Guest Blogger: Jade Lee
Who are the COOLEST PEOPLE? By Jade Lee Answer: YOU!!!!!
Have you ever met someone who was just so cool that you wanted to sit and talk with them for hours? I did. I have. Just about everyone at the RT convention! I know, I know, everyone says this, but let me explain how amazing everyone there was by giving a few examples. (Oh, btw, I’m Jade Lee (author) and I’m an RT Convention JUNKIE!)
Morgan is a romance reader. Her husband is the delightful Jemal who carried his wife’s bags of books and went to every party without complaint. It was their first RT convention. When Morgan met Thea Divine, her knees went out and she couldn’t speak because she was shaking so badly. She loves Thea’s writing, and so they sat together on a couch and talked for a while. Morgan had similar reactions with other authors including Bertrice Small and Cheryl Holt, but by the end of the convention, she had found her confidence, embraced the insanity of RT, and dragged me over to force Adrian Paul to say hello to me. (He was WONDERFUL, btw).
Kris is a bookseller from Australia. She had pictures with her of the books that were destroyed when her store was flooded. The images made me cry. Imagine the largest dumpster you can and see it overflowing with water-logged books. Whenever I ran into her, we laughed about the free books she’d gotten (I never saw her with less than an overflowing bag) and she teased me about how I was stalking her. We talked about what was selling in her store, how things are different in Australia than in the US, and how she didn’t know how she was going to get all her free stuff back to her native country.
I met Helen in airport security of all places. She’s a librarian at West End Branch Library in Boston. She made me laugh about budgets (or lack thereof!) and talked about opportunities for authors to speak at her library. She attended the bookseller/librarian functions and had to ship a box home!
Then there was Cheryl Holt who made the New York Times list during the convention. We screamed and jumped up and down. (And btw, we’d just met). She invited me to a party in Kathryn’s suite to celebrate. And yes, Kris and Morgan were there too!
Then there were the industry professionals—the editors, agents, publicists, and VPs. Suffice it to say that any one of them could have absorbed my attention for hours just because they each had their own understanding of our amazing industry. The workshops they gave were eye opening, to say the least. Even the cover models had their own opinions, and it was fun to look at them while they talked!
My job in this blog is to give the convention wrap up, but that’s like asking someone to summarize the World Fair in a couple paragraphs. The bookfair was overwhelming with hundreds of authors and fans wandering around (sometimes in the dark because the lights went out!) giggling and laughing (and yes, gushing!) over something they loved. The Cover Model contest was hysterically fun, Adrian Paul is…well, he’s just amazingly friendly and kind. I hope we raised a ton for his charity. And then, of course, was the Boots Dance (short for These Boots were made for Stomping or Strutting ball hosted by Dorchester Books). Prizes and giveaways were more than just books (about a 1000 were available for free). They also gave away a dozen pairs of boots, plus prizes like an espresso machine and a $100 gift certificate!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Truly, this convention has a lot of glitz and glamour, big laughs, and great eye candy, but it’s really about meeting those people sitting right next to you. It’s about sharing a love of reading with someone who understands. And guess what? I get to do it all over again next year in Orlando! Woo hoo! Please say you’ll meet me there next year! We’ll get a latte and talk books!
Jade Lee
www.jadeleeauthor.com
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
RITA FINALIST for TEMPTED TIGRESS
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING, April 08
DRAGONBORN, March 2008
THE TAO OF SEX, Blaze Jan 2008
Have you ever met someone who was just so cool that you wanted to sit and talk with them for hours? I did. I have. Just about everyone at the RT convention! I know, I know, everyone says this, but let me explain how amazing everyone there was by giving a few examples. (Oh, btw, I’m Jade Lee (author) and I’m an RT Convention JUNKIE!)
Morgan is a romance reader. Her husband is the delightful Jemal who carried his wife’s bags of books and went to every party without complaint. It was their first RT convention. When Morgan met Thea Divine, her knees went out and she couldn’t speak because she was shaking so badly. She loves Thea’s writing, and so they sat together on a couch and talked for a while. Morgan had similar reactions with other authors including Bertrice Small and Cheryl Holt, but by the end of the convention, she had found her confidence, embraced the insanity of RT, and dragged me over to force Adrian Paul to say hello to me. (He was WONDERFUL, btw).
Kris is a bookseller from Australia. She had pictures with her of the books that were destroyed when her store was flooded. The images made me cry. Imagine the largest dumpster you can and see it overflowing with water-logged books. Whenever I ran into her, we laughed about the free books she’d gotten (I never saw her with less than an overflowing bag) and she teased me about how I was stalking her. We talked about what was selling in her store, how things are different in Australia than in the US, and how she didn’t know how she was going to get all her free stuff back to her native country.
I met Helen in airport security of all places. She’s a librarian at West End Branch Library in Boston. She made me laugh about budgets (or lack thereof!) and talked about opportunities for authors to speak at her library. She attended the bookseller/librarian functions and had to ship a box home!
Then there was Cheryl Holt who made the New York Times list during the convention. We screamed and jumped up and down. (And btw, we’d just met). She invited me to a party in Kathryn’s suite to celebrate. And yes, Kris and Morgan were there too!
Then there were the industry professionals—the editors, agents, publicists, and VPs. Suffice it to say that any one of them could have absorbed my attention for hours just because they each had their own understanding of our amazing industry. The workshops they gave were eye opening, to say the least. Even the cover models had their own opinions, and it was fun to look at them while they talked!
My job in this blog is to give the convention wrap up, but that’s like asking someone to summarize the World Fair in a couple paragraphs. The bookfair was overwhelming with hundreds of authors and fans wandering around (sometimes in the dark because the lights went out!) giggling and laughing (and yes, gushing!) over something they loved. The Cover Model contest was hysterically fun, Adrian Paul is…well, he’s just amazingly friendly and kind. I hope we raised a ton for his charity. And then, of course, was the Boots Dance (short for These Boots were made for Stomping or Strutting ball hosted by Dorchester Books). Prizes and giveaways were more than just books (about a 1000 were available for free). They also gave away a dozen pairs of boots, plus prizes like an espresso machine and a $100 gift certificate!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Truly, this convention has a lot of glitz and glamour, big laughs, and great eye candy, but it’s really about meeting those people sitting right next to you. It’s about sharing a love of reading with someone who understands. And guess what? I get to do it all over again next year in Orlando! Woo hoo! Please say you’ll meet me there next year! We’ll get a latte and talk books!
Jade Lee
www.jadeleeauthor.com
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
RITA FINALIST for TEMPTED TIGRESS
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING, April 08
DRAGONBORN, March 2008
THE TAO OF SEX, Blaze Jan 2008
posted at 10:10 PM
4 Comments:
Talk about a COOL person! Jade you were a hoot, not only were you gracious and funny, you ALWAYS had a smile or a moment to chat with us aspiring authors! Your RT advantage forum was wonderful and your Saturday night party WE all were in agreement was the best!!! not only was it the ONLY night event to start on time!! it was a blast from start to finish. I will never forget the bathroom /editor story!hehehe THANK YOU! Jane L
What a great wrap up!
I love the character snippets of the different attendees.
Boy, oh, boy, I hope I can go next year!
Thank you Lady Jane! The truth is that this convention has just grown and grown into my event of the year. I love going to RT. And thank God there is enough caffiene in the world to keep me going throughout the convention. Woo hoo!
And next year will be even better!!!!!
Great blog, Jade! I wanted to go so bad this year, but there just isn't enough time - next year, however, I will be there with my fairy wings on!
Traci
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