This time last year I was biting my fingernails down to the
nubs. I was packing and getting ready for my first author conference.
The reason for my angst? I didn’t have a book out yet, so I
was applying the title “author” very loosely. I had a book, but I was
entrenched in edits and it wouldn’t be released in time for the conference.
My other worries? I was going to another state to spend the
weekend with a bunch of people that I didn’t know. I would be forced to make
(gasp) new friends. And since this was my first ever conference I didn’t know
what to expect or bring.
My only saving grace was that I had hooked up with another
author as roomies. “At least I would have
someone to talk to some of the time,” I thought to myself. Lea Barrymire
was a newbie author like me and this was also her first conference. So, putting
on my big girl panties, I packed and headed out to Ohio to Ellora’s Cave
Romanticon 2012.
I can honestly say I left a scared and timid woman and came
back with new found confidence. I was able to meet a bunch of other authors who
were just as crazy and quirky as I was. I danced and I laughed so hard that I
cried a couple of times. I was even mistaken for a superstar by Danica Avet
(and no, I will never let her live that down). Lea and I were walking by and she mistook us for some other authors and called us over. We've all been buddies ever since.
But I think the funniest meet was Piper Trace. True story: Lea and I are sitting at a table and writing and Piper comes over, happy to have some authors to write with, reaches into her computer bag, pulls out a diaper and cusses. She then sits her computer on the table and says, "I want you bitches to guard my laptop with your life. I'll be right back." What else could we say but "ok". She didn't come back for 45 minutes LOL.
Not only did I have a blast, but I joined a group of smexy
authors and we’ve since become a force to be reckoned with! As the Cabal of
Hotness, we’ve put out 5 anthologies called Fondled and Gobbled.
Writing can be a very lonely world, but luckily I now have
friends to bounce ideas off, exchange crits and yes, even participate in plots
to take over the world. LOL. It’s been wonderful. And I’ve loved every minute!
I don’t know what I’ll experience this time around, but I
can't wait to find out. Now, off to pack!
-Griffin
