Wohoo today’s spotlight is on Michelle Callahan. If you know anything about RomCon you know that Michelle is one of the organizers of this amazing week-end, and she is an author. So we asked Michelle to stop on by and talk about RomCon for us…
RomCon, RomCon, RomCon! Are we there yet?
Heather and Melanie (Hi Gals!) asked me to stop by today and chat about the insanity that gripped us when Elaine and I decided to dive head first into planning a convention. Neither one of us had any experience with conventions. But no one was doing what we wanted to do – have a FUN weekend where all we did was play games, laugh, and rub elbows with our heroes (aka favorite authors.) We definitely did not look before we leaped. And that’s one thing I’m eternally grateful for, because we would have missed out on something that has transformed our lives. We are, at the core, fans. In fact, I so adore Christine Feehan that meeting her made it to my bucket list. Not kidding. I could NOT DIE until I had met Christine and told her how much I love her Carpathians. I spent hours with my mom and sister debating which Carpathian hero was the best one. Luckily, we were all in love with different heroes, so we kept the real fighting to a minimum. (Just for the record, sis, Gabriel is still the best!)
And yes, I’m a writer as well. I write paranormal/sci-fi romance. My latest is a series about people who are Taken at the moment of their death, given superpowers, and sent someWHEN else in time to avert disasters or change history. Of course they fall in love and it complicates everything. LOL. It’s fun. And unique. The first two stories are novellas and the third will be a full length book out around RomCon (August 5-7). But, even as an author, I didn’t want to spend a weekend at writing workshops (like I’ve done countless times for outrageous amounts of money) just to breathe the same air in the room with Nora Roberts or Sherrilyn Kenyon. (Yes, I really did that!)
So guess what I got to do last year? I invited all my personal favorites to RomCon. Not all of them said yes, but some did. I gave a hug to Christine Feehan (and almost started crying!) I met Nalini Singh, Jeanine Frost, and Shannon Butcher and actually got to…*gasp*…talk to them! I sat in the bar giggling and talking hot, sexy heroes with my new BFF’s (anyone who loves the same books I do qualifies in this category, of course.) I met a lot of really great people who love romance as much as I do. Amazing people. Kind people. Women who want a story with a Happily-Ever-After ending and aren’t afraid to admit it.
Romance is, in my opinion, the core of who we all are in our very best moments. There are a ton of huge conventions, FUN conventions with aliens, wizards, and comic book heroes. I must admit, I would love to go to Comic Con or Dragon Con one day. But let’s face facts. That’s mostly for the boys. It’s about war, and fighting crime, and super-weapons, super-heroes, and comic book villains. Aliens and galactic battles between good and evil. Cool? Heck, yeah! Romantic? Not so much…
I don’t need to dress up as a Klingon. I want to sip a glass of wine and giggle like I used to when I was 14 and a cute boy walked by my locker. I want to hang out with my girlfriends and let my hair down, talk about cute boys (aka hot romance heroes) and feel like a carefree kid again.
Come to RomCon. Play games with the authors. Have “Tea”. Laugh and scream at Murder, Darling, Murder or the Chocolate Mangasm event. Come relax at the Pajama Jam campout or ride the mechanical bull and line-dance on Wild West Night. But above all, grab a seat in the lounge and I promise you it won’t take long. You’ll be surrounded by women who love what you do. Who think like you do. Who love their lives, AND love to read books with happy endings. That’s what RomCon is to me. Sisterhood. Stories where characters love and respect each other. (What a strange and unique concept!) And having the guts to stand up and say that LOVE and RESPECT in a book are at least as powerful as Murder or War. More powerful.
Cheers all! Hope you can come chat with your favorite authors, giggle with your girlfriends, and feel like a kid again!
I can’t wait.
Michele Callahan
Chronicles of the Taken: Red Night is available at Amazon.com’s Kindle store for only $.99! Please check it out.Check out RomCon 2011 at the convention website: www.romcon2011.com
We give away books EVERY DAY on our blogs: www.romconinc.com
And sign up for our newsletter, the RomCon Replay, where we recap the weekly blogs, recipes, and news. www.romconinc.com
Flying SOLO for RomCon? No problem! Sign up for the Buddy Program. Details at http://romconinc.com/romcon2011/Buddy_Program.html
This really sounds like so much fun! I wish something like that would take place in Holland someday. But no luck.
Christine Feehan sure is one of my favourite authors too! Those Carpathians are sooooo good! I would have a really hard time to pick just one as my favourite though. The later ones are so much better than the first few, in my eyes. Accepting their mates as equals, less caveman attitudes.
And then all those other series of hers, I love every one of them.
Michele ~ Loved your guest post today, and your book premise sounds intriguing! I’m up for some chatting with fave authors and giggling the gals. Can’t wait to see you all at RomCon this year!
Tiffany