RT 2008: Bookfairs, booze, mangeants and more

Originally published at Dark Territory. You can comment here or there.

So, I was planning to do this awesome liveblogging thing, but THAT lasted about fifteen seconds.  Instead, I bring you my Greatest Hits of RT:

Meeting the peeps

Both fans and authors, I met more new people in four days than I met through all of high school.  Special shout outs go to Renee, everyone who came and talked to me at the bookfair, Todd and the rest of the Mark Henry Plague Carriers, Christina and Erika (who had the best mermaid costume I’ve ever seen.)

As far as authors went, I met Melissa Marr and Jeaniene Frost in person for the first time.  Aside from Richelle and Jackie, I’ve known the longest I’ve known anyone in the industry.  Rachel Vincent, who writes the Faythe Sanders books and is adorable, Jocelynn Drake, who’s first novel comes out in July (all together now: YAY) and is about vampires, Jenna Black, author of The Devil Inside and possessor of some seriously spiffy spiked hair, Michelle Rowen aka Michelle Maddox, who is both Canadian AND fabulously snarky, Barry Eisler, author of the Rain thrillers, and of course Kim Harrison, which was a major fangirl moment for me.  (In fact, I made poor Richelle introduce us when I recognized her in the hotel restaurant the first morning.)(Don’t worry, she was still in line with Guy in the Leather Jacket…I at least know enough not to interrupt writers while they’re eating.)  Everyone I met at RT in the industry, with the exception of some fucking diva moments from some fucking divas, was fabulous.  I also hung out with Heather Osborn and Jozelle Dyer from Tor, who are fine folks and funny as hell.

Oh, the drama!

And what fab drama there was.  There was mantitty drama whenever the cover models showed their faces.  There was screechy OMG drama when Jeaniene won a Reviewer’s Choice award for best urban fantasy.  There was dinner-theater drama with covers of popular songs that you literally had to see to believe, and at the self-same vampire ball there was bad drama when I got separated from my badge and the door-minder took exception.  However, that drama got sorted quickly thanks to Jo-Carol Jones, con organizer extraordinaire and all-around fine human being.

Mangeants of steel

I attended the Mr. Romance competition on the recommendation of everyone, who all basically said something along the lines of “No words can describe it.”  And they were right.  There was a Very Stilted MC.  Costumes and pose-downs.  The contestant’s ideas about “what romance meant”, one of which was expressed in a poem.  About the time one of the models busted out a Franklin Mint Highlander sword and swung it around his head in slow-mo, I fucking lost it. Richelle captured my near-aneurysm on film, fortunately.  Michelle Rowen and I also came up with nicknames for all of the contestants…”Blue Steel”, “Baldwin Brother”, “Keanu”, etc.  “Keanu” won.  He had immobile hair and a winning smile, so it was a no-contest.

Liquored up = not mine

There was a bar across from the Hilton (which was under construction, and full of completely bemused Burly Contractors) called Palomino, which served me three raspberry mojitos in a row that failed to leave me buzzed in any way.  In fact, aside from a $5 Long Island iced tea that I got a lunch that day, I didn’t even come close to liquored.  It’s amazing my sanity is still intact, really.

More authors than I have ever seen at one time ANYWHERE EVER

The RT Bookfair on Saturday morning was a thing of madness.  Imagine a room the size of a small sports field crammed full of long tables full of authors.  Over 200 of them, all signing books.  Now imagine the fans lined up for their favorites, cover models doing “The Fonz” for pictures and these people.  Coming up to me.  Buying my book.  I’m still a newbie author and this is all completely surreal to me.  I sold out of books in under an hour, and since NIGHT LIFE was in the free book room I had a steady stream of people for three hours, some of whom just came by to chat or to get my bitchin’ stickers signed.

Pittsburgh, the city of stacking

Pittsburghians like to stack things.  My favorite restaurant that I found, Primanti Bros, stacks the french fries inside the sandwich.  With coleslaw. We found other “stackers” on menus throughout the city, so clearly this is a far-reaching tradition, which is awesome.  Also, I ate a sandwich at the same place with the $5 booze entitled the “Jumbo Fish”.  One of the Mr. Romance contestants was named John Fish.  You can guess what his nickname was.

So, in conclusion, this convention was probably some of the craziest shit I’ve ever seen, I met some REALLY great new writers and I can’t wait to go back next year.