Saturday, October 15, 2011

Gay Rom Lit: Day 3

After a full day of running around from one event to the other yesterday, today was a bit rough for me. I truly needed this morning’s Beignets & CafĂ© au lait, hosted by Treva Harte and sponsored by Loose Id.

I’m not ashamed to say that I felt like I had a hangover. Nope, not because of alcohol; I didn’t have any until tonight. Let’s just say that after the lovely conversation shared on Facebook with Silvia Violet and Beverly Carr, Creole twins kept running around my mind. No plot bunnies yet, just nuances. Don’t know if it will amount to much, but you never know.

The other thing is that in addition to the Beignet Twins, as I’ve taken to calling them, I went to the bathroom yesterday, turned on the light and one of the bulbs in the bathroom started to crackle and sizzle. I called housekeeping and had to wait for them to show up. They never changed the bulb but at this point I’m like, screw it, I check out tomorrow. After that it's their problem, not mine.

The rest of the day was spent doing a bit more running around, meeting a few more people, and listening to a few more author readings. This time with Belinda McBride, Lynne Lorenz, KC Burn and Tara Lain. I won a few more goodies, too!

Strangely, I even managed some down time and did some more editing on a story I wrote earlier this year, “The Rosas of Spanish Harlem.”

As I write this, it’s a little after 10:00 p.m. central. The festivities at GRL 2011 are beginning to wind down and the MLR Press Wine & Cheese Party is coming to and end. In fact, I can still here a handful of people outside talking and laughing.

Here’s William Prater with a tee-shirt that nearly made me pee my pants with laughter.

Here’s Elisa, from Elisa’s Ramblings, a beautiful woman with a terrificly sexy voice who flew here all the way from Italy.

And speaking of traveling, I know several authors from the UK attended, one of them being Clare London. I think someone mentioned we also had a couple of writers from either Australia or New Zealand. I don’t know for sure since I didn’t speak with any of them.

It’s with mixed feelings that I end tonight because I’ve had a lot of fun and met some really fantastic people. Truly, there are way too many to mention. But I’ll say this: it was great to have established authors who paved the way in the m/m genre share their personal writing experiences. It was just as wonderful hearing from some of the readers who’ve read my work.

I will admit that there’s one big drawback to a convention such as this. Well, maybe two. Oh, alright, three things, although I think this one counts as three by itself.

1. I miss our pugs, Trinket, Googie and insane Lola;

2. I miss home and sleeping in my own bed, although this one is EXTREMELY comfortable and they have great pillows; and finally

3. I miss my partner. More than anything, I miss him; my beautiful man who is my rock, my entire reason for living and without whom…well, let’s just say I miss him and leave it at that.

The first Gay Rom Lit will end tomorrow morning, at which time they’ll announce the location of the next event. I plan to do it again and, now that I know what to expect, hope to be a bit more active with either an Author Social an Author Reading or some other thing.

As a final parting shot, here's Damon Suede for those of you who asked to see him in his kilt.

Thanks to the organizers -- J.P. Bowie, Ethan Day, Lynn Lorenz, Carol Lynne, Amanda Young and their helpers -- for coordinating and pulling off this amazing feat. It was well attended, everyone was quite passionate about being here and I think it's going to be even bigger next year.

And thanks to all of you who followed the goings ons from my perspective and took time from your busy lives to comment. As it was with those I met this year, it will be an honor to one day meet you as well.

Who knows? There’s always next year, right?

9 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed yourself Johnny! No matter how much fun you have you always miss home:-) I want to try and make it next year. Hopefully it's not too far from me. Have a safe trip home:-) Damon wears his kilt well:-)

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  2. Johnny, it was wonderful to finally meet you...you are such a delightful man! Its been a great event and hopefully, I'll see you at the next one...or maybe sooner!

    I also miss my pooches, and my family too. If I don't see you before you leave, travel safe and swift. :)

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  3. Thanks so much for the story and pics, Johnny, especially the one of Damon. There were at least two Aussie authors there, Geoff Knight and Isabelle Rowan.
    If it's still going in 2013, I plan to be there. It's a long way and costs a bomb for us Aussies to attend, so I deeply appreciate being able to share it via you.
    The good thing is that I'm sure the time apart from your husband (and the menagerie) will make you all appreciate each other more!

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  4. Hi Johnny-- Meeting you was one the the highlights of the retreat for me! I've had a great time and loved making new friends! : )

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  5. I hope to get to go next year i cant wait to hear where it will be

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  6. I loved your updates and pictures...almost felt like I was there, Johnny so that you for doing this.

    I hope to go next year, even if for a day or so. Sounds like it was a blast.

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  7. Enjoyed meeting you and especially "stuffing bags" with you on the first night - even though you only did one at a time. :P
    All the best,
    K

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  8. Loved meeting you Johnny. Sorry we missed saying goodbye but at least we got to meet. it really was a great time too. (((hugs)))

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  9. Great blog posts, Johnny. There are so many cool conferences in the US, but it's just so expensive for me to get there :( If money was no object I'd be there for sure! Maybe one day. It looks like you all had a great time.

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