Romance Novel Convention 2016
June 10, 2016 08:11 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I returned home from Las Vegas a few days ago, my head full of new information, my heart full of love for friends that have become like family, and my mind full of exciting new memories. As with the past three years, the Romance Novel Convention transported me to a fun and magical place that almost has a dreamy quality to it. I can’t quite explain it to anyone who hasn’t attended and experienced it for themselves, but it’s a place that comes alive with it’s own special heart, soul, and energy, so much so that each time, I’ve hated to leave it behind.
This year’s RNC had an intimate quality to it as well. It always has, but this year even more so. I felt like I got a chance to interact with more people and on a little more personal level. Each of the past couple of years at RNC, I was blessed to find a new friend, but this year, it was more about deepening relationships with people I’d previously met and then gotten to know over social media. I also met new people who I hope to get to know better. Each year at RNC, I’ve stepped just a little further outside my deeply introverted comfort zone, and I’ve never been disappointed with where that’s taken me. For anyone who knows me well, that’s a huge deal.
Categories: Events
Tags: Anya Kelleye, Captain America, David Nicholl, Jami Brumfield, Jimmy Thomas, Julian Mora, Kelleye Richards, LaVerne Thompson, Linda Rae Sande, Love Between the Covers, Marvel's Agent Carter, Melissa Stevens, Michael Hendrickson, Renee Waring, Romance Novel Convention, Susan Newman, Taabia Dupree, Tara Rose, Victoria Alexander
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 4
July 8, 2015 07:11 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
On Day 4 of Romance Novel Convention, well-rested, I was up bright and early (for me – hey at least I beat my hubby out of bed ;-)) and down in the convention hall around 8:30 a.m. to set up for the Book Fair & Festival. With JossiLynn already heading home, Natalie and I had requested seats together. We found our tables and got all our books and other paraphernalia set up just as some of the early bird readers were coming through the door. Normally, I tend to be rather nervous about book signings, but surprisingly, I settled in very quickly. I enjoyed talking with the book fair attendees as they stopped by, and I'm thankful for all the ones who took the time to let me tell them about my stories and even more grateful for those who bought my book. When I wasn't busy with potential customers, I chatted it up with Natalie. We also listened to music provided by the 80z All Stars. They were a very talented musical group, and I loved their set list of almost all '80s music.
Categories: Events
Tags: 80z All Stars, Billy Thomas, David Nicholl, Hudsy Hawn, Jackson Young, Jet Arnett, JossiLynn, Natalie Wilson, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Sean Kanan
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 3
July 5, 2015 04:42 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Day 3 of Romance Novel Convention started out much like Day 1, in an exhausted blur. Maybe I was on too much of a high after the previous night's costume ball, but I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. As a consequence, I was running on about five hours of sleep, but somehow I got my butt out of bed and made it down to the first class period of the day at 9 a.m.
I attended classes all morning, starting with Fiona Jayde's “Get Yourself Covered: A Pre-Launch Strategy.” Since I'm about to launch a brand new book in my Loving Hearts series this month, I thought this would be a good class to take, and I definitely learned some important things from it. Next, I went to the panel discussion, “Developing a Series and Creating Your World Inside It,” where I got some good tips that will hopefully help me with a couple of paranormal series ideas I have. To round out the morning, I attended Randi Alexander and Jackson Young's class, “Branding Brainstorming.” There I got some new ideas for building my author brand.
Categories: Events
Tags: Billy Thomas, David Nicholl, Fiona Jayde, Jackson Young, Jet Arnett, Jimmy Thomas, JossiLynn, Julian Mora, Natalie Wilson, Paul Gunn, Randi Alexander, Romance Novel Convention, Winsor Harmon
Romance Novel Convention -- Day 5
July 21, 2014 08:48 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
The fifth and final day of the Romance Novel Convention was a lazy day for me. The only event that day was the live photo shoot featuring our wonderful RNCasanovas. I was too worn out to put in much effort to get there early, so I didn't end up moseying in until around 1:30 in the afternoon. Needless to say, by that time, two of the Casanovas were already done with their part of the shoot, but I enjoyed observing the remainder of it. I got a little taste of what goes into making all those great photos we see on book covers.
I also got to witness a little bit of fun on set as photographer Bruce Heinsius got in front of the camera to perform his signature flying kick with RNCasanova Weston. To accomplish this he, of course, had to turn the camera over to someone else. At first, that person was my hubs, whose immediate reaction was, “What? Me?” as he found a heavy and no doubt very expensive piece of equipment being placed in his hands. Hubs gave it his best shot, but alas, his finger was not fast enough on the trigger. He decided someone else with more experience should take the reins and handed the camera off to David Nicholl, who after a few tries of his own, finally captured the perfect shot.
Categories: Events
Tags: Bruce Heinsius, David Nicholl, Jimmy Thomas, Kaden James, Kathryn Loch, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Weston Boucher
Romance Novel Convention -- Day 4
July 19, 2014 07:48 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Day 4 of the Romance Novel Convention mainly consisted of only two big events. From 10 AM to 2 PM was the Book Fair/Author Signing in which I participated. It was my very first in-person appearance as a published author, so of course, I woke up early with nervous anticipation. I finally went down around 9:30 to set up my table, which didn't take long, since I only have one book. Strangely enough, once I finished that task and sat down, I felt cool as cucumber and had no trouble conversing with the attendees who stopped by my booth. In fact, the first person I got the opportunity to chat with was RNCasanova Weston Bouchér. I thought it was very sweet of him to take the time to do that, because he certainly didn't have to. Even though I know he probably chatted with dozens of other ladies that day and throughout the week, it made me feel special. After my hubby had his breakfast, I sent him on a mission to get as many author autographs as possible on my swag bag. About an hour later, his poor introverted self came dragging into my booth exhausted from talking to so many people. I took pity on him and let him man my booth while I went in search of more signatures, which pretty much took up the remainder of my time there. I may not have sold much, but it was a good first experience for me.
Categories: Events
Tags: D. T. Dyllin, David Nicholl, Julian Mora, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Weston Boucher
Romance Novel Convention -- Day 3
July 18, 2014 11:52 AM Posted by juliannadouglas
Day 3 of the Romance Novel Convention was probably the busiest and the longest for me. Since my first class of the day wasn't scheduled to start until past noon, this was supposed to be my sleep-in day, but the sounds of screaming children running down the halls, carpets being shampooed outside our hotel room door, and a repairman (presumably) pounding repeatedly in the room next-door made that all but impossible. With that being the case, I ended up dragging myself to Victoria Zackheim's class titled What Is the Arc, and Why Is It Important?, but it was so totally worth it. This was essentially a continuation of her class on character development from the previous day, and it was extremely helpful in understanding how to build characters who will engage readers. While I was in this class, my hubs was teaching his second class on Virus Protection, Back-Ups, Image File Types & Sizes, and Free Software for Writers. Yeah, I know that a mouthful.;-) I have to admit it's kind of nice having a tech guru in the house, so I don't have to worry about all that stuff. I also got the added perk of seeing some of the software in action while he was creating his presentation, and I'm intrigued. I may be using Mind Mapping or oStorybook to outline my next book.
Categories: Events
Tags: Anne Perry, Bruce Heinsius, D. T. Dyllin, David Nicholl, InD'Tale Magazine, KriStef Brothers, Romance Novel Convention, RONE Awards, Victoria Zackheim
