RT and Street Teams, Oh My!

Okay, I know, I know, I should have a third thing in there to really make that title work, but it's what I've got.

So...RT. Where to start? I love RT. Anyone who knows me knows this. To anyone and everyone I met this year though, I need to issue an apology. There have been major personal issues going on during the lead-up to RT (and will continue for a while). This led to minimal sleep for a few weeks right before RT as I busted ass to get the house ready to put on the market (and stressed about it). It meant I was sleep-deprived before I even got there. Add in convention madness, and I was in hard-core space-cadet mode while there. So if you introduced yourself and I don't remember you. Or if I zoned out while talking, please forgive me. By next year there will be less drama and I can return to my normal state of absent-mindedness which is not nearly so...uh...bad. We'll just go with bad.

To that end, I'm not going to do the run down of who I spent time and had fun with because I had fun with everyone I interacted with...I just don't remember everyone's names. (I'll do a couple specifics, but they will be limited to less than a handful.)  In general though...

• The Gaslamp Tea crew--xoxoxoxo I am so proud to be included in this group of amazing authors every year. Thank you!
• Everyone at Entangled--you guys rock. I had so much fun hanging out with everyone. Thanks for taking the newbie in and making me feel at home (even if a couple of you looked at some of my costumes like I'd lost my mind :P) 
• The AWESOME book bloggers--I love you guys! You all made me smile more times than I care to count. And you also reminded me that when food wasn't handy...vodka is made from potatoes. ;-)
• My Carina Press peeps--Thanks for the support and the silly conversations. And a specific thank you to Angela James for putting my fears to rest. I breathed a lot easier after that. 
• Katee Robert--thank you for NOT killing me in my sleep. My kids really appreciate it ;-)
• Angie Fox--No Walking Dead spoilers...I promise! Thanks for a ridiculously late night of fun and conversation. It totally made my con. 
• Scalzi...I will never forget your face now. Though I may always introduce myself and say "What do you do?" You know, just for fun :P

I know I'm forgetting people, so please forgive me. I love far more people than are mentioned here. Some of you talked me down from my panic attacks. Others made me feel more beautiful than I have...ever. I love you all <3

That said... there was a vote going on Facebook over what to name my street team members. Renegades won! So I'm in the process of building a facebook group for the street team. This particular rebellion is in the infancy stages at the moment, but if you want in on the ground floor, go find The Renegades, do the secret knock, and I'll let you in as soon as we're up and running :)

I will be at Up in the Aether con next weekend (seriously, if you are in the Detroit area, please come by!), but after that, I'm going to build the group on Facebook and the snippets and fun and madness shall begin! If you aren't following the Entangled Group or my author page, please do that so you don't miss the announcements!

Find Me At RT! (Oh, and Buy My Book!)

Hey all! It's April 30, and that means I'm on my way to Kansas City for the Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention. This is one of my favorite cons every year, and I hope to see you there.

Of course, I'm going to be a little crazy (possibly crazier than on a normal day--or at least more scattered), so it might be easier for you to find me than for me to find you. (Read as: Sel is dead by day 2 and gets tunnel vision. She completely missed Paul Wesley walking by her table at lunch last year. Odds are unless you slap her, she might miss you too.) With that in mind, here are some places you're likely to find me:

WEDNESDAY

3:45-4:45: Setting the Stellar Steampunk (Moderator)

9:00-12:00: Ellora's Cave Party

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

THURSDAY

1:30-2:30: Steampunk Clockwork Tea (Hostess)
2:45-3:45: It's Not About the Goggles (Panelist)

4:00-6:00: Ebook Expo--signing (I'll have print copies of Kiss of Death & my YA Pretty Souls as well as all my digital books available to buy)

8:30-12:00: RT's 30th Anniversary Ball

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

FRIDAY

11:15-12:15: Hero Speed-Dating (Hostess...er...host?)

7:30-8:30: Entangled's Candy and Spoons!

8:30-12:00: Vampire Ball (whatever it's called this year...though I probably won't be there until after dinner)

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

SATURDAY
7:15-7:45: FANtastic Day Party

8:00-9:00: Carina Press Cocktail Party

9:00-12:00: Harlequin Dance Party

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

So, yeah. When in doubt, check the bar. 

In other news.... today is the release of Clockwork Mafia! Yes, it is finally out and in the wild and you should definitely buy a copy. If you missed my blog tour last week, please rush back and check out all the awesome stops...

But in the meantime, buy the book. Read the book. Love the book (I hope). Review the book (whether you loved it or not--it's okay, I can take it). To make it easy on you, here are some links to buy from: 

Carina Press

All Romance

Amazon

Audible

Barnes & Noble

If you do those things, you will make me incredibly happy...even if I don't get to see you this week at RT. 

*hugs from Kansas City*

Hero Speed-Dating and What It's All About

Jeez. That title makes it sound like the hokey-pokey or something. Oh well.

For those of you who aren't aware, I'm one of the hosts for a couple reader panels at RT. First there's the Steampunk Tea that's going strong for several years now, but the second is a new one called Hero Speed-Dating.

Myself and five other brave authors (Diane Alberts, Saranna Dewylde, Jeffe Kennedy, Suzanne Lazear, & Katee Robert, to be precise) are going to talk about what we think about when we create our heroes. Sounds standard enough, but that's just the first few minutes... then the fun begins.

You see, we aren't just talking about our heroes, we're going to be our heroes for the rest of the panel. That's right! Each of us will be "posing" as one of our heroes for a round of group speed-dating. Readers will sit with each hero once as we pitch ourselves to them as prospective dates. If at the end of the pitch, they're interested in getting to know us further, they get to enter to win a "date" with the hero (a prize pack from the author).

Seriously, this should be the most ridiculous fun to be had while sober at RT Kansas City. I really hope to see you there!

Convention Survival Guide

(This post is a longer version of an interview question for later in the week. A twitter conversation with Eleri Stone convinced me to post it here as well. If you're going to RT--or any large cons--this year, enjoy. If not, uh...sorry? Sucks to be you?)

People often ask for advice when attending a convetion like Romantic Times. It's a big place, packed full of people, and it's easy to lose sight of little things. (And it's easy to think other things just won't matter--they will, trust me.) So, with three RTs under my belt, I have a lot of advice to share. Take what you want and leave the rest, but I've erred where a lot of these are concerned so you might want to learn from my mistakes ;-) 

1. Hydrate—first and foremost, stay hydrated. It’s really easy to not think about this and then you end up weak and tired and cranky (and that’s before the alcohol gets involved). Hotels are notoriously dry anyway, so why make the problem worse. Keep a water bottle on you at all times and use it.
2. Don’t forget to eat! I’m notorious for this. When I am busy and having fun, I will forget to eat. I’ve learned to pack protein bars so I can shove one in my bag when I leave the room in the morning. That way when I finally realize I haven’t eaten in hours, I have a quick healthy(ish) snack that I can munch between panels. Other things that work well for this (some more packable than others: little boxes of cereal, fruit, string cheese, jerky... Point is, have something with you. I also usually take protein powder and my blender bottle for a quick and easy breakfast.)
3. Plan your wardrobe in advance. I will honestly start packing about a week ahead of time (at least) because it's easy to forget costume pieces or the shoes that go with your pitching outfit or... Figure out what you want to take and then minimize where you can. (This last bit is especially important when room-sharing because of limited space.) I am a big fan of items that can do double duty for both parties and day wear.
4. Have a plan. Nice and tight or loosey-goosey. Doesn't matter. But know what you most want to get out of RT and what your "can't miss" events are. (Might I recommend the Steampunk Tea and Hero Speed Dating?) Do what works for you, but I don't suggest completely winging it unless you are just hanging at the bar (which I totally support too :P) 
5. Dress up...or don't. Every party has a theme. Not everyone will dress for it. You don't have to, but some of us really get into that. It goes back to packing. Figure out what you're most interested in dressing for (or what you have to) and go for that. (I, for one, won't be doing the disco theme. I don't have the clothes. I dont' want the clothes. I'm not wasting money on the clothes. But that's me. I fully support everyone else in their attire choices.)
6. See that last bit? It's important for more than just clothes. Don’t judge people because they sin differently than you. Some people’s idea of a good time is a little more loose and carefree than others. This is okay. If you aren’t comfortable in that atmosphere, find a spot where you are comfortable, but let them have their fun their way.
7. Don’t be a wallflower. I’m naturally an introvert, so this was hard for me, especially my first year. I was lucky in that my roommate was really outgoing and then I met another really outgoing author at the pitch sessions. Between the two of them, they wouldn’t let me wallflower. There are thousands of people at RT, even if you only meet one new person a day that you can talk to, it’s one more than you knew the day before (Note: the bar is great for meeting people.), and odds are they’ll introduce you to one or two of their friends. By the end of the week, you'll know a bunch of people and have some new friends from around the globe. 
8. Business cards! Have them. Use them. When you talk to someone and they give you theirs, try to jot down a note or two on the back about who they are and what you talked about. It won't always help you to remember them, but sometimes it's enough...especially after a couple hours at the bar.
9. Try not to be intimidated by authors. Most authors are extremely excited to meet and talk to fans and potential new fans. It’s why we’re there! And a lot of us are at least as nervous about chatting with new people as you are. So talk to us—about our books, our costumes, the toilet paper stuck to our shoe… 
10. Oh yeah, shoes—bring comfy ones. Yes, bring cute ones for the parties, but you will be walking a lot (think a day at Disneyworld with a six-year-old), so you’re going to want to be sensible during the day. (Also, back to hydration…drinking water helps keep you from retaining water which means the cute shoes should still fit by the end of the night. Swollen footsies are no one's friend.)
11. Unless you're required to be somewhere (ie--if you're speaking on the panel, you should be there unless you're in your room puking your guts out or otherwise dying), don't feel like you have to go to everything. Of course someone will want you there, but if you need a break or you have to choose between two awesome sounding options, it's okay...do what you want. No one is going to hate you for not showing up to their panel. (Except maybe me, but I'm evil, so it's part of the gig.)
12. However...if you have promised to help someone (with a panel, corset tying, supply moving, whatever) do your very very best to be there. If you don't want to help, don't say you will. Or say "maybe" if you genuinely plan to try. Just don't leave someone in the lurch because you got a better offer.
13. The models...yes, they are very attractive. Yes, they've chosen a profession where they are used to being ogled a lot. This does not, however, make them playthings. They're human beings. Please treat them that way. 

That's probably not all of the advice I could give, but it's a lot to take in. Feel free to hit me with questions and I'll be happy to tell you everything I know. 


Also, Angela James did a brilliant post about staying safe at conventions. It's well worth a read. 

RT Madness

See? Katee Robert & I *are* different people

If you saw my RT schedule, you know that it was shaping up to be a crazy convention. I may have over-extended myself a teeny bit. Maybe. Hell, I'm probably going to do the same thing next year (minus the photo shoot). Someone just remind me of two things next year:

1. Pace myself because Saturday night is a long way away. 
2. If I plan on drinking a lot, do not (under any circumstances) mix vodka and rum. I should know this by now, but I always seem to forget. 

Having said that, I had a fabulous time. I'm going to do a longer wrap-up for Wicked Lil Pixie, but some highlights of the week:

• Katee Robert. Oh, Lady Soulmate, I had such a good time with you and miss you already. Thanks for putting up with me and my bouts of insanity. 
• Aussie dinner. Not only did I share a table with Rebecca York, I shared a cab back to the hotel with Ann Aguirre (and a pissy-ass cab driver, but more on this at Pixie's). It's such an honor that Megan and Jennifer thought enough of me to include me with such an incredible group of authors. I still get fan-girl shivers thinking about it.
• My first panel... ever... anywhere. I was absolutely terrified, but with the fabulous group of women I had there with me, it wasn't nearly as panic-inducing as it could have been and thankfully people seemed to find it really informative. (I ran into a couple women who had attended at the end of the week and they were still debating whether or not to use pen names. I'm calling that a win :) )
• The Gaslamp Gathering. ALWAYS a good time. So many costumes! <3 <3 <3 
• The Atrium. If you don't know what that means, you really should have stuck around after the bar closed on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday :P Good times. Thanks, people!
• Angela James telling me to "Calm down and get a drink" at the Carina Press author party. Thanks, Angela, talking to you that night helped me mellow out for the remainder of the convention :) 
• Meeting James Rollins at the FanTastic Day Party (where I was supposed to be schmoozing). There is a story here involving the wonderful Deanna Wadsworth, but I'm saving that for Pixie's too (just to embarrass her in front of a bigger audience :P)
• The Harlequin Dance Party and Damon Suede. First, I've never seen the dance floor at RT that full before <3 Second, Damon, you are absolutely fabulous and I totally want to write M/M now because of you. (Still terrified that I can't do it justice, but I think I'm going to try. *gulp*)

Low point of the week? Finding out I was so tired at lunch on Sunday that I totally missed it as Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) walked right in front of my freaking table. Trying to see it from the perspective of that just meaning RT was one hell of a party, but... *sad sigh*

That's it for now. And as a send off, Katee Robert's new (temporary) theme song:

Find Me at RT!

(If you will be at RT and collect buttons like I do, make sure you read all the way to the end...)

Twenty-four months ago, I attended my first Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention as an aspiring author. Now I have three short stories, three novellas, and one full-length novel (under my YA name) tucked under my belt, along with the first Blood Kissed novel coming later this year. Today... I leave for my third RT Convention.

My how times have changed. The first year, no one knew who I was, but if you wanted to find me I was be-bopping everywhere. This year... I have a schedule and a pretty hectic one. These are not all the events I'll be attending, these are simply the places I've committed to being as and author.

Tuesday (I will probably get in around 1:30. It might be a bit later as I have a doctor's appointment that morning--crappy scheduling choices FTW!)

• 7PM-- Dinner with the Australian contingent (offsite) Thanks for the invite, ladies! You rock!

Wednesday (At some point today, the amazing Katee Robert and I will be setting up our "Relax with a good book" prize basket in Club RT. Make sure you enter to win!)

• 2:15-3:15-- Writing Under Multiple Names (writer panel) in DaVinci A&B
• 4:45-5:45-- Build-A-Hero Workshop (reader panel) in International D (Note: At least one cover model is supposed to be there to help out!)

Thursday (aka busy-ass day number 1--I'm also pitching in here somewhere)

• Club RT (there is some confusion over what time, it may be 11:15 or it might be 1:30 or even 2:00--I'll update as soon as I see the official program)
• 2:45-3:45--Steampunk Gaslamp Gathering (reader event) in O'Hare A, B, & C (Do NOT miss this one. There will be snacks and costumes and a fashion show. People who attended last year loved it.)

• 4:00-6:00--Signing at the E-book expo (GunShy, Badlands, and Pretty Souls will be available to buy through All Romance E-books. In addition, I'll have print copies of Pretty Souls to sell and sign.)

Friday (aka busy-ass day number 2)

• 10:00-11:00--Plotters, Pantsers, Plotsers (writer panel) in LaGuardia
• 11:15-11:45--Club RT appearance
• Afternoon--Photo shoot with VLC Photography! (offsite)
• 5:00-7:00--Carina Press author party (offsite)

Saturday (At this point... I'll sleep when I'm dead. Actually I may sleep in the morning :P)

• 6:15-7:15-- Fan-Tastic Day Party (reader event) in Rosemont
• 8:00-9:00-- Carina Press Cocktail Party (They are giving away an iPad 2--maybe 3?--at this event!)

Coming this summer!

In addition to all of that, places where I'll be to support friends and have fun (for at least part of the time) include:

• Wednesday-- Ellora's Cave Step Up & Stomp Party (9-12) and the YA Midnight Slumber Party (11:45-1)
• Thursday-- Clan McFae Faery Ball (8:30-12)
• Friday-- Heather Graham's Night of the Stars Party (9-12)
• Saturday-- Giant Book Fair (10:45-2), SOS Military Mixer (3:30-4:45), Candy & Spoons (5-6), Harlequin Dance Party (9-12)

As far as swag goes, there will be Badlands trading cards again. Also, I have buttons! There will be Blood Kissed buttons in promo alley. But I'm also going to have some Badlands ones--complete with phoenix. There are two ways to get Badlands buttons. One is to attend the Gaslamp Gathering on Thursday. They will be in the goodie bags! As for the second way...

I will have a few extras with me (probably about 20-40). If you can't make the Gaslamp Gathering, you have to hunt me down (and hope I still have some) and give me a Badlands specific code word. In addition... I will also have a small stash of buttons featuring the Kiss of Death cover (probably only 20 of these, so if you want one, find me early!) and some Cupid's Conquests buttons. Each of these will have a specific code word. Make sure you know the word for what you want! 

• The word for a Badlands button is: Dragonfly. 
• The word for a Kiss of Death button is: Remus. 
• The word for a Cupid's Conquests button is: Psyche.

The Romance Is Over

Or at least the Mr. Romance competition.

Word came out last Wednesday that the people behind the Romantic Times convention have pulled the plug on the competition. I'm not going to re-hash their reasons (you can read them here --> http://readersentertainment.com/2011/no-more-mr-romance/ ). It's no secret I'm not happy about this, but I don't think it's for the reason most people who know me (or know of me) think. Okay, that might be a bit of the reason, but it's not the whole reason.

Here's the thing...I love the Romantic Times Convention. I love the scope of it and the parties and meeting authors and, yes, meeting the models. It's all part of this big package to me that screams in orgasmic joy. The powers-that-be at RT are saying that there will still be models there, and I'm sure some of them will be, but I'm going to hazard a guess that for the most part it will be the people who have been there before: CJ Hollenbeck, Jimmy Thomas, Mark Johnson... and maybe a few of the more recent contestants. But odds are there won't be new blood every year. And I don't like that...for a lot of reasons.

We'll start with the obvious one that most people will think I mean--there won't be the opportunity to meet new models. Yes, I like meeting and partying with (and actually talking to) men. Sure, I like talking to men I already know, but meeting new ones is fun. I'll miss that. And if my regular dance partners don't go? Um...the dances are going to be a lot less fun. Sorry to all my girlfriends. Dancing with you is fun, but I like dancing with guys.

Now onto (some of) the other reasons.

First is the opportunity the Mr. Romance competition provided to up and coming models. Many of the guys who competed didn't have connections in the romance industry, and for some, Mr. Romance was their first glance into that world. There are quite a few male models who would love to get into cover modeling but don't have the connections. Mr. Romance was a foot in the door--one that has just been cut off. Considering more than one of the competitors this year alone signed with agents and stock photo companies because of the competition, that means less opportunities for models and fewer options for authors. I don't know about any other author, but I like the increased possibility of having models that fit what my characters actually look like.

But that's not even the biggest issue.

That one is RT itself. As I said, I love this con and Mr. Romance was one thing that made it stand out from all the others. Without it, what makes it special? What makes it different than...RomCom or RWA Nationals or Authors After Dark or (for those of us who write genre romance) DragonCon or World Con or World Fantasy? Every author and reader has to make choices on where their promotional dollar goes, and cons are expensive. As far as registration and promotion goes, RT might be the most expensive. To be fair, someone's going to be most expensive, and it might as well be them. But at a certain point, if RT loses what makes it unique, what is going to encourage authors and readers to spend the extra to attend?

I want to have faith that the powers-that-be have something planned to make RT stand out since they're doing away with the Mr. Romance competition, but I don't know them well enough to say that for certain. The best I can do is hope that something awesome will take its place, because I'd hate to see RT become just another con.

Is This Thing On?

Hey all, I'm back from RT. Sadly I came back sick (whoever got me sick...I'm not very happy with you). So, I'm not doing a big blog post here this week. Today I'm at From the Shadows doing an interview about Badlands, and tomorrow I'll have my RT roundup go live at Wicked Lil Pixie's. Hopefully next week I'll be back to my old self and have something mind-alteringly brilliant to post here :P In the meantime, please visit my other haunts this week.

<3

Find me at RT!

I've been talking about it for a while, but tomorrow I finally take of for the Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention in LA! This is my first con as a published author and I'm really geeked. Not only will I get the chance to meet a lot of my author friends I only know from online, but I get to meet people--real people!-- who read my books. Crazy excited about it. So, if you are one of those readers who wants to meet me, I'm going to give a list of activities I'll definitely be at (bolded) and others I'll probably be at so you can find me.

Tuesday:

8pm (I think)--Decadent Publishing's field trip to the Viper Room to see Run Devil Run.

Wednesday:

Morning--at the agent/editor pitches, seeing who I can see :)

Afternoon--various panels

3:25 pm -- I'll probably at least pop into the Carina Press publisher spotlight

6:30 pm-- Saucy Siren's through History

9 pm -- Ellora's Cave Bollywood Party

Thursday

Morning--at the agent/editor pitches, seeing who I can see :)

Afternoon--various panels

8:30pm--Venetian Masquerade Faery Ball




Friday

Morning--unknown

1:30pm--Club RT briefly for Decadent Publishing spotlight

2:45pm--Steampunk Social

4:00pm--E-book Expo (signing)

6:00pm--Avon's Dusk to Dark Mixer

8:00pm--Vampire Ball

Saturday

11:00am--Giant Book Fair (Signing as YA writer-me, Julie Particka)

5:00pm--Mr. Romance Competition

8:00pm--Carina Press Cocktail Hour

9:00pm--Harlequin Hollywood Glam party

If you're going to be there, I hope you pop by and say hi at some point!

Arrogance, Men and Romantic Times

Because if that title doesn't get me hits, I don't know what will.

Just kidding. Today's blog is going to be a bit of a mishmash, so please bear with me. Maybe by the end it'll all come together in some brilliant epiphany about the meaning of life.

Yeah. I kind of doubt it too.

One of my beta readers loves to point out how arrogant she thinks a particular character of mine is. I actually find it funny, because I see him as more...childish than arrogant, but she detests him because of it. This led me to thinking about arrogance in men in general, and I came to the conclusion that for me very few guys can pull off arrogance. Most look like complete assholes, but every once in a while it works (generally when accompanied by some sort of insecurity, but that's another story). So last night I asked twitter if they found arrogance appealing in the opposite sex, whether real or fictional people. The results weren't surprising, but were a little interesting.

Nicole said:

Is arrogance sexy/appealing? Not to me. Not even if it's deserved or understandable.

Andrea agreed:

No... not at all. One of the most off-putting qualities. Pretty much insures I'll hate them. Real and fictional...

Danielle was a little more forgiving:

It can be, but you have to be careful not to cross the line into asshole territory.

As was PJ:

A little arrogance at the right time can be insanely sexy. Too much and it gets to be a turn off real quick.

Laura differentiated between fictional and real:

I think arrogance is more appealing in a fictional character than in reality. Confidence is better in RL. But it's a fine line to walk.

Renae said much the same thing:

Appealing? No. Much more forgivable in fictional characters, but, I'll never say "if only he was more arrogant, he'd be hot"

Kelly was the most in tune with arrogance:

I usually go for the alpha guys in real life and in fictional characters. Arrogance is part of the package

Interestingly enough, all of the answers I got from men said no.

From Ken:

Confidance, snark, and a sharp wit = yes. Arrogance crosses the line and is generally a no.

Of course, I had to ask if acknowledging one had the first three by default made them arrogant. Apparently that could go either way. Hmmm...

But like everything, it seems people can't all agree on the appeal of arrogance. I debated doing a second poll with the same people asking them to rank their own arrogance, but that seemed even less scientific than the initial poll, so I quit while I was ahead.

On the topic of arrogant men, however, I'm getting ready to get my male model fix for the year. I know, I know, they aren't all arrogant--some are just really, really, really confident. Anyway...I leave for RT in twelve days. My last RT post, I had seventeen weeks! Now I'm down to less than two. All those fabulous promo plans...uh...not happening this year. What I want to do frankly cost too much to pull off with the revenue only coming in from a few shorts. Maybe by Authors After Dark this summer, but not for RT. I will have at least one project ready to pitch, maybe two (one adult, one YA). Even though the panel I'd planned for didn't happen, the lovely ladies at Steamed invited me to be part of the steampunk social on Friday, so I'm very geeked about that.

Right now though, I'm at the point I'm just trying to keep my head screwed on straight so I make sure everything is done and ready to go when I take off to drop the kids at my mom's house. Because once I leave here, if I've forgotten it, I just have to do without, which won't make me a happy camper.

So...what do I need to remember to take with me? (One of my lovely editors arranged for another of my lovely editors to pick up my vodka for me in advance, so WOOT! there will be booze!)

17 Weeks to RT!

Okay, okay, I know 17 weeks is kind of a long time, but with everything coming up, I have to start wrapping my head around this stuff in advance. You see, last year when I went to RT it was just for the con experience and pitching opportunities...and I still wasn't prepared.

This year? Now I'm a published author and I need to look at the convention in terms of promo as well as fun and opportunity. I'm slowly gathering some promo items to take with me, but I need more. The thing about promo is everyone's doing it, so I want my stuff to stand out. This is proving more difficult than anticipated since I also need to factor in cost and weight since I'll have to take it all on the plane with me or ship it in advance. So, with that in mind, I'm actually running out of time depending on what I go with.

But I also still need to prepare for pitches, and that means finishing novels not intended for my current publishers. This is harder than it sounds because in my mind I should be on the next Badlands story and doing something else for Evernight and plotting the next Blood Kissed, and that doesn't even take into account my young adult stuff. It's more than a little mind boggling. But I'm hoping to have stuff finished, polished and ready to pitch (especially since I have the experience from last year under my belt).

It's looking like I might be part of a panel this year too, which is huge. It also involves another set of stuff to prep. I'm incredibly geeked about it, so I hope like hell it pans out.

Then there's the fun and games portion of things. Hello? Outfits! Faery Ball, Vampire Ball... I love the madness. I'm on the lookout for bits and pieces to my costumes (still hunting for the perfect corset for the Vampire Ball).

Soooooo much to do and think about, and that's not even taking into account the little things like remembering to bring a power strip so my roommate, PJ Schnyder, and I can both get ready for events at the same time.

Basically what this post boils down to is a heads-up if you plan to attend an event like this. Yes, you can prep for it really quick if you need to, but I recommend putting some thought into things beforehand if you can. Now though? I need to get back to my novel-writing :)