HRR #3 (Historical Romance Retreat)...Swag! Plus the tale of the (semi)authentic crossed lines by Alanna Lucas

And finally, one of the other fun reasons to attend a Readers' Day at one of the book conferences--SWAG! Authors are only limited by their imaginations (and their budgets) and have all kinds of things to tempt you to visit their table (as if the sizzling covers aren't enough, lol).

The lovely pink bag was given to the first few people (maybe it was 50...all I know was...I got one!). One of the attendees gave me her copy of Elizabeth Hoyt's book and Amy Jarecki shared her upcoming ARC for me to review. The rest was obtained as I browsed the tables.

Deb Marlowe gave away a yummy recipe as well as a bookmark and soap

Sabrina Jeffries provided a remarkable placecard holder

I was puzzled at first about what this was

But, then I opened it, and, wow, a nice mirror and...?

Ah! A brush. What a cute trinket!

And, of course, very useful door hangers!

While I was at HRR, I got a chance to take a picture of the lovely Alanna Lucas and in her swag was a folded letter. As a fan of regency romances, I'd become familiar with the concept of letters with crossed lines, but I always pictured them as written in one orientation then turned upside-down and continued between the lines that had been originally written.

I had the opportunity to chat with Alanna at the Reader Rave at the In D'Scribe conference last week (after she had worked tirelessly at the luncheon to make sure things went smoothly) and she explained that this was one of the less common methods. In a later post, I will explain the painstaking efforts involved in providing her fans with an example of a letter with crossed lines...let's just say, I have no doubt that her novels are well researched after hearing the lengths she went through to provide this as swag!

Here is a picture of the letter unfolded. I left it relatively large so you can get an idea of what it looked like.


Here are a couple of sites that I found when I looked for an explanation of the process...

http://randombitsoffascination.com/2014/10/07/touch-quill-ink-regency-letter-writing/
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/crossedletter.html



As you can see, there were lots of neat things to collect in addition to the wonderful opportunity to chat with the authors. Again, if you ever get the chance, attend the readers' activities at a conference near you if at all possible! It's so much fun to connect with the "tribe" and authors are delighted to meet new fans and old ones!

More pictures from HRR

These delightful macaws at Mission Inn have quite a vocabulary. I'm sure they derive great entertainment from all of us standing around trying to get them to say the various words they know, lol.

The Mission Inn Hotel is very picturesque and evidently a scavenger hunt helped many of the conference attendees learn about many of the historic details of the site

Preparing the room for the readers!

I apologize, most of the following pictures will be fuzzy because I turned off the flash to avoid blinding the authors (I figure it's pretty rude to make them sign autographs with afterimages in their eyes!).

Again, I urge you to attend if a book conference is going to be in your neck of the woods. At the very least, there is usually a signing day that is free...and not only do you get to talk to your favorite authors and meet new ones, but you can also gather lots of bookmarks and swag! The authors are delighted to interact with fans and happy to take pictures with you or sign your books.

In L.A., In D'Scribe is coming to Burbank next month (info) and Saturday, October 6, 2018 is the Reader Rave Book Signing. It's a great time to visit with your "tribe" and discover a new title or two (or ten).

Naturally, I was drawn to Mary Wine's table, not only because of her beautiful books but because she had a box of See's candy!

              

The irrepressible Jade Lee/Kathy Lyons

              

The effervescent (and prolific!) Sabrina Jeffries

              

           

HRR--Historical Romance Retreat 2018

 

I have been a bit buried in edits for the past few weeks...which is a good thing on the one hand, but a little frustrating since I can't catch up on my reviews or anything else. Life has been a bit challenging for the past few months and I find myself constantly trying to re-center myself and achieve that peaceful frame of mind. I've started reading posts by Marc and Angel and have found them to be wonderful inspiration.



One of the many subgenres of romance that I enjoy is historical. My Saturday Seven post a while ago lists some of the historical romance authors I love (link) and when I discovered that this year's Historical Romance Retreat (HRR) was NOT in Washington, but rather in Riverside, I was thrilled.

Today was the Reader Signing day, so I inquired about helping set up and was thrilled to be able to volunteer and caress (ahem, arrange) all of the beautiful new books! I am definitely a print book person (and my messy house attests to that fact) even though I do a lot of e-book reading nowadays.

If there is ever one of these events in your town, I strongly encourage you to at least attend the Signing day, since those are usually open to the public at no charge, you get a chance to put a face to the name you have seen so many times as you devour their books, and there is always lots of lovely swag.

Today I had the opportunity to renew my acquaintance with many of my favorite authors and to learn about new great books to read. It was lovely to interact with my "tribe" and to share in the camaraderie of fellow booklovers plus admire all of the lovely costumes. I definitely am a fan of the venue, a historic and picturesque hotel called The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa and I had a blast visiting old friends and making new ones.

I apologize that the pictures are a bit fuzzy, but I turned the flash off so I wouldn't blind the poor authors. I'll try to share over the next few days but don't hold your breath, life sometimes gets a bit hectic!

    

The wonderfully prolific Amy Jarecki looked stunning in her costume and the covers on her books were definitely drool-worthy!

     



Caroline Warfield's beautiful display was accented by her lovely kimono and those of you who are fans of Christmas tales will be delighted to know her novella, Lady Charlotte's Christmas Vigil, is only $.99 (please check price before buying).




As you can see, it was great fun! More to follow in a few days.