{"id":672,"date":"2014-05-26T00:13:01","date_gmt":"2014-05-26T00:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/?p=672"},"modified":"2014-05-26T00:46:07","modified_gmt":"2014-05-26T00:46:07","slug":"no-longer-a-romantic-times-convention-virgin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/no-longer-a-romantic-times-convention-virgin\/","title":{"rendered":"No Longer a Romantic Times Convention Virgin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Three thousand of my closest friends and I descended upon the Marriott on Canal Street for the Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention in New Orleans. As you can imagine it was loud, crazy, exhausting and a hell of a good time.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of the highlights of my week.<\/p>\n<p>The view out of the window was of the enchanting French Quarter. The Mississippi and Cafe du Monde were on the right and the St. Louis <a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/French-Quarter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-677\" alt=\"French Quarter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/French-Quarter-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Cathedral on the left, the scenery was perfect.<\/p>\n<p>My roommates for the week were Danielle Monsch\u00a0and Crista\u00a0McHugh. Crista had reserved us a table at the Court of Two Sisters for their Jazz Brunch.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_678\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-678\" style=\"width: 107px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/CourtofTwoSisters.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-678 \" alt=\"Fountain at the Court of Two Sisters\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/CourtofTwoSisters-168x300.jpg\" width=\"107\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-678\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fountain at the Court of Two Sisters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Our waiter was Captain Vaughn, a\u00a0charming gentleman who saw me attempting to eat my first crawfish and put an immediate stop to the &#8220;senseless murder.&#8221; He schooled me on proper crawfish eating technique by reminding me over and over to &#8220;Suck. Don&#8217;t bite it. Suck it good.&#8221; It was quite a while before Danielle was able to pick herself off the floor from laughing so hard.<\/p>\n<p>Crista\u00a0and I went on a ghost tour where I was able to capture orbs in a<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_681\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-681\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-Spots-Orbs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-681\" alt=\"The white spots on the wall are orbs. \" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-Spots-Orbs-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-681\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The white spots on the wall are orbs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>photo taken within a former bordello. We also had our tarot cards read. According to my reader, I had the most positive reading she&#8217;d seen in a long time. Score!\u00a0Also, I made it to the Cafe du Monde twice. Oh, those beignets were so yummy.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_683\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-683\" style=\"width: 116px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1331.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-683\" alt=\"Beignets. Yum!\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1331-150x150.jpg\" width=\"116\" height=\"117\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-683\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beignets. Yum!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The convention was comprised of reader events and industry workshops. One of my favorites was the Cover Wars workshop from Jenn LeBlanc\u00a0of Studio Smexy. While two artists took the same photo and turned them into two different genre of covers, Jenn took photos of her model, Tristan. He was lovely, and after listening to my arm-chair directorial advice, Jenn told me to step up and do some real directing. No need to ask me twice, I was ready. The best part was when I told Tristan to hold out his hands and I bound them with a length of whip. The front row gasped an audible, &#8220;Yes!&#8221; We had a good time. He was a great sport and did I mention he was lovely?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_686\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-686\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-and-Tristan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-686 \" alt=\"Me and the lovely Tristan\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-and-Tristan-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Me and the lovely Tristan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-ties-up-Tristan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-685 alignleft\" style=\"width: 142px; height: 120px;\" alt=\"Anna Alexander ties up Tristan\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-ties-up-Tristan-150x150.jpg\" width=\"172\" height=\"144\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The opening event was at Mardi Gras\u00a0World, which was massive, and Heather Graham hosted the closing festivities. You had to be there to believe what went down. I do have video. I was also able to spend time with my fellow Ellora&#8217;s Cave authors Jennifer Kacey and Erin Simone. We ripped it up many a night.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_689\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-689\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1306.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-689 \" alt=\"Erin Simone, Jennifer Kacey and I on the pub crawl\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1306-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-689\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erin Simone, Jennifer Kacey and I on the pub crawl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_694\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-694\" style=\"width: 135px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-Danielle-Monsch.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-694\" alt=\"Danielle and I at Mardi Gras World\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Anna-Alexander-Danielle-Monsch-150x150.jpg\" width=\"135\" height=\"146\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-694\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danielle and I at Mardi Gras World<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The biggest events were Saturday with the book fair and Fan-tastic day. Attendance was in the thousands and the day did not go by without its fair-share of controversy. All in all, I met a lot of great people, especially those who were playing the Seattle Author Search. We had so much fun, a bunch of other authors want to get in on the search next year.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_690\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-690\" style=\"width: 122px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1413.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-690\" alt=\"Talking to readers makes for a parched mouth\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1413-150x150.jpg\" width=\"122\" height=\"101\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-690\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Talking to readers makes for a parched mouth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_692\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-692\" style=\"width: 146px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1385.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-692\" alt=\"It's book fair time\" src=\"http:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/RT-2014-1385-150x150.jpg\" width=\"146\" height=\"136\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-692\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">It&#8217;s book fair time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of next year&#8230; RT 2015 is in Dallas. If the stars align, I should be there. And by stars I mean sell a bunch of books, so I ask you to help a girl out. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Till next year.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three thousand of my closest friends and I descended upon the Marriott on Canal Street for the Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention in New Orleans. As you can imagine it was loud, crazy, exhausting and a hell of a good time. Here are some of the highlights of my week. The view out of the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39eCR-aQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":705,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annaalexander.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}