In which I rant about how all my dreams came true (aka a RomCon recap)
First of all, let me apologize for the very belatedness of this rant. But life has a way of, well, getting in the way and keeping me from getting anything done. But enough of life! I have stories of awesomeness to share! And without further ado, my recap of RomCon.
I went to RomCon with my best friend Sheila and the very first thing we did Thursday night was have dinner with Gena Showalter. Hhhhnnnnnnuuuuuggggggghhhh. (I actually made that noise several times before and after dinner. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make it during dinner but I was delirious with fangirl-itis. I still make that noise when I think about that night.) Me being the hugging fangirl that I am, I instantly threw myself on her, professing my undying love. Thankfully, she didn’t run away screaming in fear, or call security.
Gena eats food, like a real person! She’s not some goddess or writing machine. I tried really hard not to stare at her like a creeper but it was hard because she’s Gena freaking Showalter and I want to be her when I grow up. Somehow, I managed to ask my interview questions and got some really awesome information. (The interview should go up soon. Hopefully. If life gets out of my way. Stupid life.) After dinner, I floated around the hotel in a state of bliss and happiness.
The next day, Sheila and I stalked Gena some more. Met other authors. Ate lunch with the absolutely AMAZING Darynda Jones. Who is amazing. Did I mention that Darynda is awesome? Because she totally is. Happened to run into Gena. Went to a couple of panels. Met a sexy yet anorexic cowboy. (His abs looked airbrushed but they were real. I know because I touched them. Despite his finely cut abs, he was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too skinny.)
They had the first big signing on Friday night and that’s when I first met Pamela Clare. I may have mentioned this in a previous rant, but Pamela Clare’s I-Team series inspired me to become a journalist. (Well, I’m going to school and getting a degree in journalism because of her.) Meeting her, and telling her exactly how much her books impacted my life…yeah, we both cried.
And then I had to tell her how, a few months ago, my aunt was looking for something to read and I gave her my copy of Surrender. She stayed up the entire night reading it, then demanded books two and three from me. I haven’t gotten any of the books back but I’m pretty sure she’s read each of them at least a dozen times. (I won’t give her my copies of the I-Team series. I don’t want to lose them!!)
That night, we were hanging out with our friend Cait and the amazing Darynda in their room, just talking. All of a sudden, a man bangs on the door and screams, “Shut the fuck up in there!” Darynda jumped up and went to the door to confront him but he was gone. Poof. Vanished into his room. So then we started talking extra loud, because we’re all mature adults like that. Sure enough, a few minutes later, he was back and banging on the door, once again telling us to “shut the fuck up in there.” When Darynda went to confront him, he was gone. (The coward.)
Instead, a woman jumped into the room. Giggling, she said that he was her husband and he was slightly drunk. We all giggled, made loud noises and giggled some more. After a couple minutes she went back into her room, which just so happened to be right next to ours. Apparently all our giggling made the man even more mad because he started banging on the connecting door. Only this time he yelled, “Will you shut the fuck up in there? I’m trying to have sex with my wife in here and I can’t get a boner with you bitches being so loud.”
I. Am. Not. Joking. All four of us died laughing. Cait jumped up and looked around the room for the hottest book we had gotten at RomCon. She picked up a copy of Beneath The Skin by Lauren Dane (it has a truly yummy cover) and started banging on his door. When the man opened the door, she handed over the book and said, “Here, this will help you.” At first, he was confused, saying that he didn’t know how a book could possibly help and he didn’t need to bring any props to bed. But then his wife saw the cover and said, “Oh yes, we need that.” He tried to put up more of a fight but in the end, they went to bed with the book. (We didn’t hear any noises coming from their room, but after a while, we could hear him speaking. We weren’t sure if he was reading out loud, and learning new tricks, or if he was just talking to himself.)
I cannot make this stuff up. (Of course, we told Lauren Dane all about it and we all joked that maybe, finally, he could learn something.)
Saturday, Sheila and I had lunch with Lauren Dane and Megan Hart. They’re so adorable and funny and amazing that I really wanted to wrap them up and take them home with me and watch bad porn with them. Because that’s how awesome they are. (They did a chat and told everyone about all the bad porn they watch together. Some of the stories made me think there’s not enough mind-bleach in the world. And the rest of their stories made me want to watch the porn just so I could laugh.)
At the second signing, I hung around Gena’s table. (Like I would be anywhere else?! :D) And that was when she told me she loves me.
Let me repeat myself: GENA SHOWALTER SAID SHE LOVES ME.
Yes. Gena Showalter told me that she loves me. I can’t even. She even told other people, including the professional photographer. And she wrote it in two of my books. And no, I did not force her to say it. She said it all by herself. Siiiiiiiiigh. Dream come true times ten gazillion. Seriously. Any time I’m mad or sad or annoyed or ready to flip off Life, I remind myself that Gena Showalter loves me and then I become deliriously happy. Because how can I be unhappy thinking about that?!
That night, Sheila and I snuck into the dinner/Casino Party and we spent hours playing Black Jack with Darynda Jones, and Heather Graham came and played at our table for a while. It was kind of epic. Okay, really epic. And fun.
And that was my weekend at RomCon. I know it’s going to sound weird, but I am totally jealous of myself. Seriously. All of that…happened to me? Me? Half the time I think I dreamed it all up. But then I go and look at my copy of The Darkest Passion and see where Gena wrote “I love you!” and I scream in happiness all over again. Alrighty, now I’m going to die a happy fangril death because what else can I do with my life now?
P.S. Gena gave Sheila and I an ARC of Through The Zombie Glass. (Yes, we have joint custody of this book. Gena even wrote that when she signed it to both of us.) All I can say is, IT’S FREAKING AMAZING. Way better than the first book.
P.P.S. I also got to meet Sylvia Day. I don’t have any crazy stories with her but she was amazing.
