RT Convention 2012 - A Recap of My Experience (and photos!)

I'm not one of those authors who somehow managed to blog directly from the con in Chicago -- I had to wait until I got home and had a night to recover (aka sleep for more than a couple hours at a time) to tell you about my fantastic RT experience. So here goes...

My badge. Romance writing is probably the only profession in which it's totally normal to decorate your badge with shirtless werewolves and rainbow flags. RT 2012 was five days spent surrounded by other authors, readers and various other industry people, and let me tell you, that was a refreshing alternative to my everyday life, in which I write erotic romance full-time in a rather unexciting part of the South, where most people I meet don't get what I do at all. So just spending time with so many others like me was by far the best aspect of the convention. And there was certainly no shortage of socialization.

I spent a lot of time getting up to no good and eating deep dish pizza with my partner in crime, author Angela S. Stone. 
And then, of course, there were the panels / workshops. Some were better than others, and I attended some that I really liked. By far my favorite was the 'Writing Sex Scenes Readers Won't Skip' panel. The authors conducting it were hilarious, and they had some legitimately awesome tips for writing the naughtiest book scenes, which is one of the things I enjoy most about my job. ;)
Among the people I met were new friends, and some I already knew online. I got to meet Claire and Heidi from my publisher Total E Bound -- they came all the way from England to be a part of RT!

TEB had the sexiest booth in Club RT. They also hosted a lovely publisher / author dinner (during which the wine flowed freely, and even made it into a few coffee cups LOL). The Total E Bound booth in Club RT.

Left: Heidi (PR and Communications)   Right: Claire (Founder & CEO)
A photo snapped from my corner of the table at the TEB publisher / author dinner.
At the TEB dinner (that's me on the far left).  And thanks to a certain Lacey Thorn, scandalous things happened to a piece of tiramisu during that dinner, but I probably shouldn't blog that picture! LOL


I haven't mentioned the Mr. Romances / cover models yet, have I? Well, they were there, and Angela and I were kind enough to gather a bit of photographic evidence for you.

Now, one of the reasons I wrote this blog post was to share my experience with my friends who weren't able to attend this year. So I just want to encourage anyone who's thinking about attending next year to go for it. It's a great experience and you won't regret it. We romance authors often make online connections with others in the industry, but there's nothing like getting to meet, network and just plain socialize in person. Of course, there is a teeny-tiny bit of a downside... There are now a good many people who know just how much I have to censor myself online! LOL

And if you don't have anyone to 'go' with, don't worry about that either. Some people were surprised that I came in from the East Coast on my own, but that didn't really mean anything -- the only time I spent alone was for a few brief hours, during which I crashed and passed out in my room each night (and even then, a lot of people chose to stay with room mates -- I'm just greedy and wanted to have a room to myself, LOL). You'll make friends when you get there, really. And of course, you can arrange to meet up with me at RT 2013 if you'd like... Kansas City, you have approximately a year to prepare for our arrival. ;)

And to all the friends I made, can't wait to see you again! I hate to think that it may be another year before that happens, but 'till then, please keep busy writing lots of sexy books and coming up with new ways to ensure that we keep our status as the 'trouble making' table at the bar (although I don't know how anyone will top the methods Angela employed this year). Okay? Thanks!