RomCon Recap

I had the pleasure of attending the first annual RomCon convention this past weekend in Denver CO. It was a fun weekend meeting readers, participating in workshops and even being a fangirl since some of my favorite authors were there, too!

The workshops were aimed at readers, so they were a lot of fun overall. I only got to sit in on one or two others than the ones I did because there were so many offered. Since the focus was on the romance reader, many panels were very interactive — discussing issues like reviews, covers, publishers getting feedback from readers, etc.  Leading the various panels were well-known authors and other industry professionals and the discussions got heated at times!

The first workshop I did was called STRIPPING THE HEROINE and featured info about clothing in various historical times and places. I was joined by Pam Nowak, Amanda McCabe, Anna Campbell, Jo Beverley, and Deann Gist. We presented photos of costume resources and had and wore a number of historical costumes, explaining the layers and items of clothing as we went.  We even used a PowerPoint presentation (my first! wooohoo!) to show pictures of pieces of clothing we couldn’t bring with us. Here’s Pam Nowak (American/Victorian), me (Elizabethan) and Amanda McCabe (Regency) in our garb!

Friday evening was a lovely dinner and awards ceremony featuring two men from the local RennFaire who entertained us with tales of handsome heroes. While I was a double finalist in the Short Historical (one was my Brava release, A STORM OF PASSION), I didn’t win, but I do now hold the world’s record for accepting the most awards at a romance convention! Two of my friends asked me to accept if they won (they couldn’t attend) and it turns out that they won three awards!! By the third time, the emcees knew my name….and when someone wasn’t present later, the whole table next to me called out….”And here is Terri Brisbin to accept the award!”  Clearly I have another talent and am willing to represent anyone who needs me at the upcoming RITA ceremony at RWA’s Conference in Orlando! LOL!

On Saturday morning, I joined a group of authors to lead a game called “Shocking The Queen!”  The game was about the rules of etiquette in polite society during the Regency and Victorian time periods. Authors Anna Campbell, Jo Beverley, Delilah Marvelle, Deann Gist, Pam Nowak, Courtney Milan, Elizabeth Hoyt and I lined up on one side of the room and the participants lined up facing us. Authors asked questions and those who got the correct answer moved across the room in ‘Mother, May I?’ fashion. I played emcee, facilitating the game and determining if the Queen had been shocked or not. The sign in the photo was waved appropriately and sometimes in warning to the authors when some of them asked completely shocking questions!  The first player who made it all the way was crowned with a tiara and declared not shocking to the queen.

Let’s just say the rules of the game were a bit loosey-goosey, some cheating was suspected (and even encouraged!) but fun was had by all and we all learned a bit — some more than others! – and I know now where condoms could be bought in Regency England! Oh my!

I attended a bookfair on Saturday afternoon and met up with some of my favorite authors. Here are Judi Fennell and Lori Foster. I had a chance to chat with Lori about her readers’ gathering that she holds each year in June in Ohio. It sounds like lots of fun and I hope to attend next year’s event!

I only got out of the hotel the first evening to meet friends and fellow authors Deb Stover and Karen Fox for dinner. I could see Denver downtown in the distance. On Sunday, Denver was in the distance but the storms between the airport and the Rocky Mountains were very impressive! Take a look at the photo from the airport. Oh, that’s a statue of Anubis in front of the airport terminal, advertising the King Tut exhibit in downtown Denver…

So now I’m home, looking through the numerous books I received or bought. I really thought the convention was professional and fun and I hope they do it again next year!

Terri was signing copies of her Brava anthology, UNDONE, at RomCon this weekend along with her first Brava A STORM OF PASSION. She also signed coverflats of the cover for the upcoming October release, A STORM OF PLEASURE. Visit her website at www.terribrisbin.com for more info about all her books and her upcoming events!