Bitches at RT 2015: Our Favorite Things

We all had an absolute blast at RT 2015, in part because it was the first time all of us were in the same physical location.

Each of us have different parts we liked best, so here are our Favorite Things We Loved About RT 2015:

RedHeadedGirl:

Just being at a place where thousands of people were there primarily to talk about and geek out about women’s fictions and women’s stories in all the ways those stories can be old.

It was amazing. There’s no hiding covers or people demanding that you feel bad about what you read. We’re all there for the same thing. We like books!

Stalking Tessa Dare through multiple panels and explaining that I had many friends who requested her autograph, including one that has never read a romance, but we collectively decided that Romancing the Duke ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ) was a good choice, because Jenny likes fandom, and there’s fandom and LARPers in RtD, so….

Tessa thought it was funny, or at least politely laughed.

Awkwardly fangirling at Scott Westerfeld:

“Can I awkwardly fangirl at you?” (after I quickly googled him on my phone to make sure he was THE Scott Westerfeld). “I loved Leviathan okay thank you bye”

Riding the mechanical bull and getting a picture with all of us (except Sarah, which was sad) (Sarah: AM SO MAD at myself for being a DUMB GROWNUP and being SLEEPY. (Also so much alcohol. SO. MUCH.)

Just getting to meet and hang out with my Bitchez! I haven’t seen any of them in two days and that now feels very wrong. NEXT YEAR IN VEGAS.

CarrieS:

My top five: Sarah, RHG, Elyse, Amanda, and Me, laughing hysterically about stuff.

Otherwise, in no particular order:

Fangirling at Eloisa James. Sorry about the drool.

Chilling with Tamora Pierce at the bar like now we are besties (faints).

The Intergalactic Bar and Grill Party: Riotous fun, fantastic prizes, and I felt at home with my peeps.

Mad Hatter Tea Party: This was more fantasy than SF but again I felt like I had stumbled upon My People – it’s hard for me not to feel at home when seated next to someone in a black dress with rainbow unicorns on it. Again – great prizes, lots of fun!

Dancing with Amanda at Texas Rodeo, taking a turn around the room with RedHeadedGirl at the Steampunk Party, being Thunder Buddies with Elyse, talking about all the things with Sarah.

Elyse: 

Obviously the best part of the whole event was getting the Bitchery together in one place at the same time. It’s awesome when you meet people in person for the first time but feel like you’ve known them forever. Carrie S is the best roomie and my Thunder Buddy for life.

I would have to say that meeting Eloisa James was amazing. I completed embarrassed myself twice. The first time I met her I fan girled so hard I almost threw my back out. The second time was at the Avon signing. It was really really hot in that room, and the waiters kept coming by with wine, and there’s a significant chance I was drunk when I got to her table. I believe I said “Will you shign thish to Shmegan?” I’m sure she was impressed.

I really liked the Everything Old is New Again panel. That panel cost me $64 because I NEEDED ALL THE BOOKS NOW. Basically I could listen to Deanne Gist tell me about history forever. I want to call her every night before bed and be like “Tell me more about the Chicago World’s Fair” while I snuggle up with my blankie.

Also everything Ashlyn Macnamara writes sounds like my catnip and there’s dude butt on the covers so…

I also really enjoyed the Rodeo party. I did not brave the mechanical bull because, you know, fibro, but people were having a really good time. Books were being given away, Amanda and Carrie seriously got down with their bad selves, and I got a close up of cover model Charles’ epic beard.

I even had a lot of fun waiting in line. That sounds insane, but you’re camped out on the floor with your e-reader or a paperback and a coffee, and all the people around you are reading or talking about books and it’s so amazingly friendly. I got more book recommendations in line than anywhere else. It’s not often I get to openly squee about romance novels with a huge group of people. THEY WERE ALL MY PEOPLE.

Also it’s such a safe, welcoming environment. I go to transportation conferences and it’s about 10-20% women. I get hit on constantly. I’ve been groped in elevators. It’s hella stressful. Being around a bunch of women who love the same stuff I do was awesome.

Amanda:

Well, the company ranks pretty high up there. Boston is pretty uptight and romances aren’t really carried at any of the independent bookstores, so just being around people who unabashedly love romance was just the bee’s knees. I also made quite a few friends and had a blast with women I met only hours before.

The people I met were some of the nicest individuals. Fellow blogger Lynda legit gave me a necklace she was wearing after overhearing my love of Jaci Burton and her amazing book covers.

With graduate school finishing up and my less than stellar day job, it was a very welcome environment, despite how crazy it seemed. I hope to keep in contact with everyone I’ve met and hopefully, I’ll see them all next year!

All of Wednesday was great, especially having dinner with the Bitches. I finally got my first real taste for the conference. I drunkenly told raunchy stories over margaritas. I rode a mechanical bull. I dance-shuffled with Carrie. I touched a beard. So all of Wednesday gets a spot on the list.

The Giant Book Fair was kind of my nightmare because crowds tend to give me anxiety, but I was able to connect with authors and introduce myself, which is pretty damn cool. I’d say I’m the quietest member on the site and I do a lot of backstage business. So it really warmed my heart approaching Julie James at the signing, telling her that she was one of my first contemporary authors (her and Victoria Dahl), and having her tell me, “I know you! We’ve emailed for the DABWAHA tournament!”

Can I just give one section to books? Is that allowed? Yes, the amount of swag and free books is crazy. I do not have room for the books I shipped back to myself. But I’m going to second Elyse’s statement about book recommendations. I feel like I had the Goodreads app open on my phone 75% of the time, just adding book after book. RT had a coupon for 50% off Harlequin/Carina titles and two of the recs I received her Harlequin books. So I bought them. Just from someone telling me about them and how passionate they were about the plots.

Lastly, shout out to the bathtub in my hotel room. My apartment has a tub that can’t hold water, so you can bet your ass I made use of the one in the room. A book and a bath. /swoon

Sarah:

I think this was my…fifth? sixth? eighth? RT and I love it more each time I go. As exhausting as it is – I reached Maximum Introvert Stimulation late Friday and was as always grateful to be in the Ws during the book signing because I usually face a wall or a smaller group of tables – it’s, as everyone said above, the most welcoming and enthusiastic and lovely group of people.

My favorites, in no particular order:

The Book Blogger Conference: this is the third year for the one-day symposium, and we had a perfect mix of serious discussions and complete hilarity. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to Harlequin, who sponsored the cocktail party where there was an open bar AND a Nacho Bar. Those are my new favorite kinds of bars, right after “chocolate bar.”

Puppies and Firemen: On Wednesday morning, I wandered off the elevator and there was a puppy!

The Dallas Animal Services was part of the opening breakfast ceremony, and that little guy is about three weeks old, and is being bottle fed. I asked what breed, and was told by Dr. Cate, “He’s a Dallas special,” which means a large mixed breed of unknown provenance. That puppy, as small as he was, had some feet, too.

Patricia Burroughs, on the right, also welcomed a fire fighter in full dress uniform (and I apologize that I don’t recall his name) who was going to be introduced with the puppy, and I had to tell him he’d be greeted by cheers and screams from the audience, most likely.

He looked more than a little alarmed. (ba dum dum)

The Outlander reader Discussion! All of us, plus the very lovely and very funny Regina Small, hosted reader round-tables, as in there were many round tables in the room and many readers were in the chairs, so we talked a LOT with one another about the show, the books, the differences, the kits, the everything. It was SO MUCH FUN.

Talking with readers and writers! I must have added fifty or more books to my TBR list, and at least fifteen new podcasts to my subscription app, just based on conversations in line, in the elevator, or over coffee.

And finally:

Plumage! So many incredible hair colors at RT, as in, vibrant like holy wow. Red and blue and purple and orange and green – amazing:

At the book signing, there were many women who were older than me, who had  transformed their grey hair into pink and green, or white at the top and pink on the bottom, and all of it made me so happy. Not only are we as romance readers unabashed at RT and increasingly elsewhere, but we’re incredibly visible, too. Instead of the silver stereotype of “blue-haired women,” we have actual and literally blue-haired women. That’s so freaking great.

And now, my favorite annual tradition: Overheard at RT 2015 

• “That doesn’t look like it would have a weenus piercing.”
• “See the shirtless guy with the dog and the gun? Registration is behind him.” (said, not overheard, by me, twice)
• “Oh, screw penis! …… Did I just say that?”
  “Yes. Yes, you did.”
• “Formal yoga pants are a real thing?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”
• “It’s a Blog Tour is the new version of I’m not judging you.”

• “Wait, where is the bulge you saw?”
• “Remember when you sent to get the dog from the lady with all those monkeys?”
• “Wow! Your butt! It’s great!”
• “I don’t have time for anything less than full frontal.”
• “Is this the one that’s steampunk or is this the one that’s aliens?”

Did you attend RT this year? What were your favorite things? Are you planning to join everyone in Vegas in 2016?