mmmMMMonday (Continued) . . . The Journey into Old Town, the Worse Dancing Ever, and a Final Farewell!

CAUTION!! The following is the TRUE tale of two people's journey to New Mexico. And what happened at the Gay Romance Literature retreat. No names have been changed because they're are no innocent! YOU WERE WARNED! Article by Wt and Julie Prater
(More pictures will be in the future.)

FRIDAY

     “Friday began with the build your own burrito breakfast.  We sat with Lissa, Xara, Zach and Neil. The food was food, neither particularly good nor bad.  At that point we went our separate ways. I went to the Storm Moon Press spotlight and decorated cookies which was fun, while learning about the press.  While there I got to hang out with Lor Rose and K Piet.  Afterward I headed to the Total-E-Bound Publishing spotlight and learning about that press. And, of course, I ended up buying more books with the bonus of getting some heart bling with another book on it. Lexi Ander was also researching all the various presses and we compared notes.”---Wt

     “I went to the Dreamspinner Bingo and sat next to Poppy Denison (Yay Poppy!) who helped me keep track of one of my bingo cards.  We both had issues with shaking hands so it was difficult to keep the game pieces where they were supposed to be.  After that I headed over to the Coffee and Porn (love this blog!) bingo with Zach and Neil.  Of course I made a big mess with my coffee, obviously I hadn’t drank enough at breakfast.”--- Julie

      “Silver publishing’s spotlight was good but the main thing that stuck out in our memory was Ethan Day reading a passage from one of his books.  Although it was hard to pay attention to what he was saying because we couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful hair and think about petting it…” ---Wt and Julie

      “Next was the excursion to Almuerzo Mexicana, whose food was amazing by the way.  I sat and picked the brains of EM Lindley, Erica Pike, and AC Katt.  The main topics of conversation was Icelandic music, inspiration, and very briefly, politics. I took a buncha books from Torquere with the understanding that we would be donating their worth to our favorite LGBT charity. Then we all traveled to Old Town which is where I started hanging out with Caitlin Ricci and Tabatha/Autumn, fellow authors in the Lost and Found Anthology.  We wanted a challenge so there was a write off after some much needed sugary goodness.  Tabatha won of course due to the fact that she had her trusty tablet and the others wrote with paper and pen.  At this point we were joined by the illustrious Xara and journeyed forth to check out the x-rated chocolates at the Candy Lady’s shop.” ---Wt

      “From there we walked up with everyone else at Casa Esencia.  William was yoinked up to help hand some decorations which meant that he got to put his hands all over Damon Suede. Bwahaha.  We walked around this beautiful house and admired everything (picked as a celebration point by the late William Neale) . And then saw some pretty, pretty sugar skulls. I drank some yummy Sangrias. After Xara got tired of Will sitting around moping she talked to the LT3 chicks Megan Derr and Sasha Miller and got us invited along to what was apparently a pitch dinner at High Noon.  We were also joined by K-Lee, Zach and Neil.  It was a lot of fun and the food was amazingly wonderful.   There was a suggestion of a mud wrestling event for next year (I really hope this one happens).  Xara gave some pointers on how to hold a knife in a fight.  The server who was adorably cute was invited to judge the mud wrestling match and he was all for it.  Xara could so have gotten some mad play. That night was the karaoke event, but Will was too out of it to stay up. So we headed back to the room and crashed out. But before we left, I cornered Belinda Mcbride outside  (couldn’t stay in there for long because of the lighting) and discussed Sparkpeople and trying to follow eating plans.  I had a bowl full of cake at that point and Belinda was grabbing some nuts to snack on later.” ---Julie

SATURDAY

      “Saturday morning came so quickly.  And as a change, we were served breakfast at the table, yummy French toast  with Xara, Lissa, MJ O’Shae (who I begged to join us although generally morning is not her friend), Piper, and Sue.  Zach came down briefly and grabbed some food but then disappeared back upstairs and we noticed Neil didn’t make an appearance until the Samhaine Spotlight where he and Zach joined Julie, Lissa, Tabatha and Caitlin. There weren’t a lot of people present but there was an awesome Q&A.  Of course the free book for every question might have had something to do with it. I went briefly to the Amber Quill spotlight and was asked to go get pictures of PD Singer’s Q&A.  Xara had a reading coming up so I went to wish her to the breaking a leg, and then I joined Julie and the gang at the Loose ID spotlight.” ---Wt

     “I went to the Loose Id spotlight, and got there just as Will won a signed bag full of awesome swag, and gave the Gecko decoration to Caitlin because she went wild over it. Then Treva Harte lead the parade outside where many people beat the piñata (I took the first thwack) but the fucker wouldn’t break so Will decimated it, and gave all the prizes to others present.  The next event was a barbeque outside, where we sat with Jamie Fessenden talked with us mostly about horror..  Venona Keyes had just come from working out and was looking very athletic.  Caitlin and Tabatha talked about vegetarianism and the whole lot of us discussed the Saw movies then Japanese vs. American horror.  Will told the story of us going to see the grudge 2 in the theater and everyone yelling at the screen that Buffy wouldn’t do that!  There was also discussion on the need for real Sweet tea by us southerners, instead of the vastly prevalent unsweet And sad tea.  Will was mostly disappointed by the uneatable meat on bone. ---Julie

     “The Man Love Romance spotlight was heavily attended by authors and readers alike. The audience found out that everything is the fault of ZA Maxfield and Kris Jacen.  So if you need to know who is to blame, there ya go.  There were as many authors there speaking on behalf MLR and much fun was had in asking questions  and seeing how many related back to Kris and/ Zam.  There were two posters with the yummy man love poster boy on it in which all of the MLR authors had signed it . Julie won one and gave it promptly to me and I who squeed with joy (Just a little.)

     “The big signing event was so much fun, but there was SO much chaos.  The authors got to choose their own spots so it was an great adventure to find the ones you were looking for,  There was also much money spent on other authors we had discovered during the weekend.  But overall I think of it as a success.  Even knowing we spent well over 300 on books and it was even to the point of down to money to spend on food on the way home and books….and books won.  With all the crazy wonderfulness of GRL, there were actually several authors we hadn’t gotten a chance to chat with until the signing…Kerry Freeman, a fellow South East author,  Rowan Speedwell’s Finding Zach was a must read per JP Barnaby so we had to stop and talk to her and get her book.  Trina Lane was also another author that I hadn’t had a chance to talk to until then.  I finally got a copy of “The Party Boys Guide to Dating Geeks” and “One Small Thing” which I read with a fervor. Taylor V Donovan gave me a copy of her book, as did Karenna Folcroft.  Julie finally scored some dragon squish balls of Amber Kell which she horded when she got home and decided not to share.” ---Wt

        "I went bowling. Caitlin and Tabatha and I had walked over since there was no official word about busses and we were already running a little late.  My team captain was Keirnan Kelly and  beside us was B A Tortuga.  The members who were supposed to be on our team didn’t show but it was all good because others showed up to take their place.  Keirnan gave away some free books and a funny little dancing dashboard toy that I still have yet to bring out into the sun (solar powered).  I bowled about a 90 something as per my usual so I was not the main winner (curses) but Caitlin and Tabatha won for the pure and simple fact that they had the lowest scores of all.  Hooray for them! --- Julie

     "I went and took a nap, and I went to dinner with Keirnan Kelly and her husband, and Kelly Shorten and Kerri Mand, founders of Musa Publishing. We congratulated Kelly on her birthday. Then we talked of many things, including what a editor wants. We talked about how Musa Publishing started and their connection with Aspen Mountain Press.  I pitched my novel idea to them which they seemed really excited about.  And then we just chatted and hung out  joking and laughing until we realized we were going to be late for Cosmos Cabaret.  As we were leaving Tiwa for what felt like the thousandth time, I finally spied Mike Murphy who I promptly stalked a little and fan boyed a lot and wouldn’t leave him be until he signed my book..” ---Wt

     "I went to the Spa Jar Total-E-Bound shindig.  The food was great and the location was very cool.  There was some Native American dancing and the explanations were very informative.  I didn’t get any pictures of it because by that time my phone was dead.  Zach and Neil bowed out and gave me their drink and prize tickets.  I had several margaritas by this point but welcomed the option for additions.  When it came time to draw for prizes one of the numbers I had was announced (woohoo, more free books) and I ended up splitting the books with the boys."--- Julie

     “While hanging out at the Cabaret,  I entered a dance competition knowing I’m a terrible dancer. After destroying several dances that included the twist, the Macarena, and the time warp, I won only because I could shake my booty. I somehow managed to win against the 4 women who are all better dancers than I.
And then, ended up going up to room  and having a horrible coughing fit, which force me to kick “sick, drunk” Julie out of tub and I took a shower in an attempt to feel better which worked.” ---Wt

SUNDAY

       "Sunday I packed for an hour trying to condense our swag (got it down to 5 bags), clothing (so sad that I tried to get it all in one bag because I completely forgot that we had two bags to begin with…oy vey),  and the two huge bags of books were left much as they had been because they were so distracting with their pretty bookishness.  The closing ceremonies were sad as they were the beginning of the end of this magical weekend.  There was much enthusiasm for the few of us who completed the scavenger hunt to see what goodies were in store.  I was thankfully the first number called so I got first dibs and hungrily yoinked up the flash drive with e-books from each of the participants,, Will ended up getting some dolls based on Lisa’s characters.  At this point Allison enthusiastically urged us to get on the road because she missed Tennessee and its nice and humid air.  We made it home in 21 hours. And the sleep was amazing let me say.  I would do it again (And will) although next year will only be a four hour drive for us. “---Julie