Just as I thought, once RWA got going, there was no way on earth (or in hell) that I would be able to blog—or read other people’s blogs for that matter. Conference brain hits early and hard! Knowing this was going to happen, I made a point of having paper and pen with me at all times, naïvely thinking I would remember to take notes during the day.

Yes, I know: of course it didn’t happen.

Still, I took pictures like a the crazy woman I am and I’m hoping *sending vague prayers upwards* that a visual prompt will help me remember at least some of the highlights… Plus, of course, all the cards I tucked on the back of my badge. Really, some memories should surface.

Right?

A couple of things I forgot to mention in my previous post: first, that while sitting with the bloggers at the Dolphin’s lobby on Tuesday afternoon, I saw Eloisa James walk by. I said her name out loud, and she looked over, smiled… and walked just a tad bit faster… I think I’m scarier than I know 😉

Second, when AnimeJune joined us there, she was coming back from (in her own words) indulging her obsession with all things Disney. She sat down, exhausted, and put her feet up. Then she noticed our badges and wonderful, roomy, pretty, heavy-duty tote bags, and asked where the registration area for the conference was. When told that it closed less than ten minutes later, she jumped up and literally raced across the lobby. Amazing, the reviving powers of the shiny, eh?

And without further ado, here’s the first part of my way too long and image heavy round up:

Wednesday

After some early morning madness (seriously, couldn’t I have baked the cookies at least one day in advance? No, not I, the idiot known as azteclady :sigh: ) I managed to snag a parking spot right by the convention side of the Dolphin hotel just around five in the afternoon. This was quite lucky as the line to the signing was already starting. Intrepidly, I contacted my fellow bloggers and was joined in short order by the usual suspects:

L to R: AnimeJune, LB Gregg, Kristie(J), SLWendy and (unfortunately looking the other way) Rosie.

In case you cannot see it properly, here’s a second take of the wonderful Kristie(J)—who thinks she won’t be in pictures if she’s taking her own. So innocent…

(Got her good, didn’t I? :evil 😀 : )

During the utter and wonderful insanity that is the annual Literacy Autographing, I managed to stop at the tables of fifteen authors—though I only snagged seven books (I honestly don’t get it, but apparently publishers won’t give them books a couple or three months in advance for the signing—crazy, ain’t it?). Being the dork that I am, I gave each of them some of the afore-mentioned cookies—the signing is two hours long and many of the authors there stay until the bitter end, well past the official one, so the cookies were in the manner of a ‘survival kit.’ Unfortunately, more than one of them are allergic to some of the ingredients… hopefully they found something else to munch on!

(pictures in alphabetical order:)

Maya Banks

Jaci Burton

Anna Campbell

Tessa Dare

Cynthia Eden

Diane Gaston

K.A. Mitchell

Elizabeth Naughton

Nalini Singh

Juliana Stone

After doing the rounds—and let me proudly report that I squeed considerably less than last year (didn’t lose my voice, go, me!)—I met SLWendy, Kristie(J), Rosie, AnimeJune, L. B. Gregg, and a number of other bloggers, readers, authors, etc. at the Bloggers Bar Bash (take two). This time I have evidence—though there’s a mystery to be unraveled here: I am positive that I took several pictures during the evening, yet I only found one in the camera. Do you think there may be gremlins at work here?

Most of the usual suspects: Kristie(J), AnimeJune, Rosie and L.B. Gregg.

When I left, there were at least twenty people having a total blast, but considering how many of us came and went as other appointments required, I have no doubt that probably a total of forty, perhaps even forty five, people stopped by. Once again, though, I didn’t get to talk with many of them, though I did spend some time with Rosie and with the oh, so cool! Vivian Arend (who I hugged and hugged and hugged at the Literacy signing, though I have NO photographic evidence of that either—gah!)

*ahem*