So here is a little recap of what happened on Day 1 of RT (i.e. yesterday - Wednesday).
As you know, the day started early for me yesterday and I was able to squeeze in some blogging. Then, I headed downstairs. See, in my registration envelope, I got my badge, but not the tickets that would allow me to redeem the registration bag and give me access to the goodies room. So I had to go see registration to ask for them and everything went without a hitch or any complication, question, etc. Then, I joined Kristie and Jill at the RT Welcome Party. It was a morning mixer with coffee and some introductions and a tribute to Kate Duffy. Seriously, I've been on blogland for the past 4 years and I gotta wonder where my head was... I mean, I've heard the name, but never really paid attention to it. It seems Ms Duffy was one heck of a woman who influenced the romance world greatly. It's really a pity that she is gone :( On the plus side, I got to meet Lisabea/LB Gregg :D It's always fun to meet other bloggers, especially when they've become authors :D
Afterwards, I went to The "Twisted Sisters" Tell All which was basically a Q & A session with Lori Foster, Gennita Low and Brenda Jackson (in that order in pic). LOL, it's funny because no workshops/panels seem to be really planned in advance - at least, the ones I've attended. Most of them, the authors simply answer the questions the audience asks. Anyway, The "Twisted Sisters" Tell All was a fun session :D I thought Gennita Low as so cute - love the way she is, very expressive, gestual and funny LOL. They talked a bit of this and that. Ms Foster is up to 80 books and Ms Jackson, 75 books published - wow. So they talked about their experience and how it is to have people around you reading your books, etc. I mean, nice session.
Then, I went to the YA: You Can Really Go Back panel with Richelle Mead, Michelle Rowen, Caitlin Kittredge, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Vincent (in that order in the picture) and Stacey Klemstein aka Stacey Kade as moderator. LOL, I know that after this panel, I'll be going out to the bookstore to get a few more YA :P I really enjoyed that panel and will try to go into more details in a later post.
I meet up again with Jill and company and we were off to have lunch at the food court with Carolyn Crane!! :D It was a very nice lunch where we talked books :P (CJ, Jill, Mary and Kristie)Afterwards, we went our separate ways once again and I attended the Spoonful of Frivolity with Sinfully Sweet Authors with Linda and Mary, the 2 sisters that had taken Jill under their wings last year at the RT convention. Hmmm, this was some experience LOL. I didn't really know what to expect and basically went because there were prizes to be won. Hmmm, let say that these authors know how to turn on the heat LOL. I'm just glad I didn't win the dildo basket!
Then, once again, met up with Jill and Kristie. It's been a lot of split and meet up again. This time, it was for Trivial Pursuit hosted by Jessica Andersen and Hannah Howell. It was fun and surprisingly, we weren't that many. We were split into 2 teams and answered questions. It ended up being a tie :) (Jessica Andersen)
The biggest bummer for me yesterday was that Jim Butcher haven't made it to the RT yet because he and his wife missed their plane. There was an Author Chat session featuring him, MaryJanice Davison and Charlaine Harris. I don't read these two authors so I decided to skip and go to a different panel instead: Five Times a Night? Getting Honest about Sex Scenes with Heather Graham, Kathy Love, Erin McCarthy, Barry Eisler and F. Paul Wilson. It's not something I would attend usually, but the goal of coming to RT is also meeting authors that I read. Plus, I wanted to see Barry Eisler whom Jill, Linda and Mary praised a lot during lunch :P The best moment had to be when the authors were talking statistics... and one of the statistic was that the average erected penis circumference was 4 inches something and F. Paul Wilson found it hard to believe... and Barry Eisler spoke up saying that the
previous week, for some reason, he actually measured the tour of his index and middle finger together and it was more than 4 inches. Of course, it just happened that someone in the audience had a measuring tape, so Ms Graham made sure that M Eisler was saying the truth... turns out that it was more than 4.5 inches!! LMAO. Anyway, lots of laughs in this panel. M Wilson brought up the fact that when he talks to romance authors, many of them say that they dislike/hate writing sex scenes. The consensus is because sex scenes are so important to the storyline as they are part and further the relatiosnships, they are hard to write. Another funny moment was when Ms McCarthy was recounting how an editor told her that blow-jobs were passé and M Eisler said, "Wow, I don't want to live in that world." LOL. It's very spontaneous at those panels/wokshops and that makes for a lot of fun. By the way, blow jobs are not passé - in case you were worried :P (Barry Eisler and Heather Graham... measuring :P)
I joined up with Jill, Linda, Marie and Kristy again fo the Intergalatic Bar and Grill event which is hosted Catherine Asaro, Jess Granger, Cindy Holby, Stacey Klemstein, Isabo Kelly, Janet Miller, Karin Shah, Linnea Sinclair and Jade Lee. It lasts about an hour and there's a "trivia" game going on. The concept is very interesting, but I think there was a bit too many people. (Jade Lee in the pic - we're fighting over a balloon dog)
The two last events of the evening were the Ellora's Cave Party and the Midnight Mad Hatters Historical Tea Party, respectively from 8.30 to midnight and midnight to 1am!! Yeah, talk about a jam-packed day LOL. I got all ready for the Ellora's Cave Party (the theme was red) and then, decided not to go. There were a couple of reasons - I don't read Ellora and I don't dance... but most important was that I wanted to go to the Midnight Mad Hatters Historical Tea Party more and decided it'd be a good idea to conserve some energy. Seriously, midnight to 1am. So what did I decide to do instead? LOL, if you've been on Kristie's blog, you know - bookshopping :) See, I had a 33% coupon on any item for Borders, but it was only valid Tuesday and Wednesday... and it was Wednesday.... so I had to go to Borders and use it, right? Kristie offered to drive me to the bookstore (yay!!), so she could take another look in her car for little Jack. I went on google map, had all the directions written out and off we went :) Well I'm really, really, really happy I did :) I got Changes by Jim Butcher and Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong - both hardcovers, The Wishlist by Gabi Stevens, Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson and A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison. I totally scored because initially, I thought the 33% coupon would go towards Changes... but turns out, Changes was already 30% discounted, so the coupon went on Tales of the Otherworld. Yay!! So the total came up to 60-something$ and I paid with a bill of 100$. I get my change and the cashier is giving me a bill of 50$ and I was like: Hmmm, can I get change please. Then, as I walk out of the bookstore, I'm thinking: "Wait a minute. She said 60-something, so why did I get a bill of 50$?!?" Looked at the receipt and indeed, the cashier gave me the purchase amount instead of the change... I was all super happy, I mean, come on, "Score!!" LOL. Told Kristie... and she made me turn around and be honest ^_^; She said I'd feel better... and perhaps I do, but awwwww.
Anyway, buying books really cheered me up :P Then, as Kristie drove back to the hotel, we were looking for a place to eat. I've really been spoiled living in Montreal, because we have fabulous food courts. If there's one thing I have to complain about RT it's the food, but that's for another post. In the end, we found a pub to eat - the food was okay.
We finally made it to the hotel and ran into Jane from Dear Author and Sarah from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Went up to the room, left all my new purchases and then, it was time to go to the Midnight Mad Hatters Historical Tea Party. I thought I'd have time to rest by going to the bookstore, but not really. The event was nice and seriously, there were some gorgeous hats and the authors were beautifully dressed :)
(Victoria Alexander, Heather Graham, Sally Mackenzie and Carrie Lofty)
