Sunday, April 20, 2014

Rainbow Con Day 2 and 3

Hi all. Delay in posting! Been falling into bed exhausted every night so far and haven't had the energy to post. I am definitely coming back next year to Rainbow Con! Not only is next year about the Big Cat Rescue, but it sounds like it's going to be even bigger and better. I really hope more readers and authors can come as the price will be significantly less than it was this year too! Strippers, Rainbow Jello shots, pizza party, field trips to the gay night light in Ybor City, and getting to meet some of the best friends you'll ever know... what more could you ask for? So if you can make it next year, please do so. I think you will have an amazing time, plus you'll get to meet me. :P

So on to the last two days...



Day 2 of Rainbow Con (Friday) had some great panels. I ended up missing breakfast, AGAIN because I am totally a slacker like that. The breakfast at the hotel ends too soon. It ends at 9:30a and there are two women here needing to get dressed! They should at least be like McDonald's and have it until 10:30a! My roommate Sui Lynn was on a paranormal romance discussion panel so I attended that to support her, but I did learn some interesting things to help me in my own paranormal writing. After the morning panel, we sat in the dealers room for a while at our table and I ended up walking around to the others, picking up swag and buying books! I am currently at 22 books being brought home. Thank goodness I drove here! Otherwise I would have to make time to take it to the post office and pay to ship them back.

I went to the hospitality suite for the first time to grab some of the amazing spread they had there. Chips, CHEESE BALLS(!), cookies, candies, fruits, all sorts of drinks, crackers, and soooo much more available. And the best part.... they're all free. :P  SL Armstrong confirmed they would have the same thing next year so you can practically eat almost all day long for free.

After lunch, I sat with Sui again at her signing and listened to some great excerpt readings. It actually has prompted me to want to read some stories I didn't think I would want to or wouldn't normally be something I would have known about or necessarily picked up. I am definitely going to grab them either here if they're available or once I get back home.

Becky Condit with Jello Shots and Birthday Cake April 19, 2014
At six thirty PM on Friday, all Dreamspinner Press authors met up in the lobby and went to a dinner together! What a blast yet scary ride to the restaurant. They fit all of us on the bus, NO room left, even standing room. The bus felt as if it would tip over more than once when we turned corners AND it bottomed out, scraping scarily along the ground as it turned the corners. O.O  I was closing my eyes and praying. LOL. Dinner was really a lot of fun. I got to get to know Becky Condit a bit better. She is a really amazing lady. Very sweet and funny. :) And it was her birthday yesterday!


We returned to the hotel about two hours later where I intended on joining in on the Euphemism Bingo game they were having, but totally got sucked into talking with several people outside. LOL. I am not an openly social butterfly and tend to stick to myself, but once you start talking to me and I get started, I tend to go for a long time. Didn't end up in bed until way after midnight!

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4456&cPath=995_1001
Everyone is wandering around in a t-shirt from Dreamspinner Press and I really want it! Have to order it once I get back home!

Isn't it pretty? :D  And so the truth! Women who don't like Gay Romance just haven't read it yet. LOL.

Can't wait to proudly wear it!







Day 3 (Saturday)  -
I once again did the social butterfly thing, talking with everyone, hanging out in the dealers room, and finally got a chance to spend some time in the hospitality suite talking to SL Armstrong who is a really beautiful and sweet woman! I think the work she, her husband, and the rest of the organizers and volunteers did is wonderful. They worked hard and really brought this to reality despite all of the bumps and chasms they reached along the road to here. 

I felt bad for some of the authors whose readings and signings were at 1pm on Saturday because they were up against the guest speaker's hour reading and chat. Some of the people didn't have anyone show up at all. I sat and listened to another author read for just me. I wish I'd been able to do that for everyone who didn't get to complete their reading. The author I sat for was Anastasia Vitsky. She writes beautifully, despite the content not being to my cup of tea, and anyone who enjoys domestic discipline should check out her books for sure. :)

My signing was at 2pm, but I really didn't expect much to be honest since I am still a small fish. Most people were attending the panels or readings going on at the same time instead of there to get the signature of itty bitty me, LOL. But I was entertained by the readings while sitting there and discovered other stories I will end up reading as well. Sometimes the blurbs don't catch me and I know that doesn't always mean the book is going to not be to my taste, but if there isn't a hook on the blurb that hits me I really don't see myself picking it up and reading it.

Sui Lynn and Rory Ni Coileain with one of the drag queens from the bar.
After the signing, I ended up going upstairs with a bad headache where I remained the rest of the evening. Took some pills, laid down and slept off and on for an hour or two. Sui came back to the room to get ready for the trip to the Ybor City night club and I still wasn't up to going. I am so disappointed because I really did want to go. It looks like they had a blast last night too. *sigh*


My headaches really do detract from my life sometimes. I was hoping I wouldn't get one at all while I was here. I sat in the room, watched TV, ate some room service, and crashed again after Nicole Dennis and her roommate (and I hate myself because I totally can't remember the name since she wasn't wearing her name tag. I SUCK but will try to find out today and update this.) sweetly took the time to come up and check on me.

I did meet a couple of interesting people the last two days that weren't really part of the con. One is a fully transitioned Transgender woman. She was really nice and totally loving the con. She met Brenda who told her about the con and invited her to come. I hope to see her again today. I'm afraid we invaded her peace and quiet out on the smoke deck where she was trying to read one of the books she'd bought. Legal Briefs from Storm Moon Press where the proceeds go to the Lambda charity. She was really understanding about the invasion though. She asked the same question several of the gay men at the conference have asked. Why do women write gay romance? That's a fairly difficult question to answer with the same answer because everyone has different reasons. It's basically how I answer them. Everyone has their reasons. Family, friends, accidentally, escape, love two men together like a man loves two women, etc etc. The reasons could be different for all women who do it.

Friday night, I was standing outside with reviewer Crystal Marie and Joe Cotten talking about reviews and such when this really nicely dressed guy comes outside to smoke. He was so obviously two sheets to the wind. He asked what con we were there for. Crystal told him and he randomly blurted out if we had seen a documentary called Fag Bug (FULLY intend on seeing this when I get back home as well) and we all said no. Turns out he did some of the soundtrack music for it. He returned to the bar when he finished his smoke. About fifteen minutes later, he came back out, this time FOUR sheets to the wind. He smoked, walked over to the ash trays to drop it, and on his way back almost ran into Crystal Marie, who totally fucked with his mind, LOL. He stopped and said to her, "You're doing a great job at what you do. Don't ever stop."

She thanked him and told him her name. It took him a minute for him to respond. His name was Jason. Crystal says, "My ex husband's name was Jason. We divorced because he was gay. I should have known when he dressed better than me."

The guy looks down at his clothes, back up at her, back down and grabs the front of his jacket. Baffled! Completely baffled and thinking he was her ex. OMG, I almost died on the spot. She set his mind at ease and told him he wasn't her ex, but the look on his face was priceless. When I finally went to go inside to the room, I had to turn around and walk back to her because he was seated at the piano in the bar area and playing the piano. I will give him this... despite being so wasted he played really well. I can only imagine how he does when he's not blitzed out of his head.

So that is the last two days worth of Con. Definitely had a blast. Sadface that today is the last day and then it'll be over. I'm not going home until Tuesday but most everyone will be gone and off back to their real lives. I fully intend on taking pictures today. Getting up in about five minutes to get dressed and head downstairs. *hugs to all*

Kisses,
JR

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