#RT14 here I come!

 

Adios, work! I'm heading to RT14! 

I have been looking forward to this for months. The Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in being held in New Orleans this year (just 5 hours from me!) and I'm going! I am not a romance writer at all, but this genre is by far my absolute favorite. I heard about this convention in November at my local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapter's annual luncheon. I thought it would be pretty cool to go. What sealed the deal? When I saw that Lisa Kleypas would be there. Done!

Kleypas is right up there with Johanna Lindsey for me. After I had my initial fangirl freak out moment I began planning. I could not afford the entire convention. It was like $600 for the whole week, plus I'm not a writer. They have an extraordinary and massive book fair (perfectly named as the Giant Book Fair) at the end. Admission included the book fair (over 600 romance authors!) plus a day filled with workshops...all hosted by bestselling authors! The whole day is called FAN-tastic Day. How could I not go!  I was able to convince my sister, who has never read a romance book, that a weekend trip to NOLA was in order. 

Sadly, my sister had to back out a few weeks ago for work related issues. My friend, fellow librarian, and romance reader extraordinaire Morgan was able to step in and attend with me. We have planned a fun filled weekend with cemetery walking tours, ghost and vampire tours, and plenty of alcohol.  

To prepare for the Giant Book Fair, I have been strategizing over who I wanted to see. With over 600 authors, you cannot go in unplanned. Out of all the authors I have narrowed it down to 18 that I want to visit at the Giant Book Fair. I have also ordered them by who I should visit first. There are some pretty big names at the book fair and I don't want to spend the whole 3 hours in lines. 

1. Lisa Kleypas

2. Charlaine Harris

3. E.L. James

4.Jeaniene Frost

5. Maya Banks

6. Jamie McGuire

7. Tamora Pierce

8. Ilona and Gordon Andrews

9. Kresley Cole

10. Shayla Black

11. Cora Carmack

12. Stephanie Perkins

13. Jackie Morse Kessler

14. Tiffany Reisz

15. Jennifer Haymore

16. Tessa Dare

17. Melody Anne

18. Maya Rodale

If you are familiar with the list you might have realized that I left off some of the big names: Eloisa James, Lauren Willig, and Sylvia Day. I will be seeing these authors at smaller  events later on during the year so I wanted to save meeting them for those events. 

I have also been stockpiling on books. I originally thought I could only take two books. I agnoized over this decision and finally decided on Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas and Colter's Woman by Maya Banks. A hard decision but these two are by far my favorites. Luckily though, my friend Morgan is an amazing librarian and did a better job at digger than I originally did. Instead of two books total, it is 2 per author. That takes it to a whole new ball game. I have been scouring amazon and my local used bookstore for weeks now. The final total is 24 books. 

• Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) by Charlaine Harris - 2 copies - My personal copy and a copy for my BFF.
• The Duchess Hunt by Jennifer Haymore - Received this in my RWA Librarian Day Swag Bag last year and loved it!
• Magic Bites and Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #1 &2) by Ilona Andrews
• One Foot in the Grave and Grave's End (Night Huntress #2 & 3 - I already have number 1 and 7 signed) by Jeaniene Frost
• A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
• All Lined Up by Cora Carmack - They pushed up the release of the book but they were not able to get any copies to RT. Luckily, Carmack let me know and I was able to get a copy before I left.
• Submit (Surrender #2) by Melody Anne 
• Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse #1) by Jackie Morse Kessler
• Colter's Woman and Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks - I really wanted to bring Be With Me, which I have read several times, but I loved the romance in Never Seduce a Scot...I might bring Be With Me along anyways and change my mind. 
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
• The Prince and the Angel by Tiffany Reisz
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Seduce Me at Sunrise and Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas - It Happened One Autumn was also a contender.
• Delicious by Shayla Black
• Beka Cooper: Terrier (for Morgan) and Alanna (not pictured - picking up from BAM in a few minutes) by Tamora Pierce. I have Trickster's Choice pictured but I've decided to take Alanna instead. 
• Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. 

See you next week!