I’ve got convention fever bad.
It started way back in October when I first signed up for the Romantic Times Convention. It’s hosted by RT Book Reviews and if you love romance, this is a magazine you’ll really enjoy. They review hundreds of books each month in eight romance categories. You can even get it delivered to your iPad.
This year the conference is in Kansas City which means no airfare for me making it more affordable. It starts for my April 30 and goes through May 5. I signed up waaaaay early so I could be sure to get into the convention hotel. I don’t want to miss a thing.
Yesterday, RTCON had a Twitter chat at #RTVirgins which was really fun and helpful. Convention veterans and staff suggested some items to bring along in a Convention Survival Pack including: hand sanitizer, Tylenol, bottled water, lip balm, notebook, pens and snacks.
This is the first big conference I’ve ever been to that wasn’t related to blood banking (the day job). Those were pretty boring. I can’t imagine this one being boring for a moment. In fact, looking over my agenda, I’m wondering when I’ll eat and sleep.
I had some special business cards made to share with all the cool authors and readers I’m going to meet. There are more than 400 authors listed to attend to speak, sign books and host workshops. That doesn’t include all the rest of us authors-in-waiting, prospective authors and readers. It’s going to be HUGE. And the really cool part? Next year, maybe my name will be on that list of authors.
I went through and highlighted the authors I definitely want to meet. Several of them are authors I’ve met on Twitter and interacted with. It will be fun to meet them in person. I’m not too keen on collecting autographs because they are pretty meaningless to me, but making the contacts will be amazing.
When I signed up in October, my plan was to have two books finished and ready to hawk to agents, editors and publishers. I signed up for Pitch-a-Palooza (a stomach-churning, lightening-fast pitch session to one agent/publisher after another). Then I got THE CALL from Harlequin on Jan. 31 and all of that stress melted away. Now I just get to go, learn, enjoy and relax. Okay, so maybe there won’t be much relaxing, but it will be a whole different ballgame from what I had expected when I first signed up.
I may or may not have bought seven new dresses to take for the evening parties and festivities. I may or may not be exercising and dieting so I don’t have to wear the suck-it-in underwear beneath them. It has been a good motivator to get off the couch and back into a shape other than round.
So far. So good.
