Last weekend, I had a blast attending RomantiConn 2024 up in Connecticut as author Rory Maxwell‘s minion/emotional support human! I couldn’t turn down the opportunity when she invited me to take her PA ticket to meet some of my favorite authors and get a crash course from the inside of how romance author events differ from the SF/F world that I’m so much more familiar with. This is a shorter con report than usual precisely because of the differences between how these genres run their events and my specific role there. Also because, as usual, I mostly forgot to take any pictures.

Friday

Friday was a travel day, with Rory and I loading the TARDIS and making our way from Maryland up north. Besides a minor wrong turn coming off the George Washington Bridge in New York City, we didn’t run into any mishaps (and I waved to my sister as we passed through the city). We reached the event hotel in time for a late lunch and immediately joined a bunch of other M/M authors for the requisite chatting in the lobby. It was amusing to exist in an “in-between” state of being a professional author but not for that event, so not everyone put together who I was. It was a joy to finally meet in person those who did and be welcomed into the fold.

We strolled through the Friday afternoon signing, then joined a big group of authors and PAs for a fantastic dinner at a nearby restaurant. The spirit was willing to “bar con” for more time that evening, but the body was tired, and we crashed hard pretty early after returning to the hotel.

Saturday

As cat parents, Rory and I are well-trained to wake up absurdly early. This meant we enjoyed a leisurely morning of preparing for the havoc of the afternoon, with plenty of time to grab breakfast in the hotel restaurant and set up Rory’s table.

The signing hours went smoothly, with a steady stream of people stopping by either because they were already fans or interested in learning more about a new author. We passed out a ton of postcards with a link to Rory’s latest freebie novella, which you should definitely check out.

I’ve had a doppelganger in the SF/F con scene for years, and it appears I now also have one in the M/M romance world! I lost track of how often I told people they had mistaken me for Anna Kensing and then directed them to her table. I can’t think of a nicer or more gorgeous author to be confused with!

I broke up the afternoon with a much-needed Starbucks run and lucked into parking spot close to an outlet to plug the car in when I returned to the hotel, which pleased the spouse to no end. Even minions have to people and be “on” for the entire length of a show, so both of us were wiped out by the time the event ended. Dinner that night was more casual, back in the hotel restaurant where we had a lovely time chatting with other authors about upcoming events, author life in general, and some gushing about mutual favorites.

I loved the way this event did massive door prizes for 5 readers. One winner was apparently not a fan of queer romance, so Rory and I were lucky enough to snag titles by two favorites from a selection of books left out with a “free” sign. An excellent way to close out the day.

Sunday

Another leisurely morning after loading the car, hanging out in the hotel lobby and finally hitting the road around 10 AM. The route through New York City was much more straightforward going the opposite direction, and we only hit a little bit of weekend traffic. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and already counting down the days to my first event as a romance author, which is now 2 weeks away at the time of writing!

Final Haul

I was so good! Other than one impulse buy during the Friday signing and the free book I snagged Saturday night, everything I took home was pre-ordered ahead of time. (The spouse disagrees with my definition of “good.”)

Note: Book title links below go to my reviews.

One thought on “Con Report: RomantiConn 2024”

  1. Pingback: July Wrap-Up & August Goals | J.L. Gribble, Author, Editor, Worldbuilder

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