To say the past 2 months have been rough for me is an understatement even before the U.S. election results this week. I’m slowly getting all of my projects back on schedule and catching up on the epic to-do list, and today’s task is finally writing up my convention report for the first Northern Rainbow Romance Retreat from early October. It’s clearly been a minute since the event, so I apologize in advance that this con report will mostly hit the basics of each day instead of including my usual more in-depth coverage of my time.
The biggest highlight of them all is that Heather of the MM Romance Reviewed blog put together an absolutely amazing retreat. Taking a chance on a brand-new event is always a risk, but I have zero regrets about attending this one and look forward to returning in the future.
Tuesday
With a single recovery day following Capclave 2024, I hit the road from Baltimore to Toronto. By myself, since my road trip partner (Rory Maxwell, of course!) needed to work that day and would be flying in later that evening. Not necessarily my brightest idea to do two events back to back, the second involving a 10-hour drive, but I powered through on the strength of caffeine and podcasts. I made it to Canada, then the hotel, without incident, unpacked, and spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel bar with other authors who’d arrived for the professional development half of the event.
Highlight: The brief cheer when I introduced myself to a table of authors because not only did they recognize my name, but they were excited to meet me!
Wednesday
Professional development day 1! I spent most of my time in the quiet writing room since I was officially past deadline on a project (many, many thanks to the project organizer for granting me both grace and an extension). I took a break at mid-day for a fantastic presentation on writing characters with trauma by author Evie McGlynn followed by lunch at a nearby pub. Later in the afternoon, I presented my lecture on self-editing for fiction writers and attended author Rory Maxwell’s excellent presentation on cover art. I closed out the evening with dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant (two words: homemade mozzarella), then crashed early back at the hotel.
Highlight: People attended my presentation! And liked it!
Thursday
Professional development day 2! Another day spent putting my head down and writing, for the most part. I did break again in the middle of the day for a phenomenal presentation on queer history by author Merry Farmer. Dinner that night involved relaxing in the hotel bar with whoever decided to drop by.
I wish I could have taken greater advantage of the other professional development panels and presentations, but even just working quietly with other authors in my community meant a huge boost to my productivity and overall mental health.
Highlight: I got to have lunch with Merry Farmer! And I didn’t scare her off, so I also got to hang out with her in the evening! (Insert fangirl squealing here.)
Friday
VIP reader day! Fellow speculative fiction romance author Toshi Drake and I shared the first time slot, so we dropped by Tim Horton’s (my first visit!) to thank our guests for their early arrival with “Tim-bits” (donut holes, apparently). I put together an abbreviated setup of my full table, but I’m glad I brought books down because I did sell some! This was also the public debut of my standing banner, which did not try to eviscerate me as it did when I set it up for the first time at home.
Instead of working the rest of the day, I dove into an advanced review copy of a book I’d been anticipating for over a year. Lunch was a lovely spread at the hotel enjoyed with my fellow authors and the VIP readers, then it was back to reading. This reading did occur around other people, and I took multiple breaks to chat and socialize. Otherwise, I was firmly entrenched in my book, which I finished late that night in my room. I literally can’t even remember what we did for dinner that night. That’s how good the book is.
Highlight: Reading Odyssey by Alethea Faust! Those of you who know how long that book is can now get proof of my absurd reading speed from everyone around me that day.
Saturday
Book signing day! After sleeping in (as much as Rory and I are capable of sleeping in) (so we got up at like 8 AM) and a visit to Tim Horton’s, I tried to get back to work in the morning since I was scheduled for the afternoon signing session. That lasted all of 5 minutes, and I instead spent the morning wandering around, chatting with people, and definitely buying way more books than I planned. No regrets.
Rory and I have trained each other as emotional support humans well, and she ensured that I ate something for lunch before we set up our tables for the afternoon signing. Author Dawn Cutler-Tran set up a scavenger hunt for readers, and I had a blast showing people pictures of Alex, a.k.a. Dumb Gray Cat, who I represented at my table with a squishmallow.
I got to quietly fangirl over another favorite author, A.J. Sherwood, while having dinner with them that night. Then, we closed out the night with a party back at the hotel.
Highlight: When Rory discovered the reader she was chatting with had also read and enjoyed her fanfiction!
Sunday
After a final breakfast at the hotel with the authors and readers who were still around, it was time to hit the road for the return trip. This time, thankfully, Rory accompanied me for the long drive. Returning home was bittersweet, since the spouse had left that morning for his 2 months of military training in another state. (Thankfully, we’re now already past the halfway point of him graduating and coming home.)
This conference has been rebranded for 2025 as the Northern Rainbow Readers & Writers event. I’m already registered, and I can’t wait to experience this excellent mix of professional development, community building, and reader engagement again next year!
Final Haul
Note: Book title links below go to my reviews.
- Uncommon Ground by Kelly Jensen
- Chaos Station by Jenn Burke & Kelly Jensen
- Peter and the Wolves by Merry Farmer
- Stable Hand by A.E. Lister
- Soulmates by Liv Rancourt
- A Little Discovery by Kate Bauer
- The Case of Thistledown House by Ellis Colton
- Love Me Whole by Nicky James
- Fear of Flying by K.C. Elle
- His Hunter by M.M. Farmer
- Official conference swag, plus various stickers and other items picked up at author titles during the signing day
- I won a bidding war in the charity auction! Featuring:
- Swag and 3D-printed vase from Rory Maxwell
- Hand-dyed scarf from R.M. Neill
- The Viking and the Drag Queen by V.L. Locey