GRL 2015, San Diego, post 1



So I’m back. In my time zone, enjoying Weetabix with milk, tea in a mug, and the sound of rain on a gorgeous autumn day. Yep, 'back' is a nice place to be, considering how many plots and bunnies are rampant in my head at the moment. From Sanctuary 9 and 10, to a ghost story set in Svalbard, I am near combusting with ideas.

That is the best bit about GRL. Ten days away with no writing, sitting with people who inspire me, readers, writers, reviewers, every one of them make me think and I come back energised.

Me, Amber and Steph at the signing
Well…  Not entirely true... I come back like a bloody wet noodle. It will probably take me six months to get my head around the jet lag… LOL.

Anyway, I digress.

So, today I’m going to start with the overall review of GRL itself. For those of you who don’t know, this is a convention in the US, begun six (?) years ago, which focuses entirely on MM writing. This is my third year of going (Atlanta ’13, Chicago ’14, and now San Diego ’15). Hubby comes with me and my sister moves in to be with Matt, meaning this is my and hubby’s break away as well as a working convention. We generally add on some days vacation time with Amber Kell and her hubby, and it’s always fab.

I love GRL, and somehow this year was the most laid back I have been. I don’t like hot weather, and three days in LA had me worried, but San Diego was cooler, even overcast at times. Perfect for me, not so much for Steve (hubs) who worships the sun!

The hotel was beautiful, our room overlooked the bay, with sand and trees and a family of resident ducks who tapped on our window for food. The room itself was lovely, the venue awesome, and the organisers (Carol, Ethan, Teresa, Reese) did a fantastic job of setting up the event and carrying it through. It must be said they personally take on a huge financial commitment from GRL and as an author I owe them an awful lot. So, thank you guys. :)

The event itself was brilliant. I attended panels for my favourite authors and fangirled Eli Easton and Jordan L Hawk. This year, I didn’t embarrass myself… too much… In fact I think Jordan and her lovely hubby, Dave, are used to me now!

Steve's reading
My panel was Saturday morning. Early. 9am. With Amber Kell and Marie Sexton. We had a blast! It was so funny, and was standing room only which was incredibly gratifying!

Steve read a scene from Texas Heat, and the video will appear shortly, taken by the awesome Bonnie Herbert! Poor guy was reading the scene where Robbie is shovelling shit and Eli is staring at muscles and jeans over a tight ass. So funny! The three of us panellists talked about the blue collar worker, and we gave out a ton load of prizes.

The high from standing there was incredible. I just have no words (which is odd!).

I didn’t go to the evening events because I was, as usual, knackered by 9pm, but instead I sat on the patio with wine and good company. Steve took my place and did the whole party animal part, meeting up with old friends and generally not sleeping a lot.

I met up with friends that I only see once a year and got so many hugs I didn’t know what to do with them. Readers from my Facebook group, authors I email and talk to on Facebook, friends I made from all my GRL time, every single one of you had an RJ hug at one point or another!

The book signing was intense. In 2.5 hours I think Amber and I had maybe five minutes where we weren’t signing or talking. We gave away nearly all of our free books, but have a couple we have signed and taken home for prizes!

Devon and Amber organised a wine tasting, and TA Chase and I made up the four hosts. Wine is good. And evil.

Mostly evil. 

But we had so much fun with readers who had won places to attend with us. A highlight of the week for me.

I have left so much out, but anyone following my Facebook would know more than I have posted here, because I was posting to FB on a near hourly basis at some points…

There are more reports to follow… but given how knackered I am at this very moment, this is the introduction post… I hope you come back and read the others. :)

Hugs RJ xxx

8 comments

  1. Con crash has happened, I'm so tired. But I'll put up with it every time to get to hug you. And this year's bonus was getting hugs from Mr. RJ.

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    1. It was so great to meet the lady from RJ's blog :). The hugs were great too Laurie.

      RJ's Hubby

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  2. Love it! I had the best time, also made plenty of friends.

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  3. Awww, man, RJ, I was so "deer in headlights" when you said Hi to me! I promise next year I'll try to keep my ADD from going all gridlock. I so wanted to chat with you. Thank you so much for saying hi to me! <3 you to pieces!!!

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  4. OMG! I just saw this.......you mentioned me! I got chills! Love you RJ and Steve's reading was so much better than my video shows!

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  5. I'm finally getting over the jet lag and tuning my head back to the Icelandic time zone. Not completely there, but I managed to torture myself yesterday with sleep deprivation long enough to go to sleep at a "normal" time and wake up this morning. Now I'm tired again, so I might take a nap for an hour (but only an hour!). Seven hour time difference is brutal!

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    1. We know that feeling well :).

      Hope you get over it soon cous :).

      Hugs

      RJ's Hubby

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