Just rolled in, and had some good news!

After 24 hours of driving, it is Monday afternoon and I am finally home from RT! I'm staggering with fatigue, but feeling content with my RT 2007 experience. Funny, the drive down didn't seem so bad, but maybe that's because we broke it up by spending a day in the French Quarter of N'Awlins. Plus, we left Ohio at 4 a.m. to drive down, but didn't leave until after 3 p.m. for the drive home.

We told ourselves we would stop if we needed to, but somehow we just kept driving. JC fell asleep after spooking me out providing a running commentary through the swamps of Louisiana and the rolling Alabama countryside - IN THE DARK!! There are few things spookier than crossing Lake Ponchartrain in the moonlight. The moon gleams on the water, yet barely reflects any light. Huge cypress trees curve over the road, as if reaching out to grab you and pull you down into the murk. [shiver]

JC fell asleep, I got a second wind, and sang to my Celtic, folk, and bluegrass CD mixes as I drove all the way to Nashville, TN. (JC, who is a Rob Zombie and Pink fan, had earplugs in. LOL) Then I curled up and slept while she took us the rest of the way to her home in Ohio. Thanks to the nap, I had no trouble making the final 2-hour leg to Toledo. But boy, am I tired! I'm forcing myself to stay up until a reasonable bed time, but every joint in my body is stiff!

I came home to a clean house! My daughter dropped by and tidied up for me before I got home, bless her.

I met dozens of people I've only "seen" online before including the staff at Samhain (though I have seen Crissy before at past RTs). Alexis Fleming, fresh of the plane from Australia, was my Samhain goodie bag-stuffing partner, and she is a hoot. I loved dropping her name to readers, whose eyes would get round, at which point I'd drag Alexis over to meet them. I'm evil that way.

I hate to name too many names, because I know I will forget someone. Bianca D'Arc gets my vote as the most enthusiastic RT newbie. By next year she will be an old hand at this and putting us all to shame with self-promo ideas. I only managed to run into Gia Dawn and Nancy Lingquist briefly - there were so many people there! Every night it seemed like a core group of us found ourselves esconced in a non-smoking corner - JC, Isabo Kelly, Linnea Sinclair, Stacy Klemstein, and others. We laughed till we cried, shared news and industry gossip, and generally created mayhem over butterscotch martinis.

As an example of how many times I've been to RT, I didn't even break out the camera until the last day. I'll post my pics asap.

A huge highlight was getting to meet Barbara Hambly! [assuming I'm-not-worthy pose]

Now for my first-email-opened-after-returning-home news - TwoLipsReviews.com is going to make ABHAINN'S KISS their Book of the Month for May! Woot!! Thanks, Kerin!

I will leave you with some outtakes from RT 2007. Most of these will make no sense to anyone who wasn't there (RT is definitely a "you had to be there" event!), but I wanted to get these down before I forgot:

~ "EEEE-SAH-BOOOOOH!!!!" (coined by Jade Lee, upon seeing Isabo Kelly at any time of the day. We became fond of screaming it from the 11th floor and watching Isabo look around in confusion.)

~ "Peekabo" (Because bookseller Molly Bolden couldn't remember Isabo's first name)

~ "I want my PIE!"

~ "Doesn't she eat peanuts?" (Don't EVEN ask! LOL)

~ "Another round of butterscotch martinis, please!" (Usually spoken in decidedly slurred speech)

~ "Where's JC? Oh, duh, IN THE BAR."

~ "Kum ba ya, my lord, kum ba ya..." (Often heard faintly from within packed elevators)

~ "It's a romance readers and writers convention." (Said to many a startled businessperson who would go to step aboard the elevator, only to find it packed with faery-wing-bedecked women.)

~ "It's a romance readers and writers convention." (Said to many a startled businessperson when confronted with a bar full of vampires.)

~ "It's a romance readers and writers convention." (Said to many a startled businessperson who, after taking a wrong turn, was found perusing the condom lollypops in promo row.)

I may post more tomorrow as I remember it. :) For now, I'm off to catch up on some sleep!