More RT Intel

Taking spy photos is the easy part; it's the resizing that's time consuming. Here's a few more photos taken at the Romantic Times Convention.

For me, the best part is always connecting with fellow author friends whom I've not seen for a while. We get to exchange gossip and ideas, catch up with each other's personal news, and generally, celebrate freedom from husbands, kids, and significant others, if we are lucky ;-). Here's Kayla Perrin, who hosts a wonderful morning mixer with boas and male models, and me, getting ready to go a-spying.



RT is fun because everyone who goes there participates in both the workshops (serious stuff) and the balls (fun stuff). Where could one find a convention where you can pitch your story to an editor during the day and then maybe bump into her that night dressed up in your bat wings and vampire teeth?

You get the serious side of the romance business--booksellers luncheon--and you let loose your inner girls-gone-wild side in a relatively non-judgmental atmosphere during the Mr. Romance Pageant.

This year, I didn't get to judge the competition, but one of my editors from Harlequin did, and she had a blast. I'm sure she's boasting to fellow editor-spies back in New York about the experience ;-).

I had the greatest fun with my Australian friends, a group of readers headed by Rosemary Potter, who owns a bookstore in Brisbane. Our overseas romance fans have a lot of difficulty getting their favorite books quickly and it's expensive for them to order through Amazon, so Rosemary is a blessing. She comes to RT to network with the publishers and booksellers and to meet with the authors. She and the other Australian lassies are simply WONDERFUL FUN and I love them. Here's their very famous Timtam party that they host:

Many uber-authors delight in meeting them and enjoying the timtams they brought. That's the chocolatey stuff you see on the table in front of Rosemary, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, and Jonathan, LKH's husband.

Heather Graham, uber-uber goddess-author, hosts a vampire ball every year and this year's theme is Vampires of the Carribean. Needless to say, there was an odd mixture of pirates walking around with fangs and one-legged vampires. Heather also does a play every year and everyone who participates has to learn their lines within a day or two. You can imagine all the ad-libbing that goes on.

Believe it or not, that's Heather Graham, playing the part of manly-man Jack the Pirate. She looked fantastic, didn't she? Her two sons also participated in the play, as well as authors Mary Stella and Beth Ciotta (the Oracle and the mute mermaid). It's a rather...hmm...complicated tale about a curse that made a mermaid into a mute vampire and the pirates that saved them. Oh, and manly-man Jack turned out to be "Jill" in disguise and had to hide her love for the mermaid's father, Poseidon, whom she kept pronouncing as Pissyden, LOL. Also, Pissy--Poseidon--has a talking polly named...Pollygone. Hah. All's well that ends well, and our pirates all had a happy ending.

Lastly, for now, I must caution attendees to be careful of men with whips. If they pull you into their arms and demand a photo, no matter how RELUCTANT you are, just do it, or risk being--horrors--spanked. And like me, you can pretend to laugh nervously when really, I hated every moment of it.

Is my RT Intel boring everyone to sleep?

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