GayRomLit Wrap Up Thing by Tracy (and Kris)

By Tracy & Kris

GayRomLit was totally fun (K: Particularly the times we were all pissed, but NOT the vomiting parts though.  That was kinda gross. T: Hey!  I never vomited!)  There were so many wonderful people – authors, readers and bloggers that I got to meet and it was so great.  (K: You spent time with people other than me?? Bitch!)  There was the night at Lafitte in Exile (a wonderful gay bar (K: Oh yeah. *waggles eyebrows*) which was sponsored by a group of the male authors, cemetery tours, author readings, publisher spotlights, lunches with the authors and so many parties/gatherings to mingle and get to know others. (K: People. Bah-humbug.)  Just a damned fine time.  (K: *nods*  But without the people.)

My (K: And only some of mine cos of the whole hating people thing.) highlights of GRL:

The Thursday Night Gentlemen's Juke Joint Junket at Lafitte's in Exile.   OMG what an excellent event!  (K:  Woo hoo!)  We got great drinks, giveaways, strippers (some that stripped and some that didn't) and we laughed and laughed! (some of that laughter was AT the strippers! Shallow, I know but if you were there you would have laughed too. (K: Yeah.  There was this one guy – apparently straight – but lemme tell ya he would have been seriously chaffed in the morning. *makes floppy gesture*) And then there was Jimmy. (K: *dreamy sigh* I still reckon I could have made him Gay For Me.)  He was an awesome freaking bartender with a great sense of humor…and he made great margaritas too!

(K: I love that pic of Jimmy, but I'm wondering where the one of you flashing your tits is, Tracy?  *confidingly*  Best photo of her from the entire weekend, IMHO.) Um, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Yeah…moving on…

Author readings by Cat Grant, Clare London, Anel Viz, Eden Winters, Damon Suede, ZA Maxfield, Tara Lain & Ethan Day.  I loved hearing excerpts from the different books and hearing the author read them was an extra added bonus.  (K:  Apparently my antisocial, hungover-food poisoned condition made me miss out on hearing the sound effects from a cum scene. Tracy did a pretty good impression though.  No really.)

The cemetery walking tour.  (K: I crashed this since I'd missed the previous morning's tour because of *cough* allergies *cough*.)  The tour guide Lori was great and was very knowledgeable about the way the cemeteries were run as well as having some interesting stories about a few of the people entombed there.  (K: Although there was some stupid heifer who kept butting in and asking Lori questions all the time.  Some people are so fucking rude let me tell you.)

This was a headstone made by a family after the matriarch died.  She owned a store and used to sit out in her chair on the porch of the store all the time so the family wanted her remembered that way.

Lunch with the authors.  (K: Dear God, you actually choose to sit down and eat with people?  On purpose??  Have I taught you nothing?!)  For me this was definitely a highlight.  I got to dine with ZA Maxfield, William Cooper, Shae Conner, K-Lee Klein and Kayla Jameth.  We talked about yaoi, m/m writing, kids and we had great food at Pat O'Brien's.

Author signing on the Creole Queen riverboat.  (K: There was a cruise?? I wonder how I missed that?  Was that the day I was 'sick'?)  That was fun.  It put all the authors together in one spot and pinned them down so they couldn't escape our fangirlness.  (K:  You should have seen all the shit, I mean, 'swag', this lot got from the authors.  Instead of a kindle, I reckon they should have given a couple of suitcases out as prizes. No joke. Also, Janna is a spoilt bitch.  Just sayin'.)

Last but not least Saturday at GRL.  They plied us with alcohol for most of the day.  First there was the Hurricane party by the pool.  Then a couple of hours later there was the Wine and Cheese party and then after that a Gay Bar Crawl.  Patti (Caught in a FAB romance) and I started the crawl and went to a couple places but then made our way to Lafitte's again…where the crawl eventually landed.  It was a damned fine time…um, from what I remember, and an absolutely wonderful way to end the event.  (K: I was actually sober for this. Surprisingly. Oh, the stories I could tell… *whispersemailmewhispers*) She's delusional..seriously.

The BIGGEST (K: I HAVE lost weight.  Swear to God!  It was just that tshirt.  It's a colour!  I know, I know.  I've no idea why I bought it either. :P) and BEST (K: *blushes*) highlight of the event were these people:

 

These crazy ass women (K: The crazy thing is a reference to the others.)  who are fun and funny and personable and just amazing (K:  Fun, funny, personable and amazing would be me.  She forgot 'awesome' though.)  were the main reason I went to GRL.  GRL itself was really just icing on the cake and a great reason to get together.

Would I go again?  Maybe. If another great group of bloggers and readers were going I'm sure I could be convinced.

(K:  Yeah, okay, I had a great time too and, like Tracy, it was because of the absofuckinglutely fantabulous ladies we kept company with.  You all rock.  But if you tell anyone I said that I will have to kill you.)

(PS: K: Also, Tracy, I'm still waiting for that titty pic to be posted… C'mon, don't be shy… Let's face it, most of us have seen everything  – and in a couple of cases felt – so there's hardly any reason to be… Now…)

Tracy's weblog | Kris' weblog (yay, she's back!) | Tracy's Twitter | Kris' Twitter
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