Whew!  It’s over.  I’m sad, exhausted and looking forward to the next time International Heat ladies converge.  Fortunately that won’t be too long as three of us plan to attend Lori Foster’s Get Together next month.

Yesterday was a great end to a fabulous conference.  We started the day with breakfast as usual.  Everyone knows breakfast isn’t my thing, but I’ll miss chatting with Lexxie, Valerie and Mari over eggs and an admittedly delicious croissant.

Afterward, we gathered up our promo, convinced each other we’d rock and headed down to our very first print signing.  I have to say, Lexxie and Mari had amazing displays of goodies (which I wasn’t able to grab a picture of before they let the crowds in).  It was great to see so many readers flooding the aisles.  Especially when many of them were familiar faces!  Drea, Amy, Kathy and many, many more made the time fly by.  Thank you for coming out and stopping by to say hello.  You really made the event!

During the signing, Jambrea joined us for the day.  It was so great to see her again.  Valerie and Jambi were a huge help bringing us water and getting all our books signed!

By the time two o’clock came around we were grateful to have some time to relax in Lexxie’s room.  Of course we had a heap of inappropriate yet hysterical conversations while we waited for our afternoon events.

It’s not often we get five IH’ers in the same room so I have to say that was a highlight of my convention.  Drea joined us as well so you know it was a blast!

Next, we branched out.  Jambrea prepared for the Total E Bound author dinner at Hyde Park, which she told us was fabulous.  Valerie and Drea held down the fort in Lexxie’s room.  Lexxie stepped out for a meal with Charlaine Harris then, when she returned, Mari, Lexxi and I attended the Samhain Wine and Cheese mixer.

It was fabulous to hang out with Samhain staff and authors one last time before we packed up shop.  Everyone with the publisher is amazing and they pulled off a fabulous RT.  In fact, I’d like to give a shout out to all the staff at all our publishers for making our experiences at our first RT smooth and successful.

So many great events in such a short time!  Then again, that was the theme of the conference.  Chock full of networking, partying and fangirl moments.  After saying goodbye to Lexxie, we headed back to my house for a fabulous dinner cooked by my husband.  Mari tried to poison me with a drink she named in honor of me (I had to try at least one, right?).  A shot of Patron chased with cotton candy.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

When my stomach felt a little less like Mt. Vesuvius we organized the swag and goodies we’d collected over the past week into tote bags to giveaway to lucky Heat Wave Readers who weren’t able to attend the conference.  I can’t believe how much loot there is!

So… there you have it.  The conference is done, IH ladies are on the road and I’m counting the days until we meet again!

Jayne
www.jaynerylon.com