This is a bit belated but it’s been a crazy couple of weeks! I had such a great time at the Romantic Times Convention and I just wanted to share a bit about it. You should totally come next year. It’s in New Orleans!
So, I totally failed and only took one picture the whole time I was there. But it’s a cute one of Kiera Cass and I the night she found out The Elite debuted number one on the New York Times Bestseller list. So at least there’s that 🙂
Thankfully the RT peeps take about a billion pictures and share them on flikr. The link under each image will be take you to the RT Convention photo stream.
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Much of the week at RT is spent going to panels on any number of genres/topics/etc… I typically go to all the YA panels and some of the librarian ones as well. As you can see from the image above the YA panels are made up of and moderated by amazing YA authors. It was so interesting to hear what the authors had to say on all the different topics adressed. The last part of the panel discussion is opened up for questions from the audience. I love this because the audience is made up of readers, aspiring writers, and published authors. There are usually really interesting questions. It’s so much fun.
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There are also all kinds of events organized by different publishers and authors. I helped out at the Avon Red Slipper Lounge. It was a party for attendees that featured a large group of Harper authors. There were plenty of free books and plenty of free chocolate. What more could you ask for in a party? I got to sit with Sarah MacLean while she was signing and it just affirmed that she is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.
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Other events like the Anniversary Ball, Freaky Friday Dance, and Steampunk Tea create opportunities for attendees to dress up. I am not clever enough to come up with awesome costumes but Leigh Bardugo totally is. How great does she look? There were so many people dressed up for every event. I was so impressed by their packing skills! I had a hard enough time trying to figure out what to wear for the everyday stuff. No way could I have planned out so many wardrobe changes!
At the end of the week there is Teen Day. If there is ever an RT convention near you I highly suggest that you at least attend this part. It stars with a huge signing. There is a whole section of the signing set aside for YA authors. It’s pretty epic. Not gonna lie, I brought a suitcase full of books to get signed AND bought more there!
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After the super signing there are a couple more panels. Again, these are made up of and moderated by amazing YA authors. There is also a speed reading session and a speed dating session you can go to. I was familiar with all the authors doing both so I went to the panels. Great discussion and lots of laughs! YA authors are the best!
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Teen Day ends with a bang at the Teen Day Party. As teens enter the party they are given a bag with YA books and swag. They then can go through a line and pick up out a few more books. I love this part. It’s so fun to see how excited the teens get. Some of the books are ARCs and you can just see their faces light up when they get a book that isn’t even out yet. The authors attend the party as well. Teens (and all other attendee) can mingle with them and get their books signed. This year I spent most of the party helping teens find the authors of the books they got so they could get them signed. Also, I got one of the extra teen bags to give to my local library for summer reading prizes. It was great!
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There aren’t any pictures of one of my favorite parts of the week… just hanging out with friends in one of the many seating areas of the hotel. It’s so nice to get to see people you talk to online and maybe see once a year. I loved just sitting at the tables and talking about what we’ve been reading.
A HUGE thank you to all the authors who attended. I especially want to thank Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. They organize the YA track and Teen Day. It is so well run. I can only imagine how much work it involves. As a reader and a librarian I so appreciate all they do.
While RT is not really a convention all about getting free books I did buy a ton as well as getting some ARCs and awesome swag. Rather than doing an IMM I thought I’d post the pictures here.
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| Paperbacks I already own the hardcover of |
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| Finished Copies |
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| ARCs |
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| Bookmarks! Stickers! Samplers! |
And I had to highlight these awesome things! Eyeshadow from Born of Illusions (thanks to Teri Brown!) Pins inspired by Stephanie Perkins’ books (Thanks Penguin!) And a super amazing gift that Sarah Rees Brennan “accidentally” snagged from Cassandra Clare… Jem’s jade pendant!
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