It was kind of weird to be at the convention, because the first two days seemed to go by so slowly. Perhaps slowly is not the right word, but because so much has happened already, I was always surprised when I took a moment to think and realized it was only Thursday. So perhaps more like too much to do. Then, when Friday arrived, time really started going fast...
Friday was another early day. This time, we started off with the Kensington Morning Mixer where we were served these huge muffins, LOL. Many of their authors were present and they all came up on stage to introduce themselves and their upcoming books. Probably the best introduction was Mingmei Yip :) She was extremely funny and I hope her books do well :)
Then, the worshops and panels started. The first one I attended for the day was Top 10 Dead-Sexiest Hero Types by S.J. Day, Lucy Monroe, Erin McCarthy, Dianne Castell and LuAnn McLane (in that order in the pic). Ms Day arrived late, so we just chatted and played a little game where we were supposed to guess the authors' heroes (it isn't as easy to come up with clues as you think LOL). Also, each author introduced themselves and their books... Ms Castell new book, Hot Southern Nights, sounds extremely interesting by the way and I'll definitively be picking it up later this month :P Once Ms Day arrived, we started the panel. Each author chose 2 types of heroes they like writing about and talked about them and asked the audience if they had examples, etc. Ms Castell started off with the loner and family heroes, Ms Day - the reluctant and anti-hero types, Ms McCarthy - the wounded and vampire heroes, Ms McLane - small town and sport heroes and finally, Ms Monroe - the paramilitary and werewolf heroes. It was a fun and casual panel. One reason was that Ms Monroe's husband was present and so she'd stop herself to reassure her husband, kind of. You know, like: "Oh, this person is cute - but not as cute as you, honey" moments :P They definitively have a great chemistry and relationship and it was very heart-warming to see :D By the way, something interesting I learned was that the Fast-Track series by Erin McCarthy is going to have 6 books!
Afterward, I rushed to the Urban Fantasy goes to Hollywood panel with Richelle Mead, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Holly Black and Melissa Marr and moderated by our own and unique CarolynJean!! :D With such a line-up, I had to hurry to get a good place. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good view enough to take a picture of the table and panelists. The panel went very well and was very interesting - CJ did a great job as the moderator. Okay, so we all know that Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series has been adapted on TV by HBO - True Blood. For those who are interested, IIRC, there will be a season 4 for sure :P Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series has been adapted on TV as well and the show ran for 2 seasons on Sci-Fi. Holly Black is co-author of The Spiderwick Chronicles which has been adapted into a
movie. Meanwhile, Fox has just bought the rights to Richelle Mead's Georginna Kincaid series and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr has been optioned, but I don't remember which company. All in all, I really enjoyed the panel and just listening to what the authors have to say... especially when it comes to adaptations. I'm going to summarize this panel in another post, so I can share what I heard with you all :) But this was definitively a turning point in the convention, because 1) my first sighting of Elizabeth Vaughan!!, 2) got to see Jim Butcher and Changes signed (yay!), 3) encouraged Carolyn by being there and 4) picture with Richelle Mead :P
Then it was kind of lunch time, but didn't really have time to go get lunch. Luckily, it was the Carina Press Launch Party and they had a mashed potatoes martini bar. I've never seen this, but I thought it was a good idea :P Basically, they put out three different kind of mashed potatoes (white cheddar, garlic and wasabi) and the dressings (sour cream, chives, onions, cheese, etc) and so you filled your martini glass as you wanted :) Like I said, I thought it was a clever idea and at the same time, there was enough for second and third servings and it was filling LOL. By the way, don't you think it looks yummy? Almost, almost like a sundae LOL.
The next panel was a Young Adult Authors Chat with Holly Black, Ally Carter, Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr :) I was surprised at the turn out, because I was expecting the room to be full, but it wasn't. I'm not complaining - it's better for the people who attend :P There was no moderator in this session, so the authors answered the audience's questions. Again, very relax and casual :) I liked that atmosphere. Personally, whatever the authors have to say, whether it's related to their books, characters, writing process, etc. I'm interested in hearing. This panel was aimed at readers, but I thought it was pretty much the same in the workshops for writers... I don't know how constructive and helpful they were for writers, but as a reader, I enjoyed them :D Anyway, this was another panel I enjoyed and I discovered a new author that I'm definitively going to try out - Ally Carter. I was happy also because I was able to get Tales of the Otherworld signed by Kelley Armstrong and I got a free copy of Melissa Marr newest, Radiant Shadows.
It was followed by the Vamps & Scamps Reader Party. Of the Vamps & Scamps, Jules Bennett, Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Donna MacMeans, LuAnn McLane, Patricia Sargeant and Shiloh Walker were the ones present at the party. I'm going to go on a tangent here, but do you know what amazed me the most during this convention? The authors generosity!! Most of these parties and games are organized by the authors with their own money. The food, the prizes and the books provided for the readers all come from the authors for most part, not the publishers. So I really need to thank them for this wonderful convention! Okay, back to the Vamps & Scamps Reader Party :) Most of the hour was spent with authors reading some funny questions and multiple choices they came up with and readers answering them. Those who answered got a prize... and there was also a raffle with many prizes. I won Broken by Shiloh Walker - wooohooo!! I was quite happy because when we were at Borders on Day 1, Kristie had mentioned it... plus, it's been getting good reviews :) Curiously enough, Jill and Kristie both won something also, so it was fun that all three roommates got something :)
I'd like to say that the rest of the day was more relaxed, but it wasn't really. There was the E-Book, Indie Pub, Multimedia & Graphic Fiction Expo which was basically a signing with all the authors involved in the above media. I wanted to go for L.B. Gregg (our own Lisabea!) and Jim Butcher again. Of course, seeing Kelley Armstrong once again was a bonus LOL. Plus, I kept Delilah Marville company :) I really love that gal, she's awesome! So I went around and found Lisabea and got Gobsmacked, this cool little poster (that Delilah is holding)... and three copies of Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher - it's the graphic novel prequel to the Dresden Files. And yes, three copies: one for me and one for each of my co-worker. It's a good thing I got my stuff signed by Kelley Armstrong and Jim Butcher that day, because at the bookfair signing, their lines were long!! It was fun and gave me a preview of what to expect the next day :P
Then, there was the Avon's Dusk To Dark Mixer. Wow, the line to this was looooong!!! I think it was the longest line I've seen during the whole convention and it's probably because of all the free books. Basically, this was a signing session with Kelley Armstrong, Jocelynn Drake, Jeaniene Forst, Melissa Marr, Pamela Palmer, Vicki Pettersson, Jaime Rush, Kerrelyn Sparks and Joss Ware and the books were free from the publisher. There were also some snacks (crackers, cheese, fruits, liquid chocolate and caramel) and I was so happy because I was getting hungry. It was a bit chaotic as you have people waiting in line to get all the books, people going to the authors they want and get their books and people who just go from table to table and grab the book ^_^; I was part of the 2nd group, because there were some authors I already had the books and others that I just don't read. The author I was looking forward to was Joss Ware aka Colleen Gleason. I wanted her book because once again, I've heard a lot of great things from Kristie :D At the end of the session, I was able to chat with her and Kristie a little bit. Now, mind you, I didn't remember that Joss Ware and Collen Gleason were the same person - she's changed her hair color and style, so it didn't click either. We're talking and she sees my name tag and she's like: Oh, I know you! Then, she sees my family name and asks me where I come from... and she asks if I have a sister or not, because she remembers sending something to someone to Canada with my last name. And I'm like: Nope, not me... until I realized, that actually, it IS me!! ^_^; It was just funny... and amazing that she remembered :PFinally, the last event of the night was Heather Graham & Helen A. Rosburg's Dinner & Dance Ball. People were invited to dress as vampires and again, there were some amazing costumes. There was also a "play" by the participating authors and Heather Graham's family :D I really enjoyed the songs that were sang! :) There was also food at the ball! Yay! Once again, the dessert was served before the main meal - really weird, but hey, at least, this time, nobody panicked LOL. I had a good time, but once again, I didn't stay long. Seriously, I don't know how people did, staying up so late and starting so early the next day... but I just couldn't. Needed my sleep. Even now, I'm not completely recovered ^_^;
So that was it for Day 3 :D
