Saturday

So yeah, if you read yesterday’s recap of GRL, this will probably surprise you.  It sure as hell surprised me considering yesterday’s overindulgence in alcohol combined with way too little food.  But once again, I woke up way too early and shockingly energetic so I headed down to breakfast where I got to sit with Amy Lane and Ellis Carrington, two fabulous authors and amazing ladies!

I then headed over to my first session, which was a Tour of Boxer Falls. You guys may have seen me mention it here before, but Boxer Falls is a gay soap opera co-written by a ton of fabulous m/m writers.  It is posted over at the Goodreads M/M Romance board, as well as on their own Boxer Falls Web site.  To be honest, I haven’t been good about keeping up with the weekly episodes, but so many of my favorite authors participate (and my blog has been a sponsor) so I decided to go check it out.  It was a great session with readings from a bunch of episodes and an all-star group of authors.  I am determined to get back into reading it and talked to the organizers about doing a special post here about Boxer Falls.  So keep your eyes open for that.

Next I headed over to an author Q&A with Damon Suede, K-Lee Klein, Erica Pike, and EM Lynley, moderated by Kris Jacen from MLR Press.  This was the first Q&A I went to and I really enjoyed it.  I didn’t take notes on all the questions, but one of my favorites was who were the authors’ favorite characters that they wrote.  Here are their answers: Damon – Mrs. Anastagio from Hot Head; Erica – Eric Wesley from Absolutely Eric; EM – Trent from the Precious Gems series; and K-Lee – Ali from Lucius’ Bite (I love him!).

Heather with her napkin bib eating BBQ

After that we headed over to the BBQ Lunch sponsored by Silver Publishing.  They had great prizes and yummy BBQ food. I sat with the regular gang, as well as some new friends, and as usual our conversation devolved into chaos very quickly.  Heather told us about a freebie she read about a woman who can only get off when having sex in the trash.  Yes, we were all horrified.  But this of course led to a discussion of all the crazy, random books we have read.  Of course, nothing quite beat “dumpster girl”.  We thought Haunted Vagina might take the win, but sadly it turned out to be much more normal despite the title.  But on the plus side, dumpster girl did lead to the discussion of a possible a regular guest column for the blog where they will review crazy and insane sounding books for our amusement! Yeah!

Me at the Silver BBQ lunch

We also had (YET ANOTHER) discussion on rimming.  Seriously, I don’t know what was wrong with us or why we were all so fascinated.  Maybe because it shows up in so many books but most folks don’t seem to have actually done it (well, Alex wasn’t talking).  Fortunately we found some friends who were willing to give us tips and details (Tim McGivney filled us in on the baby wipe “swipe up, fold, swipe down” technique).  Which of course led to a discussion on hygiene and taste (someone suggested “woodsy” which made me think of licking a tree) and then the suggestion of ways to enhance the taste.  Yes, we talked about this at lunch.  I will never look at butter spray the same again (thank you Gyn!).  You can tell we had been spending a lot of time together that we actually talked about all this stuff in extensive detail (along with a lot worse – I am sparing you guys!)

My decorated ereader cover

After lunch, I headed over to the last formal session, the Kinda Kinky Craft Fair, led by Taylor Donovan, Damon Suede, Anne Tenino, and L.C. Chase.  We got ereader covers and coffee cozies (aka dildo holders) to decorate.  Mine is pretty PG as I have kids at home. I wasn’t as brave as Neal with his giant penis made out of rhinestones or Laura Adriana whose said “I Love Cock!” in big letters (that was fun to take out at the airport!). But it was a lot of fun to play with paint and glitter and shrinky dinks and a fun way to end the sessions.

Next up was the author signing.  Unlike some people I know (you know who you are) I did not bring suitcases full of books. Mostly because I don’t usually read in hard copy anymore.  But I had collected a lot of swag like bookmarks and cover flats and got those signed, as well as taking lots of pictures.  And I had a super cool phone app that let the authors sign right on the picture.  Here are some of the pics I took:

Tim McGivney

Damon Suede

Amy Lane

Kate McMurray

Ethan Stone

Anne Tenino

Piper Vaughn

Ethan Day



After that we headed over to the nearby bowling alley for the Torquere Bowling party.  Leigh and I were running late so we got a personal ride on the hotel’s golf cart over to the bowling center. It was ridiculously fun to ride in the golf cart! I didn’t bowl, but I did cheer on Charlie Cochet’s team and she was nice enough to share her prize bags with me. Charlie is totally awesome and has a fabulous sense of style.  Totally fits her books!

Me and Alex with our matching necklaces

Then we grabbed a quick dinner and headed over to the Total Ebound social. It was held outside at their spa, which looked sort of like a giant garlic bulb.  There were some great native american singers and dancers which was really neat, although it was sort of chilly out so I didn’t stay outside long.  Our favorite bartender made me yummy fruity drinks and we had a lot of fun just hanging out.  This is where Cole told me that gay men apparently have a thing for breasts.  I guess it is something they don’t often get to play with?  I got poked a few times and asked if mine are real (yes, but sadly not spectacular) and fondled a bit which cracked me up.  And the best part is I won a great gift bag from Total Ebound with a bunch of books, including one I had my eye on all week.  Yeah!  And a cute little heart necklace thumb drive.  Alex had a matching one so here we are putting our hearts together.  Aw!

Edmond Manning as Greasicle the clown and Anne Tenino in her penis hat

Then it was off to the Dreamspinner Piano Bar for the last formal event of the day. We pretty much all hung out outside all night where we could still hear but also hang out and talk. This is where I got the crap scared out of me when Edmond Manning (aka Greasicle the scary ass clown) sat down next to me.  Yes, this is the same man who brought us the incredibly moving and beautiful King Perry ladies and gentlemen! And the lovely Anne Tenino in her homemade penis hat.  This is how far we had cover over the week! Lots of fun hanging out with the gang and just talking and having a good time.

Gyn, Tina, me, Laura adriana and Alex after a long night

Everyone outside the Total Ebound party

We enjoy our shots together

And finally we finished off our day with a trip to the hotel bar/club.  But not before we stopped and took the picture below.  Because for some reason, lying on the floor and posing over the GRL logo in a drunken heap seemed like a great idea at the time.  But I love this picture as it totally captures the bond we formed in such a short time.  When we got to the bar, a bunch of folks were already there and we all danced and drank and laughed all night.  There was a total scary random guy who kept stalking all of us and pantomiming blowing things up when people wouldn’t dance with him. But even though the club wasn’t exactly rocking, with all of us there it was a fabulous time and we danced the rest of the night away. It was a long exhausting day but a great way to cap off the festivities.

And next up I bring you Sunday: So Sad to Say Goodbye

The is one of my favorites. Totally captures our crazy week!

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