People I hugged when I crashed RWA13 last week…

As many of you know, I live in Ye Olde Atlanta, Georgia, which happened to play host to the Romance Writers of America’s National Conference last week. If you saw all the #RWA13 hashtags on Twitter and Facebook, that’s what that was all about.

I didn’t buy a ticket to attend the conference because I’m rather a shrinking violet. I know, it’s hard to believe but I am very socially awkward. I also have a crippling fear of tall hotels, elevators, and crowds. I think it’s called Conferenceaphobia or something like that. Anyway, I HAVE IT.

Therefore, I only crashed the conference for one night, the night of the Passionate Ink party, since it could be purchased as a separate event. And guess who all I got to hug?

Eden Bradley (Amazing!)

Robin L. Rotham (Mega-Mistress!)

Shoshanna Evers (Such a hottie)

Amber Lin (OMGGG! YAY!)

Sarah Frantz (of Alphabet Editing)

Jenna Barton (My local author pal)

Venessa Giunta (who edited Comfort Object, Firebird, AND Owning Wednesday for me at Loose Id!)

People I only hugged with my eyes:

Tiffany Reisz (Her eyes are beautiful! I could barely talk! She gave me bookmarks!)

Damon Suede (hawt)

And I am not forgetting my local author friends. Me, Renee Regent, Linzy Antoinette, Chhaya Delaine, Ny Corson, and Lanie S. Flin headed over to the Georgia RWA chapter’s DJ party after Passionate Ink wrapped up. I think it is safe to say we got the party started. By “got the party started” I mean “took to the dance floor and acted like fools.” That is me on the left.

We had a lot of fun. I may or may not have lip synched into an imaginary microphone to Call Me Maybe while completely stone-cold sober. I know I sang Icona Pop’s “I Love It” at the top of my lungs as some quite old ladies watched me from across the room, thanking their lucky stars that they had more dignity than me. Perhaps they disapproved of the way me and all my friends were whapping each other’s asses with the free riding crops we got at the Passionate Ink party. Who knows? Anyway, we had a blast.

Will I ever attend RWA in earnest? I don’t know. Never say never. If I do, I’m bringing a mask next time to disguise my identity because my dancing is quite awful, if heartfelt.

I will be attending Authors After Dark next month in Savannah, and I hope to have lots of photos and fun stories to tell when that’s over. Then in October, I’ll be traveling to the Indie Romance Convention in Lebanon, Tennessee, and Eroticon USA, right here in Atlanta. This shrinking violet is going to have to come out of her shell, I guess.

As long as music is playing, and there are wonderful people to hug, I think I’ll be okay…

(Many thanks to wonderful Lanie for the pictures!)