This was a day for checking in, getting settled, meeting up with people and the meet and greet.

First off, let’s discuss the gift bag. We were given a bag that included cotton candy (num!), some books, our name badge, a yummy calendar, the conference book (which had notes for the workshops, space for autographs and a place to keep track of awards. Oh, and also a keychain that said “I got BONED at Romanticon 2011” … but the cool thing is that it popped out and had a condom!

I set up my baskets that had my promo items in it. There were tables set up where the workshops were located and you could drop off your promo for convention-goers to browse throughout the conference and pick out what they wanted. I loved looking through the offerings, seeing what other authors had to show off. My promo included military-themed rubber ducksies and also pocket tissue packs. One fun, one practical.

Then was the meet & greet for the night. Ellora’s Cave had their own wine as “favors” with EC labels on them. The cavemen mingled, I got to meet one of my favorite EC authors (Mari Carr…such a sweetie!) and it was a good intro to the entire event. Also, this was the night I met my editor, Grace Bradley. It’s funny how you can work with someone for over a year and not even know what their voice sounds like. But Grace was as awesome in person as she has been online. If you don’t follow her on Twitter…you should! @GraceBradley

Overall, Thursday evening was a great opportunity to meet up with people I had talked to on Twitter or on author loops, check out the caveman man candy, and get used to the surroundings. It was a casual event (I wore jeans, flip flops and a simple tee).

Check back in the next day or so for another installment of Romanticon 2011, and how it went!