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Intergalatic Buccaneers and Hollywood
April 17, 2008

Today was the official registration day at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Pittsburgh. The lobby was filled to overflowing and there were lots of squeals as friends who had never met except online greeted one another like long lost friends.  

Then the sessions officially began with at least 3 per hour to choose from.  Subjects ran from E-Marketing to Reinventing Paranormal  to  Erotica:  Look Who's Talkling.  I stopped in  to hear Heather Graham,F. Paul Wilson, Brenda Novak and Barry Eisler discuss  Romantic Suspense.  My favorite line was Heather Graham (who writes great sex scenes among other things) telling the story of her husband approaching her while she was deep in writing mode and telling her, "You can't write from memory forever."  

Karen Kelley, Rosemary Laurey, LuAnn McLane, Shiloh Walker, Janice Maynard

The Bookseller Buccaneer Bash, hosted by the Vamps and Scamps, was a big hit with the booksellers.  The pirate themed pizza party was decorated with gold chocolate coins, skull necklaces and grab bags filled with goodies.  Throw in the pizza and gaily attired hosts and it was easy to understand why the line to get in wound around the convention floor.


I had the most delightful lunch with Erin Galloway from Dorchester Publishing and Michelle Buonfiglio (B(u)y the Book).  

There were tons more sessions in the afternoon, but I was busy meeting and greeting everyone.  I was on a mission with my "Drive by Videos."  Several were posted yesterday, but look for more today.  These 15-30 second videos give you a glimpse of what's going on at RT.  

Intergalatic Bar & Grill Party

Next up was the Intergalactic Bar & Grill party.  They played a hilarious Q&A game where anyone wearing the deadly red necklace was killed off (in every Star Trek episode the crewman wearing a red shirt always died).  Linnea Sinclair moderated and wasn't afraid to order her minions to fire their blasters at full strength, to the delight of the packed room.

Dinner with Diane Stacy of Dorchester, hunky waiter Justin Bagatourian and author Renee Bernard

New this year was a booksigning by e-book authors.  Although there were several print books available, they had computers set up to show readers how to order e-books online and authors signed book flats.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how many authors were there (although I shouldn't have been).  These are terrific authors with great stories to tell and judging by the number of fans this industry is growing leaps and bounds.

Natalie Stenzel, Cathy Maxwell, Jennifer St. Giles

The final bash of the evening was a night of glamour, old Hollywood style hosted by Ellora's Cave.  There was even a red carpet and giant Hollywood sign.  People were decked out in seqined gowns, mink stoles, tiaras and fedoras.  That place was rocking long after I dragged my sorry, tired butt back to the room.


Bottom Line:   Note to self:  Don't wear a red necklace around Linnea Sinclair.

Posted by Barbara Vey on April 17, 2008 | Comments (12)