I'm finally home!

After a whirlwind of 11 days of travel I am finally home to stay! At least for a few months anyways.

I attended BEA in New York City as Mari blogged about and it would be a long story to tell how cool that was. Besides the HUGE expo that blew my mind it was my first visit to New York City and I was trying to cram in as many sights as I possible could in between events and working.

Definitely a good time. I love the city and I could be easily drawn to live there if it wasn't so darned expensive. I really like, no make that LOVE the idea of being able to get around everywhere by walking and/or by train. It would not hurt my feelings at all to not have to drive the suburbs all the time. Maybe when i'm a rich and famous author I can move somewhere like that. hehehe.

I did manage to come home for a couple of days, long enough to unpack, wash clothes and repack before I was off to Cincinnati, Ohio for the Lori Foster Author and Reader get together.

This was my first year attending this conference and I would definitely say it wont be my last. It was a wonderful contrast to the big and structured conventions such as the Romantic Times Convention held in the spring. The laid back atmosphere made it easy not only to meet readers and authors but get to know them as well.

I met up with old friends and made some new ones, got to chit chat with authors I didn't know but always wanted to and even got to meet up with some online Twitter and Facebook friends. An impromptu tweetup in the lobby of the hotel ended up being a hilarious highlight.

Part of my attendance was as my day job working alter ego which required me to interview some authors, which gave me an opportunity to meet some authors I might not have otherwise. My first interview was with the lovely Janice Maynard who is truly one of the kindest women i've met not to mention as gracious as could be. She told me about her books and even gave me an ARC of her upcoming book, Mating Game. I cannot wait to read it and based on her description of the plot, I am going to LOVE it.

I also sat down with Joey W. Hill who is utterly adorable and her passion for her stories drew me in and has convinced me that I must read everything of hers I can get my hands on. I have already ordered her latest release, A Vampire's Claim and cannot wait for it to arrive. I was bummed to discover it not available in eBook though.

My big fan girl moment came when I got to spend a few minutes chatting with Lora Leigh outside. I'd met her briefly (very briefly) at the RWA signing in 2006 but this time I managed to speak more than a few words. LOL Can I just tell you how sweet she is? She is my favorite author and I await her next Breed book with absolutely no patience.

The real sad thing about this trip is that I didn't take my camera out of my purse until I was on the way home. What a dork. I did take a few pictures with my camera phone and tweet them. (i'm on a twitpic craze at the moment) so if you would like to see a few happenings from my perspective you can check them out at http://www.twitter.com/elizagaylebooks

So...i'm home. I've experienced three very different conventions in less than two months and am really glad to be at my desk again working on a new deadline and grateful that I get to stay put until DragonCon in September and the Authors After Dark conference in October.

Take care,

Eliza