RT 2010 Was a Blast!

Hi everyone!

Well, I promised to give a run down of my very first RT experience, and I have to admit, I had a lot of fun, met some awesome people, and actually got some writing done while locked in my hotel room with my critique partner Angie Fox.

I arrived in Columbus on Wednesday afternoon, and the first thing on the agenda was twisting the balloon animals for the Intergalactic Bar and Grille party hosted by Linnea Sinclair. It was a lot of fun. There was trivia, orange juice with some kick, and security officers from each "ship" dying for their captain. Though my fingers were tired from twisting little aliens for the tables, it was a good time.

I made the unfortunate, or fortunate, depending on how you look at it, mistake of making a certain alien's little feet pink. Much fun was had at the poor little guy's expense, which just goes to show, you can't get women around balloons without certain consequences.

That night was the EC "Paint the Town Red" party. It was the best dancing of the night, and everyone looked fabulous in red. I met quite a few of my fellow Bradford girls, and we had a good time dancing. I'd show pictures, but I was having the worst luck with my camera. Every time I took a picture, someone had a goofy look on their face. I have some serious blackmail, but I'm not going to post it, because it is just that bad. Instead, I'll post this picture of me and fellow author Vivi Andrews looking fabulous. Notice, I'm not the one taking the picture.

I spent a lot of time the next day finishing a new proposal, then going out to dinner at Gordon Biersch with the Bradford Bunch. The beer was awesome, and the company even better. That night was the Fairy Ball, and I had too much fun letting my inner fairy princess out to play.

I made every part of this costume by hand, except for the wings. It turned out well, and aside from not being able to breathe by the end of the night, I was able to dance and flitter to my heart's content in my comfy little slippers. Eden Bradley's costume was amazing, but alas, me and my picture taking skills, I did not get a picture of it. You'll just have to trust me, it rocked.

Corsets seemed to be a running motif as I dressed up to go to the vampire ball the following night. I got this adorable picture of Shelli Stevens looking cute and witchy.

Hanging out in the bar during this convention was a lot of fun, especially when the group of undertakers also having a meeting at the hotel collided with the vampy party going on upstairs. It was very surreal. Here's a picture of Eden Bradley in her vampire ball costume. She certainly went all out.

But the biggest highlight of the convention was the book signing. I had a great time signing brand sparkly new copies of Beyond the Rain and Beyond the Shadows for my fans. The signing was HUGE! J.R. Ward must have signed around a thousand books. It was like a marathon, but I have to hand it to the organizers and volunteers from Barnes and Noble. They ran the event like the pros they are. Everything went very smoothly, and it was a great experience.

Thank you to everyone who joined me at the convention. I had some hilarious and enlightening conversations with a lot of people. I had a wonderful time, and I hope I can do it again in the future.

The next event I'll be attending is the Lori Foster Reader's event in Cincinnati, June 4th, through the 6th. If you're in the area, I hope I can see you there. Details are on my homepage, www.jessgranger.com. I'll also be down in Orlando for the RWA National convention in Disney World!!!!! Yay! It will be a very serious and somber event I'm sure. Now where did I put my mouse ears?

Hope to see you there!

Jess Granger