GRL 2014 (Part 2) The Sequel

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted - which is bad because I know I promised to do the follow up to my first GRL post within the week...but stuff happens! I'm sure you know how that is.

To give you a short rundown of why I wasn't able to post the last half when I said I was: I finished three short stories, finished a novel, and started NaNoWriMo. Yeah, it was a lot. But I'm here now and as any pregnant mother will tell you: better late than never.

In the last entry (x) I ended my GRL breakdown on Thursday. So here's the rest of the week. I hope you enjoy!

Friday:

I woke up with a slight hangover. I had way too much to drink Thursday night and somewhere between the free alcohol and the exotic dancers I was just way too out of it. I sent a text to J.P. and asked her if I did anything ABB (author behaving badly) worthy. She told me I was cute, but not obnoxious. I'll accept that. :P

I showered and got dressed - I wore a Batman shirt and I made my poor fiance wear a Robin shirt (complete with cape) but it was nice because people thought they were adorable. I didn't have time to make any readings because I had to immediately go downstairs and make my way to the Wilde City table because I was scheduled to do table watching with Sara York. It was a good opportunity to sit and talk with the readers. I had fun.

Afterwards I met back with the gang and we helped J.P. mentally prepare for her BDSM panel. At some point I had to run back to the Wilde City Press table to get her things (she brought naughty things to show) and uh, at some point I misplaced her riding crop. I didn't want her to get mad at me so this resulted in me going around asking people if they've seen my riding crop. Yeah... even more awkward was having to go BACK to the Wilde City Press table and ask TJ Klune, SA Mcaulay, Dolorianne Morris, and Daniel Kaine if they've seen a riding crop somewhere around. Daniel did, and handed it to me and they laughed. I don't think I could have possibly blushed harder.

So I ran back to the BDSM panel, handed J.P. her crop (in front of a room full of people) and sat down. The day was saved! Yay. It was a lovely panel.

Later, after eating lunch, I managed to listen to Shira Anthony sing some beautiful opera songs. I had to walk away after a certain point because I was shaking and crying - her voice is seriously that amazing. At some point after, my lovely assistant, William, managed to set me up with Lori - who's son does cover modeling! Connections to a model, for an author, is like cocaine. You have no idea.

Later, after cleaning up and taking things to the room, I had to message a few people and figure out dinner plans. It ended up being: William, J.P., Brandilyn Carpenter, Taryn Plendl, Wade Kelly, Jodi, and Anthony & Me.

I forget what our original plans were. I think we were going to a Chilis or something? I don't know. We wound up at BWW (Buffalo Wild Wings) and had the most amazing time. J.P. polished off two margaritas and was really, really giggly. =P

We took two cars, which was good, because I remembered last minute that I needed to stop at K-Mart and get the rest of my outfit for Dreamspinner Casino Night (as I didn't get  a chance to before I left NJ) so Wade, William, Anthony & I went to K-Mart. And I managed to buy my outfit and get ready for Casino Night just in time.

I took some pictures, played on some of the tables (Blackjack and Roulette mostly) but gambling isn't really my thing. So I met William and Anthony at the swimming pool and did some late night swimming and hot tubbing. A good way to end the night for sure. =)

Saturday:

I woke up and after a nice hot shower, I noticed I had a slight sore throat (probably from talking so much and yelling at events) but I ignored it - there was no way in hell I was going to take a sick day at GRL.

I went downstairs to Riptide's Breakfast thing and grabbed myself some grub - I was practically ravenous. After eating, I went over to the Waterfall Side Lounge for J.P.'s reading and listened to her read a passage from one of her novels. I had to leave midway through the next person's reading because of anxiety - it was too many people and I couldn't sit for so long. Reason #2005 why anxiety sucks and isn't fun.

After I calmed down, Anthony and I went over to see ZAM, and K.A. Mitchell do a panel. It was really enjoyable even though I was so exhausted and tired. We then left and went to see how J.P. was doing after her reading. She was fine, she also happened to be chatting to Brandon, who was nervous about his own reading. I don't know how it went personally because we left to not add to the pressure (but I heard good things!)

We all went out to Portillos again and I got my usual - chicken sandwich and cheese fries, yum yum - and then it was back to the venue to help William, help J.P. to set up for the Featured Author signing event. After helping them set up, I ran to the room to change into my Corrupted by J.P. Barnaby T-shirt (I have to support my mentor, after all! :D) and then came back down.

The event was incredible! First thing was that J.P. had a long line! It was crazy. And then I also had people coming up to me and asking me to sign their copies of my novel, too. I was totally floored. In addition, I found out that all copies of my novel were sold out! 100% sold out and I wasn't even registered as an author! It was crazy and such a wonderful feeling. I owe it all to the individuals who loved my novel or the ones who wanted to take a chance on a new author. Simply incredible.

I also made my way over to browse a few of the authors - I bought a couple of novels, including another one from Daniel, because let's face it, he's a good writer. And I kind of enjoyed torturing him by asking him to sign stuff because he gets twitchy. :P

After the event - I had to organize dinner plans again. And because it was the LAST day, I had to make it a big one. I didn't get to have everyone I wanted there, but I tried my best and got a decent number of people. Our dinner party included - Lisa H, Rhys  Ford, Dani (from Love Bytes Reviews), J.P., William, Jodi, Taryn, Wade, Anthony, Myself, and GAH am I forgetting somebody? If I am, I apologize! (I'm writing this blog on little sleep) Anyway, we went to Dennys and had a wonderful time. The kids table especially had a good time. :P

After dinner, we went back to the venue to get ready for the final big event - The Totally Bound Totally Time Travel Party! Our dinner plans ran a bit late and I had limited time to get dressed. My costume wasn't working. I was aiming to be Marshall Lee (from Adventure Time) and my boyfriend was Finn. It didn't work, so I ended up just telling people I was a lesbian. K.A. Mitchell said I wasn't butch enough! :P

I also may have gotten very drunk that night. See, I had tons of drink tickets and I also had two full bottles of white wine...which is my no/no drink. And uh, well, yeah. It was all a blur of people and random things. I know I spoke to Daniel Kaine at some point who was also very drunk himself - wine, too, it's a real killer man. And I know I kept drinking well past what I should have. And Anthony had his hands full dealing with my antics.

I'm not going to get into the rest of the night...but I think my status (from that night) about sums it up:

So yeah, it was my favorite day overall.

Sunday:

I woke up and was feeling really crappy. Not only was I now officially sick (sore throat, runny nose, aka con crud) but I was also hung over. YAY! Not. I had to literally force myself out of bed to shower and get ready for the final day.

I let my boyfriend sleep in a bit and went down and had a long discussion with J.P. and Jodi about life and everything else.

I made it to the final day breakfast and Anthony was already there waiting for me. I drank an excessive amount of orange juice and we planned out what we were going to do next.

I then spent the next couple of hours taking photo-booth pictures with my friends/the people I care about and it was a wonderful way to close the official events.

The rest of Sunday I spent hanging out with three of my good friends (Juli, Rebecca, William) and saying goodbye to everyone.

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And that about ends my GRL breakdown. I hope you enjoyed it. As last year, I had an amazing time - hell, an even better time this year, and I can't wait until October rolls around so I can do it again and see all the people who make me feel loved and cared about. <3


As always, lots of love and applesauce <3

Pictures from the second half: