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

New Series by Monica La Porta: The Immortals

One of my favorite things about being a writer is making friends with other writers... because then I get to read their new releases before everyone else! Yay!!! Seriously though, writers are readers first, so this is a definite squee for me. ♥

I've know Monica La Porta for a little over a year now. We "met" when YA author Clare Davidson invited us both to participate in a big online giveaway. Then Jason Graves, another author in the giveaway, invited us to submit stories for an anthology, OFF THE BEATEN PATH. Monica and I have followed and reviewed each others books for a while now, and I recently recruited her for my online critique group and for a plot panel at the RT Booklovers Convention in Dallas next year! (Yay!!!!)

While I'm a big fan of Monica's Ginecean Chronicles, I was really excited when I found out she was starting a new series, and even more excited when I learned that she was dipping into mythology! There are vampires in there too.... but I'm definitely Team Immortals. The Lost Centurion is the first installment of The Immortals. I can't show you the cover yet, since Monica will be revealing that on Thursday. But I can show you this billboard teaser....

Marcus has sworn to avenge his wife's death—even if it takes an eternity to hunt down the vampire who murdered her. Once a Roman Centurion, Marcus is now immortal and, for the past two thousand years, impervious to human emotions. Until the night he rescues Diana…

Diana knew nothing of the paranormal world until her transformation into a vampling, a newborn vampire entirely reliant for survival upon the distant and seemingly emotionless Centurion, who found her in the throes of changing. Her protector turned her without her consent, but at his untimely death, she becomes the cold immortal’s responsibility.

The entire vampire community is determined to kill Marcus as he protects one of their own. While Marcus and Diana travel the Italian countryside, being chased by their enemies, Marcus must choose between avenging his dead wife or saving Diana from the same vampire who ruined his life. Bewitched by the Amalfi moon, he soon discovers his heart has already decided for him.

My review: I really enjoyed how this was a novel with vampires... but not really about vampires. I'm definitely more drawn to the Roman history of the Immortals. The colorful look at Italy was fun too, and though I thought the plot would be predictable at the beginning, I was delighted when it shifted gears and went off in a direction I would have never guessed. Paranormal romance and suspense done fresh and done right.

Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. 

She is the author of The Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is considered a sin. She has published the first four books in the series, The Priest, Pax in the Land of Women, Prince at War, and Marie's Journey. 

She just released two new NA paranormal romances, Gaia, and Elios. She also wrote and illustrated a children's book about the power of imagination, The Prince's Day Out. Her published short, Linda of the Night, is a fairytale love story celebrating inner beauty. She has a new series, The Immortals, coming out soon, a paranormal saga set in Rome. Stop by her blog to read about her miniatures, sculptures, paintings, and her beloved beagle, Nero. Sometimes, she also posts about her writing.

Find Monica all across the interwebs...

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Be sure to check out Monica's blog on Thursday for the big cover reveal! 

 

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