Okay, so for all of you who had no idea, I was this weekend in Bondi at the Australian Romance Readers Convention. This is a fantastic opportunity for readers of the genre to participate in discussions about the genre's trends, expectations, pros & cons. Even better it's an opportunity to explore the genre by interacting with like minded people & AUTHORS!!!! Yep, these bloody brilliant people actually give a damn about their 'fans'.
So, the convention, well since I'm the anal person I am at times I'll start with the good bits & then follow through the points as my title says:
The Good Bits
New friends! For me this was not just new friendly readers, but authors too. I had a squee moment with Lexxie Couper whilst enjoying a drink on Friday evening...scary to think that she actually gets the way my brain works! Other fabulous mentions in my opinion were Rhian Cahill, Heather Boyd & Jess Dee. Funnily enough they are also all Australian authors.
Free Books! Yep, I have well & truly overloaded the car with the amount of books I've dragged back with me...Fi(my sister) & Mum also helped themselves out.
Panels! These discussed specific sub-genres but really were just an area for us to be let in on the joke...there were some serious questions but on the whole it wasn't a boring lecture.
Lots of room! There was plenty of room to spread ourselves out for the convention - this really is a blessing considering the 130 people that were attending.
The Bad Bits
Price! Bondi is very expensive. We were at a 4 1/2 star hotel which in my opinion was more like a 3 star. There was no free internet except in the business centre & that was from the whole 2 computers that was there & then there was a sign that said "Please limit your use to 25 minutes". Next there was the fact that breakfast was a whopping $33. I have no problem paying for hotel breakfasts except that the breakfasts were very ordinary.
Food! The food at the hotel was terrible. I had something that was supposedly a chicken curry for lunch which tasted like boiled chicken in a watery bit of sauce that may have had a spice in there but really required me adding butter & lots of salt & pepper. It really didn't get better from there - average is about the best I can give the attempts at cuisine from this hotel. Pretty sad when you consider the delights of culinary cuisine Sydney has to offer and that all other Accor groups have met wonderful standards without calling themselves 4 1/2 stars. I'm a picky bitch I know but hell, I've travelled & I know the difference between the star ratings!
Service! I was appalled that I had to ask 3 times for my sister's bed to be made up, extra towels given because, uh duh there were 3 of us staying in the room, and had asked for a paper each day & had to go get them myself! Sadly the Swiss Grand Hotel in Bondi is a flop and misleading when stating it's rating. Drop the star rating to a 3 & adjust the prices accordingly, and voila you have an honest interpretation.
The Hello's
It was fabulous to meet Nalini Singh - particularly after conversing with her last year for my thesis. Mum was almost wetting herself in meeting one of her all time favourite authors Cindy Gerard & of course I don't know who was more tongue tied - mum or Jess Dee when they were introduced to each other! Jess still can't believe that my mother reads her books and mum was just so excited to meet an author she really admires. I was touched and delighted to be part of conversations with Lex Couper, Rhian Cahill & Heather Boyd. These ladies ROCK!!!
The Goodbyes
It was ambivalent to say goodbye to so many friends....because really that is what happens at these conventions we become friends. More gifts were given out & then it suddenly was the end...we were saying "see you next time". The Organising Committee well & truly deserved kudos - they were well and truly, in the words of Julia Quinn SPLENDID!
So, that was my weekend...well there was a lot more of course but these ruminations have exceeded anyone's attention span. Till next time, Huggles!!
1 comment:
It was a great weekend and it was so nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to next time.
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