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
