ARRC 2011 roundup

Heading to ARRC 2011 Guest Blogging

ARRC 2011 roundup

Wow, what a blast this past weekend was. The organizing committee did a brilliant job and great fun was had by all. I must admit I was just a little nervous as this was my first 'reader' event as an author and I was scheduled to speak on two panels the first day but after the reception party on Friday night I was feeling a little more relaxed. Well until Lexxie Couper started carrying on about how nervous she was on Saturday morning. Good thing she was moderating the Paranormal panel I was on. *grin* But my fellow panelists Nalini Singh, Keri Arthur and Maggie Nash made things easy. I think we spent most of the time laughing. There was talk of zombies dropping bits and stuffing them in handbags for later and duck shifters and duck tongues, none of which I find remotely romantic or sexy but hey, whatever floats your boat, right? *grin* After that it was lunch time and surprisingly I was able to eat something. It's my biggest worry with conferences, being gluten intolerant can and does cause all sorts of problems but I'm pleased to say that wasn't an issue last weekend.

With full stomach I headed off to the Erotica panel. Our moderator, Denise Rossetti, managed to ride herd over Lexxie Couper, Jess Dee, Maggie Nash, Cathleen Ross and myself. The talk soon got heated but everyone seemed to have a great time and by the end of it Jess wasn't so red in the face. *grin* Luckily we had a little time to cool down after our panel session before we had to face everyone at the book signing. I must say sitting next to the very popular Anna Campbell was eye opening and I quietly (okay, not so quietly) took note of how a professional does it. And we both tried not to drool with envy at Cindy Gerard or Nalini Singh and their incredibly long line of eager readers. *sigh* Maybe one day.

Saturday night was the awards dinner and while neither of my nominations resulted in a win I had a great evening and managed not to stab Jess Dee in the eye with her award. Lucky bugger. Anyway, our table had a great night and it was lovely to share the dinner with some new friends. I can't wait for next time. Sunday was a free day for me so I kicked back, jumped into a couple of sessions and generally talked my way through the day. But the end of it I was completely exhausted but sad it was over.

On a side note, Mr.C. had a great time playing assistant to us authors. He brought down promo from our room and finally reminded me about the camera I'd brought along to take pix with. Sadly all I have are some of the awards dinner. I must remember to take more next week at RT. So while I try to catch up and regain my energy ready for leaving on Monday I'll leave you with some pix to look at.