First of all: Hiii!! Good to be back, even though I'm completely knackered, after thinking I was okay last night. Is that jetlag catching up, finally? If so, DO NOT WANT.

As most of my LJ friends know, the lovely reneesweet has been posting about our adventures at Romantic Times on her blog. There are some more great pics over there, so please check 'em out. Although I don't have a cool (pink) digital camera like Renee, the one on my phone is pretty good so here are some more (although for some reason they all came out smaller than usual). I'm afraid I don't have much content (i.e. words) to go with them, as my brain srsly(tm) feels like mush. A couple of the photos are from other people - inc. Jenna Black and Rachel Vincent - thanks for letting me steal!



On the plane over to Orlando, I sat with a lovely couple from Ireland. They even drove me to my hotel. (Aren't they cute?)


Here is the other half of my first experience at Denny's (Renee posted the pic of me). Renee is every bit as awesome as I already knew she was.


Our first day together (before RT began) was hot, humid...and slightly wet at times. Renee shows off her gorgeous legs as we wait hours for the trolley to take us to the SHOPS. Yes, shopping is a crucial part of any vacation experience. Also, this pic will forever remind me of the madly cackling bus driver who drove past us (which means nothing to anyone other than Renee, so I apologise for that).


Probably the tamest bar photo I could find... ;) Here's the AWESOME Dakota Cassidy and Jackie Kessler. These ladies rock! I've gotta take a moment out here to say that this was the first time I'd met Dakota - I didn't even know her online before, though I've read her blog occasionally and was aware of her books. Oh. My. God. People, she is the most GORGEOUS, funny, crazy and yet sweet person you could ever meet. Talk about not having any airs & graces, yanno? Dakota made me and Renee feel like we belonged, and for that I thank her. (Yes, my eyes are shut in this picture and the fabulous Jackie is giving me bunny ears, but whatever. *g*)


One of my favourite RT people: Stacia Kane.


A major highlight of the whole experience was hanging out with my fellow Dames. I just wish we could ALL have been there. Here's me with Rachel Vincent and Jenna Black.


Holding hands with the super-cool Jeanne Stein.


Friday night Miriam Kriss took the agency clients out for a packed evening. Like, six hours of fun in an upside-down house, including interactive stuff and a comedy magic show. Here's me moonwalking...


...though I think Miriam does it better. ;)


Jackie Kessler braves the Bed of Nails. Most of us tried it, and they were REAL nails people! The backs of my arms were bare, but survived to tell the tale.


Extreme Bonding with your agent: preparing to ride the flight simulator. Miriam was driving, thank god.


The last night of hanging out with the Dames, plus Jen Lynn Barnes (funny, smart & cute - I tried not to hate her toooo much *g*) and Jocelynn Drake (ditto). Rachel Vincent took this not-particularly-flattering photo (I'm not posting the one of me & Keri eating - thanks for that, Rach), but it makes me smile because it helps me remember what a laugh we had.


Here's Rachel and Jocelynn (couldn't decide which one to post)...


...Keri Arthur and Jen Lynn Barnes...


...and Jackie Kessler with Jenna Black (big hugs to you two!).


I hung out with Richelle Mead and Caitlin Kittredge on Sunday. This is the third time I've spent time with Caitlin, and I think she's one of the coolest people I know. Not only super-talented and hard-working, but fun and sweet and...yeah, I'm a fan. Can you tell? ;) I hadn't met Richelle in-person before (though knew her a little online), but I can't wait to see her again now! She made me feel welcome from Day One and I appreciate that more than I can say.


The other part of our Starbucks foursome was Stacia Kane, looking AMAZING in that hat. I love Stace, just in case that isn't clear from these pics... *g*


This photo is stolen from Richelle Mead, and you should check out her LJ for more about what we were up to here. Yes, I was roped into doing Tarot readings for a group of us, but it was a fun way to pass a couple of hours on the last day of RT. On the left, you can just make out Jeri Smith-Ready who was another author I knew a little bit online, but came away totally loving after meeting her face-to-face. What a sweet person. *lowers voice* Jeri even invited me the Charlaine Harris party, being held off-site, which was incredibly kind of her. Sadly, I couldn't go as Renee was leaving at the same time, and there was no way I wasn't going to spend every possible minute with her before she left. :)


I took this pic as I waited for the airport shuttle. Look at that sky... Of course, I returned to London and it was cold and rainy. What a surprise, right?

Overall, my first ever Romantic Times Convention was so much fun; a totally worthwhile experience. While I think in terms of 'networking' RT probably has more to offer published authors and those seeking agent representation, I still had a blast. I spent an entire week with my friend and partner-in-crime reneesweet, after two years of knowing her online. I hung out with four of the Deadline Dames in-person, as well as Agent Dame. I loved getting to know Jenna, Jackie, Keri and Rachel. I met so many awesome people, way too many to mention here and I'm bound to forget someone. Still, here are a few more that I haven't yet said anything about: Mark Henry and his wife Caroline, who treated me as though I was one of the gang, and always made me feel welcome; Jaye Wells - in a word: FANTASTIC! Can't wait to see you again, Jaye! Michelle Rowen, who we somehow managed to sit with for lunch one day and is as fun and friendly as I always imagined she would be; Diana Rowland, whose debut novel comes out this year and greeted us as though we were old friends; Patrice Michelle, who I chat to online and was happy to finally meet; Melissa Marr, who I can't help feeling all fangirly over, but who hugged me and made the time to chat despite her busy schedule; Jeaniene Frost, who I met for the first time, and is glamourous and funny and always had smart things to say on the panels I saw her on; Renee George who was HYSTERICAL and cracked me up every time we ran into each other (even though she still thinks I'm "too sweet to live" *g*); Heather Osborn, who was so much fun and didn't seem like a New York editor at all. In a good way. LOL! Mario Acevedo, Mark Del Franco, Ilona Andrews... Wow, I could go on and on. But I won't, don't worry.

I'm sorry to anyone who hasn't been mentioned anywhere in this post, but every single person I spoke to or hung out with was awesome. Oh, and the panels were pretty good, too. Especially on Thursday when I attended three YA panels. This was a good thing, because it got me all fired up for my YA stuff again (despite supposedly working on the new adult urban fantasy), but a bad thing because now all I want to write is YA. Heh.


*Yes, I actually said this at one point. There was context. ;)