Wow, What a Convention!
Finally home, with reliable Internet, and lots and lots of things to report.
Saturday was quite a day! For me, it started with the Book Fair. I had not intended to buy anything there, with the possible exception of one or two books I already had on my wish list. As with many of my good intentions, that went out the window. I ran around the ballroom for hours, picking up books and talking with authors. My roommate also won a gift basket, so we were hauling a lot of nifty things around for a few hours - I know I lost a few pounds just from the running around!
So what did I get?
THE BECOMING, BLOOD DRIVE and THE WATCHER by Jeanne Stein
WITCH FIRE and WITCH BLOOD by Anya Bast
THE DEVIL INSIDE by Jenna Black
THE HAUNTED AIR by F. Paul Wilson
ZANDIA by Tilly Greene
HELLS BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL by Jackie Kessler
ETERNAL LOVER, an anthoogy with stories from Hannah Howell, Lynsay Sands, Jackie Kessler and Richelle Mead
and SLIGHTLY MARRIED by Wendy Markham
After the book fair, I bought some beautiful jewelry from Jane Elissa Atelier from Creative Art Designs. She's a sweet lady and had lots of interesting items. In fact, I ended up buying from her twice!
Later, was the Mr. Romance competition. By now, I am sure most of you know that Chris Winters is the 2008 winner. I admit, seeing him onstage as he interacted with the female models, even from the back row I got shivers. All of the men were wonderful (I will write more on them later) and congrats to Chris!
Immediately following that was the Cover Model Reunion dinner. Besides Fabio and Adrian Paul (both of whom looked wonderful and spoke very articulately about their lives and their charities), we also had several models from past RT competitions. David Alan Johnson, John DeSalvo, Mark Johnson (who had the audience in stitches several times) and CJ Hollenbach were all there. I got to sit with last year's winner again, Jason Santiago and one of this year's competitors, Christopher Howell, as well as Bobbi Smith and Carol Stacy. It was a wonderful experience.
After that was the Boots party. I wore my 4-inch high, knee length boots and danced the night away, after taking home a few books from the looooong table of give away books.
Saturday was full of adventure, with a few mishaps (the lights went out for a few minutes at the Book Fair!), but overall, it was an experience I will never forget.
Sunday was supposed to be more relaxing, but somehow I ended up running around a bunch again. Breakfast with Pat Simmons and Naomi Giroux of Ijustfinished.com. Eating with these ladies was a treat!
Next, the Samhain Sayonara party. Lots of giveaways, neat red fleece blankets and the chance to say good bye to all my friends. Then I ended up flitting here and there throughout the hotel, saying goodbye to friends, gathering up random bits of flotsam (I ended up with a large bag full of goodies to bring back home), shipping two LARGE boxes of books home, and having lunch with many of the RT staff and volunteers (thanks for the ice wine toast!).
And the capper, the Romance at Twilight party, where we watched Dirty Dancing and Practical Magic while munching on goodies, lounging on pillows and couches and drawing for even more give aways. Charlotte Featherstone and Amanda McIntyre were excellent hostesses, of course.
As I was packing up in my room, I got a call from the documentary film crew asking if I wanted to see some of the footage they shot. I have to tell you, I can't wait to see the finished product. They got some wonderful interviews and I know the film will be great!
There's still more to come... Jade Lee and Sharon Sala will have posts coming up. I still have the interview with Anne Elizabeth to post. David Alan Johnson will also be contributing to the blog.
If you attended the convention, post in the comments about your favorite moments at RT. If you weren't able to come, we hope you will be able to join us in Orlando next year.
Nicole
Saturday was quite a day! For me, it started with the Book Fair. I had not intended to buy anything there, with the possible exception of one or two books I already had on my wish list. As with many of my good intentions, that went out the window. I ran around the ballroom for hours, picking up books and talking with authors. My roommate also won a gift basket, so we were hauling a lot of nifty things around for a few hours - I know I lost a few pounds just from the running around!
So what did I get?
THE BECOMING, BLOOD DRIVE and THE WATCHER by Jeanne Stein
WITCH FIRE and WITCH BLOOD by Anya Bast
THE DEVIL INSIDE by Jenna Black
THE HAUNTED AIR by F. Paul Wilson
ZANDIA by Tilly Greene
HELLS BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL by Jackie Kessler
ETERNAL LOVER, an anthoogy with stories from Hannah Howell, Lynsay Sands, Jackie Kessler and Richelle Mead
and SLIGHTLY MARRIED by Wendy Markham
After the book fair, I bought some beautiful jewelry from Jane Elissa Atelier from Creative Art Designs. She's a sweet lady and had lots of interesting items. In fact, I ended up buying from her twice!
Later, was the Mr. Romance competition. By now, I am sure most of you know that Chris Winters is the 2008 winner. I admit, seeing him onstage as he interacted with the female models, even from the back row I got shivers. All of the men were wonderful (I will write more on them later) and congrats to Chris!
Immediately following that was the Cover Model Reunion dinner. Besides Fabio and Adrian Paul (both of whom looked wonderful and spoke very articulately about their lives and their charities), we also had several models from past RT competitions. David Alan Johnson, John DeSalvo, Mark Johnson (who had the audience in stitches several times) and CJ Hollenbach were all there. I got to sit with last year's winner again, Jason Santiago and one of this year's competitors, Christopher Howell, as well as Bobbi Smith and Carol Stacy. It was a wonderful experience.
After that was the Boots party. I wore my 4-inch high, knee length boots and danced the night away, after taking home a few books from the looooong table of give away books.
Saturday was full of adventure, with a few mishaps (the lights went out for a few minutes at the Book Fair!), but overall, it was an experience I will never forget.
Sunday was supposed to be more relaxing, but somehow I ended up running around a bunch again. Breakfast with Pat Simmons and Naomi Giroux of Ijustfinished.com. Eating with these ladies was a treat!
Next, the Samhain Sayonara party. Lots of giveaways, neat red fleece blankets and the chance to say good bye to all my friends. Then I ended up flitting here and there throughout the hotel, saying goodbye to friends, gathering up random bits of flotsam (I ended up with a large bag full of goodies to bring back home), shipping two LARGE boxes of books home, and having lunch with many of the RT staff and volunteers (thanks for the ice wine toast!).
And the capper, the Romance at Twilight party, where we watched Dirty Dancing and Practical Magic while munching on goodies, lounging on pillows and couches and drawing for even more give aways. Charlotte Featherstone and Amanda McIntyre were excellent hostesses, of course.
As I was packing up in my room, I got a call from the documentary film crew asking if I wanted to see some of the footage they shot. I have to tell you, I can't wait to see the finished product. They got some wonderful interviews and I know the film will be great!
There's still more to come... Jade Lee and Sharon Sala will have posts coming up. I still have the interview with Anne Elizabeth to post. David Alan Johnson will also be contributing to the blog.
If you attended the convention, post in the comments about your favorite moments at RT. If you weren't able to come, we hope you will be able to join us in Orlando next year.
Nicole
posted at 9:42 PM
6 Comments:
Why Orlando?? Why not on the west coast? There are people out this way, you know. Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Colorado are part of the United States. Some of us can't afford three to four thousand dollars to fly to Orlando.
The Haunted Air? That's a Repairman Jack novel! I have such a crush on Jack. You'll L-O-V-E him!!!
Yes, why not in the West? We're an independant bookstore that's been wanting to go the the convention for a couple of years, but can't afford to fly back east. It was in San Diego the year we opened our store; can you come back? Or even Arizona, Oregon or Washington?
Dana
Hi Nicole,
I own Joyfully Reviewed and attended this years convention. I had the pleasure of meeting David Alan Johnson, he was very personable and nice. I wanted to interview him for my site. Would you have any contact info for him? RT 2009 here we come!
as far as air fare to Orlando, it will cost me less from Ca. to go to ?Flka than to Pittsburg. Just watch the specials
There are many reasons we select the cities we do.
Since 9/11 we have tried to stay central to south central USA to make it more accessible for people to drive to our event since many are still afraid to fly. Another reason we select the cities we do is cost. We try to keep the room rate under $125 per night to make it affordable for readers and booksellers as well as authors.
Next year we will be in Orlando partly because we got a great deal on the room rates and partly because we have a very large readership in the south.
We are definitely open to the west coast in the future. In fact we are looking into Sacramento. If you have any suggestions they would be welcome. We need a hotel with room rates at $125 or less, at least a 20,000 sq. ft. ballroom (preferably 2 ballrooms the second can be 11,000 sq. ft.). We also need at least 18 meeting rooms and a room for Club RT which needs to be at least 7,000 sq ft.
Your suggestions are welcome.
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