Back from LA!

I'm back, after nearly a week in LA for the 2011 Romantic Times Booklover's Convention! I had such a great week! I spoke on panels, signed books, participated in the Teen Day speed dating and speed reading, then ended this year's convention at the Teen Day party, where a couple hundred readers were given bags full of books, as well as the opportunity to wander around the room and get most of those books signed on the spot. Teen Day was a huge success, and I hope it happens again next year. ;)

But as much fun as all that official stuff is, I always look forward to conference/convention season for the opportunity to get caught up with a bunch of friends I rarely see in person. And inevitably, I meet someone new! This year, I got to hang out with a bunch of people I met on last year's Smart Chicks tour, as well as many, many fellow authors I already knew. I also got to put some faces to several Facebook/Twitter friends for whom I only knew screen names before.

There were lots of high heels, lots of coffee, several group dinners, and lots of familiar faces. I got to hear excerpts read aloud from Holly Black, Carrie Ryan, Anne Aguirre, Rosemary Clement Moore, Jennifer Lynne Barnes, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah Rees Brennan, all of which were awesome. That was one of the highlights for me--hearing the authors read their own work. (I also read from IF I DIE.)

I took home lots of books, including some signed by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, which I'll be giving away here soon. I also wound up with several ARCs of the ENTHRALLED anthology, but I was too distracted to actually get it signed by the 11 authors who were actually at RT this year, though I signed half a dozen of them myself.

I also forgot to take pictures. I think I took, maybe...two the entire time. And those were on my phone.

Anyway, I'll be posting this week's contest here tomorrow, but in closing my RT recap, I have to say that I am constantly and repeatedly awed by what an amazingly open and inclusive writing community I am blessed to have found. Particularly the YA community, which was heartily represented at this year's RT. (There was an unfortunate shortage of adult urban fantasy authors this year, for the most part, though I did see several I know or recognize, and many who write both YA and adult.) Every time I turned around, there was another smiling face or a friendly voice calling my name. Thank you so much, to everyone who kept me company!

In other news, I'm told after the fact that there were, in fact, IF I DIE bookmarks in the Teen Day giveaway bags, but that the cover they show is not the final version. That's the cover that is on the ARCs (I'll be signing them at BEA next month in NYC) and I'm hoping not to find it online before the official reveal, which should be coming up in the next few weeks. ;)