Off To The Romantic Times Convention!

I'm SO excited this morning, because I'm off to attend the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, held this year in Orlando, Florida! I've heard about this wild and wacky four-day event for years, but I've never been able to attend. This year, Orlando being only a short drive away from where I live, I was absolutely determined not to miss it.

Being an RT virgin, so to speak :-), I'm not entirely sure what to expect (except for lots of fun!)

I begin the day with a short drive to the Orlando airport to pick up dear friend, Janice Lynn, who has promised to show me the ropes. Once Janice and arrive and get settled into our room, we'll be attending workshops, publisher spotlights and editor panels.

I have some publisher-related functions to attend, beginning with the Avon "Paranormal Party" on Thursday, April 23rd! From 2:00-2:30p, you can tune in live on the Internet (by clicking the graphic to the right or the link above) and hear me and my Avon author "ghoulfriends" talk about vampires, werewolves and all things spooky. The call-in number for the show is 347-826-9686, and we'll be taking questions, so please give a listen! After that, on Thursday at 5:00p, I'll be attending the Avon "Dusk to Dark" cocktail party, and signing copies of my latest release, You're the One That I Haunt! There will be another signing on Saturday, April 25th, at the giant Book Fair at the Orlando Wyndham Resort (open to the public), with hundreds of other authors in attendance! Immediately following the signing, I'll be doing a video book excerpt for Romantic Times Magazine, where I'll be reading from my current book and spending a few minutes talking about the Nicki Styx series. (*gulp* Wish me luck!)

And then, there are the nightly costume parties! Every single night, conference go-ers go wild and try to outdo each other with their costumes (or so I'm told), each party based on a different theme. On Wednesday night, Janice and I will be attending the Ellora's Cave jungle-themed Fantasy Party, on Thursday night it's the Seelie and Unseelie Faery Ball Dinner and Dance (followed by the Greek Gods of Midnight party, but I'll probably be asleep by then - I'm not much of a night owl), on Friday night it's the Vampire Ball, and on Saturday night it's Splashing By the Sea party! Costumes are not mandatory, and Janice and I will be in the "minimalist" group, I'm sure, though we do have our fairy wings and vampire teeth at the ready!

We'll need to have our vocal cords in good order on Saturday when it's time for the RT BOOKreviews Award Ceremony, so we can cheer for our good friend, Stacey Kayne, whose smokin' hot western hero, Chance Morgan of MAVERICK WILD, is up for a K.I.S.S. award! Hopefully we'll still have some steam left for the 2009 Mr. Romance Cover Model Competition that evening! It'll be a hardship watching those handsome guys strut their stuff, but somebody's gotta do it, and it may as well be me! :-)

Anyway, if you could go to one of the costume parties I mentioned above, which one would it be? Which theme sounds like the most fun? Jungle, fairies, vampires, greek gods, or by the sea? I'll post some pictures here on the blog when the conference is over.