In some way, Saturday was more relaxed than the other days - the schedule was less busy; but it was also most exciting day because of the Book Fair and its hundreds of authors present!!! Although the schedule was less busy, there were some interesting activities going on at the same time and that was unfortunate. Around 8.45am, Kristi, Jill and I all went down to stand in line for the Street Party which was another morning mixer. I have to admit, the only reason I showed up to the Street Party was for the books ^_^; I mean, I would have stayed for the whole thing if a panel with Karen Rose, Heroes vs. Villains, hadn't been scheduled... but alas, it was. So my plan was to stay for about 30 minutes and then, make my way to the Heroes vs. Villains panel. However, the Street Party started late ^_^; and so I got my bag of books and made my way to Heroes vs. Villains. It was bad of me, but I really wanted to see Karen Rose... and well free books, it's hard to say no to that no? By the way, that's the event during which Kristie got the ARC for Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong... and as soon as I saw it, I begged for it LOL. Would have done pretty much anything for Waking the Witch, but luckily, I didn't have to... since Kristie doesn't read that series *gasp*... but that just mean total score for me!!!! LOL.
So I went to Heroes vs. Villains with Jill, Linda and Mary and we got to see Karen Rose!! Squuuuueeee!! :P It was a very fun session as it was very intimate. There were probably no more than 20 people when we started off. It wasn't really a panel or a workshop, but instead, a game session. Ms Rose had prepared all those little cards with either a hero, heroine or villain as the topic and filled the card with character info such as occupation, hobby, etc. Then, we had to make the others at our table guess which hero, heroine or villain we had either by drawing, miming or by words... think Pictionary, charade and Taboo :P It was very fun :) We also each received a chocolate rose and a mug... but the coolest prize was a bracelet with charms. Ms Rose is celebrating her 11th release, Silent Scream, and it's David Hunter book!! Yay!! Finally LOL. So she had 11 bracelets up for grab, unfortunately, I didn't win one :( Still, it was really, really cool to meet Ms Rose... and she knows my blog! LOL. It's always special when an author (or actually, anyone :P) knows your blog :)
The session finished early, because Ms Rose had to be at the bookfair. I remember going back to the room to leave some stuff and to pick up some of the books I wanted signed (Something About You by Julie James, Warprize and Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan, etc.). Then, I made my way down to the ballroom and woah... there was a lot, a lot, a lot of people!!! I have to admit that I was surprised at the number of people coming from the general public. I mean, it was pretty much a given that the convention attendees would all be there... but the general public, I had not idea what to expect. I also wasn't sure if the ballroom would be big enough, LOL... but it was, so that was a good thing :)
The Bookfair Signing was a lot of fun, despite the number of persons attending. I have to say, while waiting in line, I was getting giddy. Some people don't really get the concept of autographs... For me, getting a book signed, well it just makes it that much more special. Meeting someone you admire and having a memento of it, it's just awesome :D So I was all ready, I've made my list of authors I wanted to meet and that was my game plan :D
Here are some of the authors I've met...
From top to bottom, left to right: Laura Bickle aka Alayna Williams, Carolyn Crane, Julie James, Jennifer Estep, Delilah Marville, Samantha Kane, Lucy Monroe & husband, Susan Donovan, Sally MacKenzie & Ann Macela, Karen Rose, Elizabeth Vaughan and Dianne Castell. Of course, I met other authors as well and got other books signed... I got to meet Victoria Alexander, Ally Carter, Barry Eisler, Linda Robertson, Diana Rowland, Rachel Vincent, Joss Ware aka Colleen Gleason and Lisa Watson :)
Funniest story at the signing was while meeting Elizabeth Vaughan. I really love Ms Vaughan's Chronicles of Warlands. I mean, really love them... so I was so happy that Ms Vaughan was going to be at the signing and she was definitively one stop I was going to make :) It's too bad she didn't have her latest release, Destiny's Star :( Lucky for me though, I had brought Warprize and Warlord!! Anyway, I talked with her a little bit and then, asked if I could take a picture of her. Ms Vaughan then told me that if I didn't mind, I could crawl under the table and get on the same side as her to take a picture together! LOL. Of course I didn't mind!! And quickly made my way under the table :) I later found out that Jill was the initiator... she had reached Ms Vaughan before me and had asked if she could crawl under the table LOL.
All in all, going to the Bookfair was really an experience that I wish to repeat in the future LOL. The adrenaline you feel. Like I said, meeting these authors was wonderful, being able to talk to them... Everyone is just so nice! And the waiting time wasn't very long! I don't know, I imagined those long queues for each author, but it wasn't the case... The very popular authors were situated in strategic places in the ballroom and tickets were handed out. It was a very organized system and I thought it worked well. However, it must be very hard for authors - the waiting around, but I guess it's part of the job. Another thing that's pretty unfortunate is that the authors don't have a say of what books they're going to have at the signing or how many :( I know some who were bummed out not having their latest book available...
Afterwards, we went to Regency Bingo with Jane Austen and Sabrina Jeffries. Obviously, this was hosted by Sabrina Jeffries, but she was joined by Leanne Renee Hieber dressed as Jane Austen. They did this really fun skit where Ms Jeffries was informing Jane Austen of all the spin-offs, sequels, etc. of Pride and Prejudice. Very fun stuff and Ms Hieber was awesome - she has a background in acting and it shows! :D Then, we played bingo :) Ms Jeffries' version of bingo was very cool :D Instead of numbers, she had words and instead of calling numbers, she read an excerpt of her latest book, The Truth about Lord Stoneville. The game was fun, but the excerpt was awesome as well :D Really made me want to read it once I got home :)
After the Bingo session, I have to admit I was pretty tired - adrenaline rush of the morning being gone. Instead of doing anything, I just relaxed and napped. Then, I got ready for the Dorchester Dance Party with a prom theme. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who was tired because not many attended in comparison to the other balls and parties. The funniest thing was that there was really a prom at the hotel!! LOL. However, the kids were all leaving and it was only 9pm - guess they had other plans... The Dorchester Dance Party was okay - basically, it was pretty much an opportunity to dance and free books :) I totally scored and got Breath of Magic by Tracy Madison! :) Yay! The only unfortunate thing is that no food was served beside snack... so I was really, really hungry! Kristie and I ended up joining Lisabea and her friend, Kate Davies, at the bar for a last night of drinks :) I don't drink alcohol, but I got some food LOL.And that's pretty much the end of Day 4. We all called it an early night and went back to our room :)
Only one more day to recap!
