our minion, Paul and I cranked up the music and popped open a bottle of wine as we finished organizing everything and going over our OCD checklists for the nth time. I swear, I need to find a little kitchen sink key-chain thingamabob, just so I can say I didn't forget it. 

After we played Jenga with our luggage Tuesday morning, we were off! I'll spare you all the exhilarating details of our 14 hour car ride. When we got to the hotel around 9pm, the plan was to go to bed early so we'd be nice and refreshed in the morning. Hahahaha That didn't happen. I think we saw 2:30am. There were just too many people to meet! Seriously. We made a lot of new friends last week. From all over the world. Also, we had our books shipped to the hotel for the book fair, and they were waiting for us. 

Backwoods Armageddon!

Paul's first book (my fifth), and this is the first time he got to hold a physical copy in his hands. I had to capture the moment. ♥

More squee-worthy photos...

 Charlaine Harris!!!! Ahhhh!!! I adore her. She was so very sweet and funny. 

I'm glad I got a picture with her, because I didn't have time to track her down later and get books signed. The lines were super cray this year.

With E. L. James at 3:30am. Yeah, not even my camera was sober at that hour. Shay, a lovely blogger with very soft hands (I'm a hand holder when I'm tanked, FYI) spotted James in the lounge and let me tag along to meet her. She was so nice! It must be something about RT. I didn't meet one unpleasant person all week.

Darynda Jones (2nd from the right--next to Chloe Neil!) was also another author I was really excited to meet in person. Her Charley Davidson series is fantastic! It's about reapers. How could it not be awesome? ; )

Kim Harrison!!! (on the left) I adore her too. Also, crazy lines at her tables. I did wait in one to get some books signed, but I skipped getting a picture taken with her, because I didn't want to get mauled by fans. I nabbed this picture at the humor panel she was on, moderated by Trent Hart (on the right). Really great info! Glad I took notes. Trent did a lot for RT this year, and we ran into each other in the elevator at one point. We had emailed a few times, but I didn't recognize him right off. He said my name, and I'm sure the look I gave him was of pure panic. I'm usually pretty good with names and faces. Convention tip: Look at the name badge! That's Tiffany Reisz under the center arrow. She writes steamy erotica, and I got to hang out with her in the lounge later that night, after visiting with Lucienne Diver, agent/author extraordinaire. If you're a fan of my Lana series and love mythology, you have to check out Lucienne's Latter-Day Olympians series! So much fun! 

Rachel busted out a deck of Cards Against Humanity, which is my new favorite game. It's so wrong and yet so right! This was my first time playing, and I won! We decided the grand prize would be the mystery box of cheesecake we found in our booth. lol

Next to Lucienne is Tristan Smith, a cover model who works with Jenn LeBlanc, to his left. In addition to being a great model, Tristan is an all around nice guy. He's raising money for a friend of his who was badly injured in an automobile accident. Find out how you can help HERE. 

I met Jenn LeBlanc last year at RT13 in Kansas City. She creates amazing covers, and she writes too! She moderated a fun cover design panel this year with Tristan.

 Speaking of cover models....

I went to the "Jade Lee Lampoons the Writing Life", where this guy (I believe they were calling him Scotty McHottie) posed as a were-dolphin for a mock cover shoot. I ♥ Jade Lee. She's so much fun! Pretty sure my husband still blames her for getting me hooked on Plants vs. Zombies though. lol

Alcoholic keepsakes. Remember: Write drunk. Edit sober. 

The book fair was cray. Over 700 authors. It was Paul's first official signing, so that was exciting too!

I sat next to a very charming man in a bow-tie, Joshua Roots. His work has been compared to Jim Butcher's. I just downloaded the first in his series today! 

Here are some balloon animals. The clown said I was special, so I got two! Not creepy at all...

Partay!!!

 Mardis Gras World!

The marketing panel I moderated was a huge success! Lisa Kessler talked about Facebook parties. Sierra Dean talked about the right ways to use Twitter. Paul Ross covered one-on-one sales, and I discussed putting together a charity/launch party on a budget. If you missed the panel and didn't get one of the goody bags with a handout, you can download it here:

I'm already putting together a panel proposal for next year. The ladies in charge get the ball rolling early. It's a huge event, so they really have to. 

There were so many more wonderful people! I know I'm missing some names I should be giving a shout-out to.... J. Hali Steel, Alexis Flemming, Bobbie Cole, Jenna Jacob... Mia Marshall, Gretchen Stull, Lisa Medley. Really, it was a blast getting to visit with you all!

I'll catch you lovelies in Dallas next year! In the meantime... Keep Calm and Read On! 

xoxo