Monday, June 4, 2012

Fabulous - Lori Foster's Reader & Author Get Together Convention



For my second year I was lucky enough to attend the Annual Reader & Author Get Together hosted by Lori Foster & Duffy Brown in Cincinnati. The best word to describe the jammed pack event was, "FABULOUS". I had such a great time. 

After a 7 hr car ride (I won't talk about the brake fluid or the allergic reaction I had that left me a cyclopes) we arrived safe & sound and eager to meet & greet. 
Look at the awesome goodie bag we were provided at the sign in. I am participating in a blog hop starting June 8th and I am going to give away the entire Reader & Author Convention welcome bag as a prize. (as well as the autographed copy of The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis that I was able to score) 

HelenKay Dimon, Me & Jill Shalvis

Why yes, I did totally act like the fan girl that I am. 

One of my favourite annual activities at the Get Together are the numerous workshops and chat opportunities. HelenKay Dimon and Jill Shalvis hosted a great group discussion about Contemporary Heroes. It was fun and interactive. I took a wee video snippet if you are curious about what the discussions were like. Included are some great thoughts that HelenKay and Jill shared about heroes in romance books. 



Some more random pictures....

Authors Renee Vincent & Margaret Ethridge (I love these two)
Me with the fabulous Vicky Dreiling


Ruth Hartman, Kim Jacobs, Patricia Marie Warren & Margaret Ethridge
Another fabulous workshop was hosted by Sue Grimshaw from Random House. She wanted to talk with readers to find out what we like and what we want to read in romance books. There was no shortage of conversation here! (I got in my 2 cents that contemporary romances don't always have to end with a marriage and a baby) 



In the video snippet, Sue talks about the fabulous Loveswept series. Awesome deals! 

The Marriott was awesome, the food was great, the basket raffles were outstanding, the volunteers rocked and everyone was just so damn nice. I loved meeting fellow book bloggers that I chit chat with on Twitter and my "to be read" reading pile just got a whole lot bigger. (good thing I scored some free books)

I am sure you are curious about the something that was not awesome. I mean cause everything was just awesome. Well, it could be that the wait for a drink from the bar took a long time but it didn't seem to hold back Madison J Edwards and I. LOL



Cheers to a FABULOUS weekend event!



12 comments:

Julie said...

It was an incredible weekend, made even more special because I got to spend so much time with you! Can't wait till the next one! Thanks for sharing the pics and the vids! :)

Laurie said...

Glad you had such a great time and score some awesome stuff for your blog hop. Now, you have to unwind.

Margaret said...

It was an awesome weekend! So happy I got to spend some time with you!

Man Candy Fans said...

It was so great to meet you there, Michelle! I'm going next year and plan to bring some friends with me!

Vicky Dreiling

June M. said...

I am going to have to try to make it to this next year. It is close enough for me to drive so if I can get my anxiety under control some, it would be a great one to go to.

Unknown said...

Julie & Margaret - It was special because I got to spend time with you!

Laurie - Such a great weekend. I've never given away swag for a prize so we'll see how it goes.

Vicky - so excited to have met you. You are such a nice person and a lot of fun.

June - It is really is a fun time. If you come and don't know anyone, in no time at all, you'll have instant friends.

Julie said...

This con sounds like such fun! And you are so right: romance books don't need to end in marriage and baby. Sometimes that just feels forced. :)

Unknown said...

This was a fab weekend. Can't wait for next year. I was totally with you 'fangirling' Jill Shalvis, but I was too scared to get my picture with her. *sigh* Now I regret it.

Ruth J. Hartman said...

Loved spending time with you and everyone else last weekend. It was a blast! Thanks for the great post and pictures!

deanna_boocock said...

never been - would love to meet Dean Koontz

Tyraa said...

Another reason why I need to move to USA. So many great conferences plus look that haul of swag!

Renee Vincent said...

How could I have missed this post? Oh wow, I came across this by accident and I'm so glad I did. Michelle, as always, it was a pleasure to be at Lori Foster's with you again. I so love that pic of me and Margaret Ethridge you took! Thanks for sharing your experience and for including my name in your post. Much appreciated!