GayRomLit Recap, Day One

Where to begin? I'll skip the trip in, though driving through NOLA six years post-Katrina was very different than when I'd been there previously. It felt...empty. Not the Quarter, of course. But many buildings in outlying areas were just boarded up and abandoned, traffic seemed a lot lighter (even with all the construction) and there were notably fewer "colorful types"--the tarot readers, street musicians, etc.

The view from our corner balcony on Bourbon and Orleans.

Got to the hotel and since it was undergoing a remodel, they had put me in a single. Well, I love Trina Lane, but I don't want to sleep with her, you know what I'm sayin? After a firm refusal of a rollaway and a half-hour in the lobby, they finally came back having upgraded me to the "owner's suite", which has the corner balcony on Bourbon and Orleans, right across from Oz (more about that in a bit). :)

I was late to the opening gala due to the room thing, so got to walk in cold (and alone)--man that sounds pathetic, lol! Luckily I spotted and recognized Carol Lynne, so I went up to introduce myself and she pointed Trina Lane, my roomie for the event, out to me. Trina, in turn, pointed out a few other people, and so I eventually eased into the group. I'm not the most outgoing person in the world, especially when it come to large groups of people. Oh, I'm fine one-on-one or even in a small handful of people, but an entire roomful makes me freeze. And blush. Damned redheaded skin.

I didn't have much time to linger there since I was coming in toward the end, though I did sign my first autograph (thanks for making my night, Mary!). Then it was off to dinner with the Total-E-Bound ladies, who took all their authors out for a lovely meal on the outside terrace at Cafe Amelie. And gave us all jammies with our book covers on them. Those of you who have followed my blog (or have read Neighbors By Day, Naughty By Night) know my little thing about jammies, lol, and so I'm sure my roommate was happy for that gift. ;)

Pounce!

After the dinner wrapped up, there was the Men of MM night at Lafitte's. We (Marie Sexton and a few others) rolled in a bit late, were pointed upstairs by the helpful bouncer and lo and behold, there was the entertainment, up on the bar. Now, by this point, I'd had a couple of glasses of wine at the gala and a couple more at dinner. So when I figured out that was Chris from Stumbling Over Chaos sitting right there at the bar, I pretty much pounced on her. (My inhibitions get a bit low when I have more than one drink). Kassa got the hell out of the way kindly offered me the stool next to her, and they all introduced me to Jimmy the bartender and Jimmy Juice, which was the drink 'o the night.

I know if I try to list all the people I visited with that night, I'll forget someone. But some standouts were Piper and Cherie, Janna and Leontine, Kassa and Tam and Tracy, Kris and Chris, Heidi Cullinan and Vic, Ethan and Damon, Stephani and Jackie.

I think the Jimmy Juice affected my memory because try as I might, I can't seem to remember when (or why) we left Lafitte's. I did make it back to the hotel just fine and ended the evening by unpacking, which I'd had no chance to do earlier. Probably fell in bed around 4-ish that morning and listened to the last hour or so of music thumping from across the way as I drifted off. Gotta love alcohol, works even better than earplugs.

Day Two recap tomorrow! Spotlights, the riverboat cruise signing, and walking Bourbon Street with Stephani Hecht and Amber Kell.