Congratulations to Ali’s winner, Ivy (comment #7)! To claim your prize, please email your name and address to ak AT alisonkent.com (replace AT with @ sign).
During the weekend of RomCon, reader Ali Flores, known as SimplyAli on Twitter, tweeted several times from the convention floor, and I sent her a DM to ask if she’d like to do a blog post when she got back . . . and here it is! With a giveaway!
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A week after RomCon and I think I’ve finally got my energy back. It always takes me a bit to get things back to normal after a convention. And, what a convention this was! I was so excited to attend RomCon’s first convention in Denver, Colorado. This convention is specifically for romance readers and celebrates the romance genre with chats, games, fun and all presented by romance readers, published authors, publishers, and other experts on the genre. One of the best parts of this trip? I got to go with my cousin, who’s never attended a romance convention of this size. Another great part to attending this convention? More books… so much so, that I’ll be doing a giveaway at the end of this post.
So Many Books, So Little Room in the Suitcase!
I was up early Friday morning to help volunteer at the RomCon registration table. It was an interesting experience for me and my cousin as we got to help and meet many authors as they registered for the event. Afterwards, I got to attend some fun and interesting events all throughout the day. Among the many events they had available for readers to choose from, I went to: Anti-Heroes You Hate to Love, Author Fairy Godmothers to the Rescue!, Contemporary Spotlight Authors Host A Tea, and Meet Samhain Publishing.
At Anti-Heroes You Hate to Love, there were many different authors and they took turns meeting groups of readers as authors went from table to table, two at a time. Readers at my table got to speak with authors such as Meagan Hatfield, Cindy Gerard, Carolyn Crane, Nalini Singh and many more on topics from bittersweet endings to heroes who do bad things for good reasons (heroes doing bad things, now that sounds hot, lol).
Meal tickets were available for purchase, aside from the basic registration fee. Friday’s dinner included a speech by author Lori Foster, a comedic skit by Charming and Dashing, and the Readers’ Crown Awards. And what’s a reader’s convention without some party and dance? Later on, there was a Costume Ball and dance with live music. I got to see some beautiful and lavishly done costumes that quite outshone my red dress and angel wings.
Cover Models DO Have More Fun!
Don’t fret though, if dancing isn’t your thing (as it’s quite not mine with two left feet), RomCon made sure to keep you busy with some of the other events being held at the same time: Q&A Author Chat/Mix & Mingle – Erotic Romance Authors, Mini-Mystic Fair, and Melissa Mayhue & Friends Blogger/Reviewer Party. I got to attend the Blogger Party and had fun seeing other bloggers and readers I had known from either their blogs or on Twitter. I also got my cards read at the Mini-Mystic Fair… good things will be coming my way, if only I remember to focus. Hm, now that’s a tough one, lol.
Saturday morning, my friends and I went down for breakfast. We got a chance to speak with authors Lavinia Kent, Michele Chambers and Lila DiPasqua. It was nice to meet these authors in a very casual setting. From breakfast I missed the next set of events and instead decided to walk around to the vendor center, where among all the different booths of purses (wanted to buy), jewelry (had to buy), fudge (who in their right might could not buy?) and other interesting things was Waldenbooks! Yes, I’m addicted to books and proud to admit it.
Events I got to attend Saturday were: Monsters & More Semi-Charades, Intimate Chat with Anna Campbell, Historical Spotlight Authors Tea, Cocktail Hour & HCI Line Launch for Vows! and Midnight Sexcapades. I had an absolute ball at Monsters & More Semi-Charade as I sat in a round table with about four other readers and taking turns giving clues as to what the secret word was. The authors hosting this event went from table to table about every five minutes trying to help readers win. While my table didn’t get first place (and it probably didn’t help that I’m so bad at this game, lol) everyone who attended did get a chance to go away with a book from hosted authors.
The only Intimate Chat I got to attend during this convention was that of author Anna Campbell. It really was an intimate chat, as only about ten readers were present in a small conference room with the author. It gave us a chance to speak with the author about herself and her books. The only downside to this was that talk of Ms. Campbell’s books made me want to go out and buy any I didn’t already have in my collection. Ms. Campbell was an absolute hoot as she joked with us and answered any and all questions we had.
Susan Mallery, Brenda Novak, Carly Phillips
In between these events, RomCon hosted their Book Fair, which was open to the public. Of course, I just had to buy more books because one can never have enough, hehe. The only downside to this signing was that books were not placed by author, and instead were kept at Borders’ tables outside of the signing. Borders had available a mix of books by authors attending and those not attending. I don’t know if I was just late to the game, but for some authors at the signing I couldn’t find their titles.
Later on, my friends and I went to Historical Spotlight Authors Tea. Tickets to this event and other Authors Tea events were made available if you won the raffle drawing. The room was packed with readers and historical authors. Fun was had by all with games, prizes, and chats. I ended up leaving this event early as I got pleasantly interrupted by my best-friend who lives in Colorado.
After catching up a bit we decided to step outside of the hotel for dinner… but, not before attending the Cocktail Hour & HCI Line Launch for Vows! I thought it was simply perfect that True Vows had a wedding theme, with beautiful and yummy cupcakes, wedding trinkets and gift baskets. Readers were given the opportunity to take home ARCs of the first three novels to launch the True Vows line: The Icing on the Cake by Alison Kent, Meet Me In Manhattan by Judith Arnold, and Hard to Hold by Julie Leto.
I do wish that the ladies of True Vows were able to talk more about their upcoming line. While I knew of True Vows from Alison Kent’s newsletter, I know some others hadn’t heard of them yet. I think the idea of turning real life romances into stories is fresh and exciting and I know I can’t wait to get started on my copies of these novels.
After dinner with my friend, I made sure to go back to my room and get ready for RomCon’s Black & White Masquerade and Dance. Where else but at a convention can you bring out a mask your mother bought you from New Orleans? I made sure to pack mine for this very event… only problem was I didn’t bring my contacts and since I couldn’t wear my glasses and mask at the same time, things were very blurry, lol.
Oh, Look! It's Alison's Book!
Again, no dancing for you? No worries, this night the Mini-Mystic Fair was back or you could attend the Midnight Sexcapades, which is where I went. I don’t think I had blushed so hard that whole weekend… well, accept for that moment where I dropped a glass of water as this hot guy was standing next to me, eek. Just as I got there, they were asking for volunteers to reenact a scene from an excerpt out of author Delilah Marvelle’s novel.
Well, things certainly got interesting as they weren’t reenacting just any scene. Nope, it was a sex scene. I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped, lol. Now, don’t let your imagination get away with you, both parties did keep their clothes on ;). We moved on to the bar afterwards and then I headed up to my room for an early night. Well, technically 1am is early when you’re at a convention, lol.
The next and last morning *sigh* I got up early to meet with author Erin Nichols. I had a wonderful time chatting with her and was ecstatic that I got to spend some time with her. We also had authors Carolyn Crane (I tried my best to stalk her throughout the convention, lol) and Meg Benjamin join us for a bit.
Things were much more mellow on Sunday as only a few more events were left, including a delicious brunch where author Carly Phillips gave a speech before the winner of the $2,500 Trivia Challenge Finale was announced. Sadly, it wasn’t me… I think I’ll ask for a recount, hehe.
As I said good bye to old friends and new, I was already anticipating returning for next years RomCon Convention. As with most new conventions, though, there’s always a few kinks to work out.
My Mask and RomCon Program Book
Cons of this convention included: having a host hotel with no free wi-fi in convention area, very slow connection in hotel rooms, bar that closes at midnight (um, that might just be a con for me, lol), from some readers I heard that there was too much talk about publishing (and this may be because some readers are also aspiring writers), some of the panels where we got to meet different publishers didn’t seem prepared and the Borders book section didn’t carry all the books by attending authors. There were also events that weren’t well advertised. I had no idea about the Author Avenue, where you could sit and chat with some of your favorite authors who rotated every hour. Another thing that disappointed me were the ladies hired to work the convention who were not romance readers. I passed by the registration table only to hear them reading excerpts from books and making fun as they laughed. Quite rude, in my opinion.
Pros of this convention, though, definitely outweighed the cons. This was definitely a convention for readers, with events tailored just for romance readers. I loved the idea of the Intimate Chats and how it gave readers a great opportunity to get up close and personal to some of their favorite authors. There was more than one events during each block hour to choose from, and time in-between to make sure you made it to your next event on time. There were many books and goodies given away, not just during registration, but other events as well. I just loved the casual setting of this convention and how authors really joined in on the fun with readers. And last but not least, it’s another great convention giving romance readers a chance to meet other romance readers. After all, sometimes we’re the only ones who understand our addiction to this genre. ;)
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Now, onto the giveaway.. I came back from Denver with a whole bunch of books. So many in fact that I had to buy an extra suitcase, lol. I’m going to be giving one lucky reader a bundle of books that includes a title from varying genres: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Category, Historical Romance, and Romantic Suspense. Along with these books you’ll get some of the promo items my friend Limecello picked up for me… and most importantly, I received an extra ARC copy of Meet Me In Manhattan by Judith Arnold. Again, this title will be among the first to launch the True Vows line from HCI.
How do you enter? Just leave a comment in this post letting me know if you’ve ever attended a Romance Convention before? If so, which ones and how did you enjoy it? If not, any that you want to attend? RomCon, perhaps? Maybe we can even talk Alison Kent to join us next year. ;) Winner will be drawn Friday, July 23, 2010, 9:00 a.m. CDT.
I want to thank Alison for letting me share a bit… or a lot… of my recent RomCon experience J If you ever want to hear me chatter some more you can usually find me on twitter @SimplyAli or on my blog at Simply Ali.
Happy Reading, Everyone J
