Monday, June 10, 2013

Convention, Swag, and a Funny (and maybe a rant thrown in)

I had a really nice time at the Lori Foster Reader/Author Get Together. I mainly hung out with author Nickie Asher and had lots of fun with her. It was also nice seeing lots of writer friends and meeting new readers (somehow, hanging with someone made it a whole bunch easier to do). I might have even generated a couple of sales. Whoo hoo!

Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures. Oh…except this one from a boardroom ran by some writers (mainly Darynda Jones, Robyn Peterman, and Macy Beckett - there were others, but those are the authors I remember).
 
 
They had some condoms for the taking (don’t know why but I’m sure it had to do with someone’s book) and by the last day, they got used as balloons. Had lots of fun batting them back and forth across the table.

And you thought they only did strange stuff at RT? Ha ha!

What’s really great is that next year I’ll be attending as an AUTHOR and I’ll be able to sit during the book signing and not sign any books! J (In case you didn’t get the joke, that’s because my books will only be available digitally.) I’ll be able to sign something, though (provided people are interested), I just haven’t decided which way to go. Probably book cover cards or something like that. Book marks would seem strange to give away, because where are you going to put them on your e-reader?

Doesn’t mean I won’t have them, because I still plan on taking some to Dragon*Con and I’ll probably have leftovers. There, I’d rather promote myself instead of just my book. Still need that moon shot, though. Next chance: June 23 (which also happens to be my mother’s birthday). Here’s hoping the weather cooperates. Apparently, the moon will. I heard that’s when it’s closest to Earth. Ooh, BIG moon shots. I’m almost drooling.

Hey, want to see something funny?

My husband loves his Diet Coke. When we go to a restaurant, he usually asks for a Diet Coke, a refill for that Diet Coke, and a refill for the refill (he downs them pretty quickly). Our local Bob Evans knows to just give him 3-4 at a time. Well, when we were up in Michican, we visited the Bob Evans near our hotel and he pretty much ordered that every morning. On the third morning, the waitress wised up and gave him this.



Notice the straw? Yep, that was included. We all had a nice laugh.

Would you believe he finished it? Of course he did. He felt he had an image to uphold.

Have you noticed some blogs seem to have only Google+ comments? I really do NOT want to have to remember another sign-on just to comment, so I won’t comment. Is there some reason you can’t have multiple sign-ons? Have you heard if blogger is changing? I sure hope it’s not! Because if that’s the case, I might as well switch to Word Press. I already have an account with them.

So tell me, what’s your beverage of choice for breakfast? Mine’s coffee with LOTS of cream. Yum!

Stacy

 

 

12 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Hope that waitress got a nice tip. LOL!

Soft drinks are a bad habit of mine and I'm trying to cut down. For me, it's Coke Zero or Pepsi Max.

Re: Google*
One of my friends started this and I couldn't leave a comment without joining Google+ too. I sent my regrets and only commented on her FB page to make up for it. She lost so many regular commenters that she ditched Google+.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria - We ALWAYS leave a nice tip. My husband is HIGH MAINTENANCE when it comes to restaurants. Waitresses tend to realize this quicker than waiters, though.

And I'm sure glad I'm not the only one feeling that way about Google+. I thought Blogger let you have multiple log-ins, so that has really confused me (and to have a Blogger blog and not incorporate Blogger log-ins is just STRANGE).

LD Masterson said...

But did he ask for a refill on that pitcher?

Missed you at WOWA last week. Unusually small turn out. Didn't have to break up for critiques. So, naturally, I didn't have anything.

Bonnie Gill said...

Stacy,
Lol about the pitcher of Diet Coke and the condoms.
I'm so happy you had fun.
My drink of choice is Fresca. It's addicting though.

Stacy McKitrick said...

LD - No, he didn't ask for a refill. Even HE has his limits! As for WOWA - I was at Lori Foster's. Plus, I'm not about to drive back to Xenia. If the meetings move there, I probably won't attend any more. Bad enough I have to pay $5.

Bonnie - I never could get a taste for Fresca, but then I don't like grapefruits, either! Coffee in the morning, Diet Dr. Pepper during the day, that's what I like!

dolorah said...

Google and blogger are always trying to link one more thing. Its getting too complicated.

I can relate to the hubby - only with diet Pepsi. My favorite local restruaunt serves only coke, so I bring in my own can. The laugh about it.

Whats wrong with signing book marks? I still collect them. Book cover cards sounds cool too.

......dhole

Stacy McKitrick said...

Donna - During on visit to Applebee's, my husband whined they had Pepsi products and he wanted his Diet Coke (he WAS only joking because he just likes to find a reason to whine). That waitress went across the street and bought him a bottle of Diet Coke (rang it up as a regular drink on the ticket). Yep, she got a BIG tip!

I don't really use bookmarks I get from conventions, but they are cheap to have made. I've also asked non-writers what they think, and they seem to like them. But with more and more e-books, bookmarks kind of seem redundant!

Todd R Moody said...

I'm glad you had fun! My favorite drink is Diet Mt Dew. Or coffee with lots of cream and sugar. =)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Todd - My son loved Mt. Dew, but then he realized he had to stop the sugar. Couldn't stand the diet kind, so gave it up cold turkey. Me, I've never cared for the drink, but I remember when it came out (gosh, I'm old!).

Jennifer Shirk said...

I used to be a Diet Coke addict! But I totally went cold turkey about ten years ago.
Now I love my coffee--but I gave creamer last month so I drink it black now!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jennifer - I used to drink coffee black, now I can't stand it without creamer. At least I don't put sugar in it.

It would probably be best if I just drank water all the time, but then that wouldn't be any fun! :)

The Happy Whisk said...

Lemon water for me. Unless I'm having a burger, then a good root beer. Love the photo.

Tim tried that comment thing on his blog but because only Google Plus could comment, he removed it.

I don't have Google Plus. Didn't hear about Blogger changing but then who knows what is going on with them these days. They seem to anyway, want to really get everyone on board with G+