Lori Foster’s RAGT 2012
Whew. Back from my very first Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together. Thank you so much to Lori Foster and staff for organizing such an enjoyable event!
The weekend began with an ambitious road trip. Dana Marie Bell, Stephanie Flash Burke and Joyfully Reviewed piled into a rental van thanks to the L33t packing skills of Dana’s hubby.
Upon arrival, we found the hotel lovely and people already mingling a bit in the lobby. Being short of sleep and having had a day job commitment in the morning, I have to admit I didn’t make it down to socialize until lunch time. However, actual registration went fairly quickly and I nabbed my swag bag plus t shirt. After that, it was a bit more relaxed chatting and hanging out with various people both of old and new acquaintance.
Later in the afternoon, I sat with the ladies for the Friday afternoon book signing. It was so great to meet new readers, say Hi to familiar faces and generally have a good time. All of the copies of HEART’S SENTINEL I’d brought were sold and several copies of GIMME SHELTER, the anthology. Thank you to the readers who decided to give me a try!
Later in the evening, I pitched in to help with the Carina Press Pictionary event. That was incredible fun! Many of the authors of Carina Press were there to help with the game and giveaway prizes. Laughter, shouts and general hilarity ensued. We closed out the night in the lobby again, having been a mission to polish off a couple of bottles of wine. Keri Stevens and Dana joined me to meet the challenge.
Saturday began bright and early. I was told to hit the breakfast in my jammies, and that I did. Bagels, Krispy Creme Doughnuts and juice turned out to be a carb loaded, sugar rush of a start to my day. Congrats to Mimmi on winning the basket I donated for the charity raffle. I hope you enjoy the Almond Champagne. It’s one of my favorites! 
Meal times stick out the most in my mind for Saturday. And while those who know me wouldn’t be surprised considering my love for food, it was really the awesome company. The Carina Press authors made lunch very pleasant with conversation covering everything from writerly views and deep thoughts to zany stories about stalkers and mayonnaise. Also, gotta say, it was a life-changing event going to dinner with Monica Burns and many other authors. My abs still ache from all the laughter and my voice is going to take days to recover. Besides, I not only got to witness but also captured on video, an impromptu reading by Monica from her book, KISMET. How cool is that? Big shout out to waiter Larry and bartender Wally for being so much fun.
Late night at the bar saw me checking in with so many cool people. Really, this event was fantastic for hanging out and chatting, making new friends and meeting new readers. I loved it! Not to mention playing Dirty Mad Libs with Linnea Sinclair and several others. Oh the insanity. LOL
After all of that, Sunday was a tired but cheerful cluster of good-byes and packing the van. The majority of the day was beautiful and I napped through quite a bit of it. 
To leave you all with a peek into just how fun the weekend was, here’s the video of Monica’s impromptu reading. Enjoy!
