AAD Wrap Up...

Now that I'm sort of caught up (edits turned in), I can start to recap AAD.
I still have a lot of laundry to do...lol

I ran into a reader at the gate at Chicago's Midway Airport and Lisa and I chatted...more AAD people arrived. Desiree Holt cut it close connecting from her other flight in from Texas but we were all good. Nice flight...

The trouble started with the hotel. I'd shipped 4 boxes. 2 for the welcome bags and 2 full of swag I'd hand out. It shouldn't take over an hour to locate properly labeled boxes...so I missed part of the Midnight Rodeo.

But I wasn't the only one....many others were hunting down boxes. The hotel service overall was slow. The restaurant was a repeat offender in this area. My hair dryer in the room died and the replacement one took a while and the new one sucked...cut out constantly. I was really unimpressed. The room we had for the book signing was packed tight. I've never been so scrunched in at any book signing and I've been doing this for a while!

So that's the bad stuff. And it had to do with the hotel...

Now to the conference :) The Midnight Rodeo was at 4pm but it was fun. A mechanical bull was there for people to ride and take pictures with...I did neither. lol BUT they had awesome goody bags. A bottle of water and a cookie ! Yes, this is what you need the first day because everything in the hotel was overpriced...we needed the water! Thank you!!

The Welcome event was nice...it went the full 2 hours but lots of readers got great prizes. As an author, I couldn't win anything so it lacked anticipation for me but Mr. Moose liked the cup on the table...

The next day I was going to have breakfast with one author and it grew to a big table...What fun!

That day Isabelle Drake and I had planned to camp out and give away goodies.

The little squeezie moose became popular! And those pens, you might think you have enough pens and pass them up...but they have 3 inks in them! Many readers started clicking away...they make me feel like a kid again :)

Thursday was the Author Reception I was a part of. More goodies given out  :) Chatting with readers and bloggers! I was so tired after that, I couldn't even go to the Bookie awards. I grabbed dinner and talked with readers/writers/bloggers. Mr. Moose already had a following...

I kept up with the awards on FB via my phone. Desiree won 5! WOW!

Friday, Isabelle and I did the same thing!! A little in the AM, lunch and then more swag giveaways in the bar area. Roz Lee and others joined in.

That night was the Leather & Lace party...Mr. Moose was popular by then and drinking a rum and coke ;)

The next day was the signing. I didn't bring books, just swag and some postcards for my latest ebook releases. That worked out okay...

Did you get a moose? That was my question to those who passed by :O)  I got a lot of interesting looks but most stopped and checked out the fun of the Men of Alaska series!

I gave away all the stress reliever moose that I brought to AAD! And 99% of the pens! Whoohoo!

That night was the Sins/Virtues Ball. After the long signing, I really needed a nap and night off, but the table that I was at was Sloth. So it totally fit. I went in PJs and we got to hang out without having to look fancy like the others :)

Lizzie T. Leaf was a generous hostess and so nice! Mr. Moose loved his gift bag:

I had a really early flight Sunday morning so I ducked out after dinner (good cheescake!) but it worked out. 

I was home early and could check on my mom (who had broken her collar bone less than a month earlier and, while she had my dad, he's not the best caretaker). Then I could relax and sleep in my own bed.

Mr. Moose was beat... but he loved meeting everyone :)

We'll be at AAD Atlanta! Until then, Mr. Moose is tucked in. He'll play online but first he has to oversee Men of Alaska 3: Sterling Rose!