Monday, June 8, 2009

Lori Foster event update!

I had a fantastic time at the Lori Foster event. I was really excited to meet fellow authors and bunches of readers, some of which come to our little wicked blog here!

First, a few shout outs. Amy C and her very sweet mother. I really enjoyed chatting with you both and I hope you're planning to attend next year as well. Wendi (aka 'racergirl') You rock, lady! I swear I never laughed more. By the way, my daughter said you're very pretty and you look like the actress in the movie Yes Man. :) Pam, those drinks you mixed me, damn those were good! Laura it was nice talking to you, but I wish we could have hung out more. It's such a busy event, so much going on and it's difficult to spend time with everyone. Maybe if it lasted a week. LOL

Liane, it was great seeing you again this year! I'm really excited about the launch of Three Kinds of Wicked! Valerie and Jambrea, I loved visiting with you both! (crossing my fingers for the both of you). I got to see Paige Tyler and her husband again, which was cool. Kendra, thanks for finding me! I'm definitely going to email you about that book trailer! Diane McEntire and Lexi Ryan! It's sooo great to put faces with the names on the screen. I enjoyed our writing talk. I feel motivated now! And Joni, lady you crack me up. I just love you, woman! I wish we lived closer because I would love to hang out with you sometime. Janice Maynard and my friend Jen. If either of you ever decide not to attend I'll just die. It wouldn't be the same without you both. (And Janice, I think we should have wrestled that blanket away from Angela. LOL)

It was also great to see Lori Foster and her wonderful husband again. I glimpsed Dianne Castell several times, but that woman stays so busy it's hard to get her to stop long enough to say hello. She wears me out just watching her. LOL Lori and Diane and all the volunteers did so much to make this event fun for all of us. Thanks for all the hard work!

Some of the highlights. I won two baskets. One by the lovely Marcia James, which contained her book "At Her Command" and a bottle of wine. Is there anything better? LOL I also won a basket of candy. So, chocolate, wine and a book....can you see my grin? :-D

I signed books. Yay! It was so neat to see people buying copies of "Seduce Me". I felt like I was dreaming or something. LOL I also signed a few cover flats, a t-shirt, and even a C.D. which contained several of my ebooks. That last one was for the sweet Barb Ledbetter. It was great seeing you again this year, Barb. And I'm so jealous you had the guts to get your picture taken with that hunky cover model! I was also interviewed by the very kind Michelle Buonfiglio from Romance B(u)y the book. It was a video interview and I was shaking like a leaf. But Michelle made me very comfortable pretty quick. Let's hope I didn't look too much like a dork there.

I did get a little tipsy this year. Jen, my husband and I went down to the bar Saturday night and had a few drinks and chatted a bit. I managed to remain sober though, so that was good. LOL.

Below is the winner of my Smokin' Hot basket, which contained lots of erotic romances by various authors. For some crazy reason her name escapes me. But she was a sweetheart. I hope you enjoy the books! Thanks again to ALL who donated books. Lots of money was raised, though I can't remember exactly how much right at the moment.


And this picture is Lora Leigh and me. Oh. My. God. I met Lora Leigh!!! I was so damn thrilled. I can't even express how excited I was to meet this woman. She's my favorite author and half the reason I came to this event. Guess what else? I bought her a Bud Light and she sat at our table. She chatted and we drank beer together and I was seriously in heaven! The best part, she's every bit as nice as I imagined. So down to earth and sweet as hell. I wish I could've spent even more time with her, but alas all good things do come to an end. By the way, I do happen to know a secret, but I'm not tellin'! hehe! You'll all have to wait for the official announcment.

And this is me once we got home. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz LOL I was SOOOO exhausted! But it was a good exhausted.
So, not only was the event productive for me as a writer, but also lots of fun. I can't wait until next year!!

22 comments:

Jake - but not the one said...

Just reading about it was fun, Anne!!!

You make me totally jealous - I am SO green with envy!

The pics are terrific, too.

Jake

Amy C said...

Hi Anne! I loved talking with you. I so hope to go again next year. I've been blog hopping alot today checking out others who posted about this weekend. So much fun to see everyones pictures and read what they experienced!

You drank beers with Lora Leigh!! You rock!

Barb said...

Oh Anne, that's so nice. Thanks for the kind words. And I'd be first in line to see him anywhere if I could. Julian is so gorgeous!

Anne Rainey said...

Jake--You really need to go to one of these. It'd be fun to sit and chat with you. :)

Amy C--You and your mom were so nice. I'm really glad you came the event! I hope you go next year too!

Anne Rainey said...

Barb--That man is delicious, no doubt about it! LOL

Sophia Danu said...

How fun!! It looks like a great weekend Anne. I am totally going next year! Congrats on a successful event! Great pics too!

Sophia

Kelley Nyrae said...

I'm so glad you had a good time. I missed seeing you. Didn't feel right being home. LOL.

Jen said...

Kelley, that's how I felt last year when I didn't get to go. You were definitely missed.

It was such a fun weekend. Anne was getting a bit put out with my work, though, they kept calling me throughout the weekend.

All in all it was so much fun and I think it was the best Get Together yet. Sitting at the table with Lora Leigh was definitely a highlight of the weekend.

Fedora said...

What an awesome time, Anne! Thanks for sharing it with us! I'd love to be able to go some year! :)

Anne Rainey said...

Sophia--Oh awesome! I can't wait to meet you in person!

Kelley--I kept thinking, "Kelley should be here, dammit!"

Anne Rainey said...

Jen--If you would've just told them you were with The Chosen One all would have been well with the world. LOL

flchen1--One of the best parts of this event is that it's ver affordable. Nothing like the $500 RT charges! Hope you can come next year!

Jen said...

LOL - I should have told them I was with The Chosen One. That might have just made all the difference in the world. So if I get paged tonight, can I just tell them that and see if they'll leave me alone and let me sleep?

Shelley Munro said...

Thanks for sharing, Anne. I think you take a great photo. Lora Leigh is my favorite author too. I'd love to meet her one day. :)

Regina Carlysle said...

Sounds like everyone had SOOOO much fun! Love the pics too.

Anonymous said...

Wooohooo so awesome to see ya again Anne...gotta love those fuzzy navels with a diamond in it..:) going to start "Seduce Me" this week...can't wait..! I just love this event!..take care ..always a fan..Pam

Anne Rainey said...

Jen--LOL!! Just have them call me if they have a problem. I'll set them straight! :P

Shelley--I love meeting my favorite authors and finding out that they're the kind of people I'd have over for a cookout. Lora Leigh was just so sweet and treated everyone like a friend. I love that!

Anne Rainey said...

Regina--It'd be fun if you and Kelley could both come next year, then we could do a TWW thing. That'd be fun!

Pam!--YOU are such a blast to hang with, lady! And I love those fuzzy navels!! Hope you like Seduce Me! :)

Wendi Zwaduk and Megan Slayer said...

Okay, so I know I am so late in reading this... Life and edits get in the way... My short goes up on the Whipped Cream site on Thursday!!!! Rock on.

Anne, meeting you and putting a face with the name is so fun. You rock too. Can't wait to dive into Seduce me. Plus I might get to read the newest one a bt early... : )

Wasn't Lora Leigh awesome? I have to ptu that on my blog, but still not there yet. I also need to put my pic with Julian the (Cornball) cover model. I gotta tell you off blog what he put in my Sarah McCarty book.

It was so fun to see everyone and I can't wait to do it again next year.

When the girls figure out which actress I look like let me know. I'm dying to find out.

You made me laugh and helped make the event a blast.

Wendi

Marcia James said...

Hi, Anne! I was sorry we didn't get a chance to talk at the Get-together, but I'm glad to hear you won one of my baskets! ;-) At the 2010 Get-together, maybe we can get at the same table.

Have a great day!
-- Marcia James ;-)

Anne Rainey said...

Wendi--You had the guts to meet Julian too?! I'm the only wuss here, I can see that now. LOL

Marcia--I glimpsed you a few times, but honestly there are SO many people it's hard to flag down everyone. Next year for sure! Thanks for the fantastic basket. The wine is already gone and I've started on your story! Loving it so far! :)

Marcia James said...

Anne -- I wondered which of my baskets you got. My favorite was the one with the wine, so I'm glad that's the one you won.

Thanks for the kind words about my book, AT HER COMMAND. I hope you enjoy it!

Have a great day!
-- Marcia ;-)

Julie Robinson said...

Anne, Catching up on emails and saw your post. Sounded like a lot of fun. And I'm really glad you had a GOOD experience with selling and autographing!

Oh, and I must say that I always check out Barb's hunks, even if I don't leave a comment.
Julie
BTW, you take cute pictures. Of course, we are our own worst critics. Love the 'after' pic. That would have been me!
:=)
Julie