It’s taken me a few days. (who am I kidding, it’s taken like two weeks) to get back to normal after coming home from Knoxville and the RRR ’23 reader conference. It was an absolute BLAST.
If you’re an author, looking for a great environment to attend for a signing, look no further. The women who run this signing, Jackie and Rebecca, are stunning souls who somehow manage to keep their shit together while dealing with almost 100 authors, and a ton of readers. I honestly don’t know how they do it.
For readers, not only were there a TON of authors, but general admission tickets were only $20.00, which is amazing.
I’m going to take a hot second here and talk about my trip, the signing, the hotel, and just… everything I experienced during this event.
If you’re looking for drama, you’re not going to find it here. If you’re looking for a recommendation, and information for how it might be for you? This is the post for you.
I drove down, with my littles, from my house in Maine.
The drive took us two days, and we stopped to stay with one of my author friends, who also attended RRR, E.C. Land. Our kids are all friends, so it doubled as a break/vacation for them, and a chance for us to get out of the car for a day.
Fast forward a lot of hours and laughs and food and midnight bathroom stops in the middle of the night on the side of the road, and we got to the hotel.
Not only did the staff at the hotel make the kids feel welcome, but they also made sure I had everything I needed to unload and get my signing stuff up to my room!
The day before the events, we got relaxed and settled and just puttered around the hotel. If you have a chance to get in a day or two early, I highly recommend it! Just for the environment and the fact that you can gear up and get ready without being stressed.
Friday, we only had to be available for the meet and greet – so all day was another vacation! The meet and greet was PACKED. Tons of readers just laughing, having a few drinks and snacks, and enjoying the authors.
Not only that, but the authors were able to chat and ccatch up, and meet new friends too.
At 7 the next morning, we started setting up, and then – the VIP and early bird attendees got to come in. Time flew by with a ton of signed books, free swag, and games.
After lunch, which I usually skip because I don’t find the signing food very good (BUT THIS FOOD WAS GREAT) and the regular signing started with a freaking BANG.
I sold out of some books, almost ran out of my free gifts for readers, and ended up not having a ton of stuff to pack up for the trip home.
In between all of this, I got to make plans for dinner, the kids hung out, and. wespent the night in the pool with drinks and other authors/their kids!
Did this sound like a sappy, brief overview? Absolutely. But you don’t understand. Usually signgings are a double-edged sword. I have fun, but I want to hide in my room for them. I want to sleep. I want to escape.
That wasn’t the case at RRR.
I had so much fun. I seriously wore a smile almost the entire trip.
Oh – and they have Starbucks in the hotel.
It was a perfect experience, and I can’t wait to go again!
*All photos posted with permission of those photographed*
If you have photos of me in them and want to drop them in the comments, go for it and I’ll add them to the post. <3
