Thursday Thirteen - What I'm looking forward to at RT!

I want to welcome Pat Cunningham to the Shapeshifter Seductions blog. I'm looking forward to her posts. I also want to thank her for swapping days with me. I was having some challenges getting my Monday morning posts up in a timely manner (bad blogger, no biscuit!). So today I want to try a new kind of post for me. A Thursday Thirteen.

What IS a Thursday Thirteen? Well, the concept has been around for quite a while and it's really simple. Each Thursday I'll blog a list of thirteen things. Could be almost anything. Maybe it will be favorite movies, annoyances at work, what I love about spring... You get the idea. So today is my first - at least here. Grin

Today my TT will be (see title of post...) What I'm most looking forward to about RT this year. RT is the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. I'm an RT virgin and RT is just about a month away now. My tummy is all aflutter in anticipation.

Thursday Thirteen #1

What I'm most looking forward to at RT 2010!

1. A road trip with Robin Rotham.
Not only is she a good driver, but she's a LOT of fun on the road. AND she stops when you have to go to the bathroom. Yaaaay Robin!

2. Meeting many of my online author friends in person.

Friends like the lovely Paris Brandon. She and I talk on the phone frequently. We exchange emails. She reads my stuff and I read hers. But I have yet to meet her in person and give her a hug for all her support. I'm really looking forward to that.


3. Cover Models.

Do I have to elaborate here? I mean....just look.

4. The Ellora's Cave "Paint the Town Red" Party.

I even found a new dress for the party...on sale. I'll get to walk across a stage to be introduced...while I'm accompanied by an EC cover model. Oh yeah.

5. Catching up with fellow EC authors that I met at Romanticon.

EC authors are FUN. They like to party and they are really supportive of each other. It's going to be great to see them again.

6. The book signings.

I'm participating in the e-book expo book signing on Friday night and the book fair signing on Saturday. I love meeting readers so I can talk to them and book signings give me that opportunity. I also enjoy the time schmoozing with my fellow authors while we wait for the hordes (at least I hope there are hordes) to arrive.

7. The parties and mixers.

I love to have fun. Dance. Mix with people and get to know them. It will be super to meet people when they aren't "on stage." Everyone will just be kicking back and laughing together. I love that.

8. The workshops.

I love to attend workshops to learn interesting things and hear agents, editors and my fellow authors share their knowledge. It should be a great learning experience.

9. The Mr. Romance contest.

Hunks on parade. Totally awesome.

10. Meeting editors.

Romanticon gave me the opportunity to meet many of EC's editors. This will be a great opportunity to renew the acquaintance. Also, I'll have the opportunity to meet editors from other publishers in a fun and relaxed setting.

11. Meeting agents.

I've always been a little scared of agents but this event will give me an informal sort of situation to mix with agents and get to know them a bit. I'm looking forward to that.

12. Meeting READERS!!!

I love meeting my readers...heck any readers. Readers are the reason I write. I want them to like my writing. This is a great venue for mixing with readers and getting to know them better. It's also a great place to ask them what they like and don't like about various genres of books. This is gonna be great...

13. Playing fangrrl and getting books SIGNED by my favorite authors.

I love to read and the authors of some of my favorite reads will be attending RT. I'm going to have to fight like the dickens to not squee like a teenage girl seeing her favorite movie star when I get book signed.

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So are YOU going to RT this year? If you are, what are you most looking forward to? I'm an RT virgin. Is there anything about RT that I've missed?

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Romanticon approaches and I'm getting nervous

This coming weekend my publisher, Ellora's Cave, is hosting their first ever conference/convention. They've titled it Romanticon and I'm really looking forward to attending. There's a ton of authors who will be attending and I'm one of them. Friday, Saturday and Sunday there will be workshops during the day.

The thing making me real nervous - but in a good way - is the book signing on Saturday. It will be my first organized book signing with readers who aren't my friends. I had an impromptu book signing at a friend's house right after Protect and Defend came out electronically. It was fun and no stress. This time I'm feeling a bit of stress.

I HOPE someone stops to buy my book and have me sign it. They've broken the signings down by alphabet and the G-M crowd signs from 10:30-11:30 am and from 2:30-3:30 pm. It could be very dull if everyone is crowded around other people. So if you attend, please take pity and visit me.

Other than my nerves over the book signing, I'm getting butterflies about meeting some of my favorite authors. Some of them I've been reading since I first discovered EC back in the early 2000's and some are newer.

Have you ever attended conferences or conventions and been nervous about meeting folks? If so, how did you combat that? How do you get over your shyness and just have fun?

NOTE: I had a couple of things wrong. Hint for all of you out there - always CHECK on things before you leave. Saturday is "Authormania" where the authors hang out and meet with readers. We can also sign books that people have brought with them. Then on SUNDAY is the official book fair where they will be selling books and authors will sign.