If you're a seasoned RT Conventioneer, chances you've seen spunky bookseller Deborah Neff's smiling face at a RT Convention event or two. For the past five years, Deborah has joined us as we've celebrated reading and romance all over the country, and today she shares some of her most memorable moments from this year's RT Booklovers Convention.

I’ve just recently returned from my fifth RT Booklovers Convention, this time located in Chicago, IL. As always, it was non-stop activities, books, authors, books, occasional hunky eye candy, (did I mention books?), parties, little sleep — in short, a blast!

In 2008, when I decided on a whim to attend my first convention, I can remember the shocked responses of my family, friends, and co-workers: You’re going where? Who are you going with? Do you know anyone there? Of course, I didn’t know a soul who was attending. They all thought I was nuts and for a moment when I first entered the hotel and saw everyone walk by in groups; I thought that I might be, too.

Since I was a bookseller, I headed straight for the Bookseller orientation meeting. Kate Ryan, the Bookseller liaison, made me feel so welcomed and I immediately became friends with several other booksellers. In fact, as the week progressed, I went from not knowing anyone, to by the time I left, feeling that I had met everyone and had made lots of new friends.

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YA author Suzanne Selfors is no novice to writing enchanting stories for young readers, but this year marked the author's first RT Booklovers Convention. Today the author shares her experiences meeting fans at Teen Day, singing books in YA Alley and enjoying a whirlwind weekend in Chicago. 

I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. I’d never been to a romance convention before. I’d never even thought of my books as “romantic.” But other writers told me, “You gotta go. The RT convention is crazy. Crazy in a good way.” So there I sat, on the tarmac in Seattle, while the pilot explained that the tow bar had broken and we’d have to wait for another tow bar. Wait, and wait and WAIT. The passenger next to me was a nervous wreck, wringing his hands and talking incessantly. Turned out he was on his way to jail to serve a three-year term for drug possession. All in all, it wasn’t the most uplifting beginning to my journey.

But my mood changed the second I stepped into the hotel, where three women greeted me. Goggles perched on their foreheads, ample bosoms spilling out of their blouses, they were laughing. “What are the costumes for?” I asked, dazed after the five-hour flight, plus two-hour tarmac delay. “We’re going to a steampunk party,” was the reply. Steampunk party?

Things were looking up.

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Megan Bamford is a woman who wears many hats. She's a bookseller for the Australian retailer Angus & Roberts, a romance reviewer on her blog Veiled Secrets Reviews and even is an author! Megan is also a familiar face at the RT Booklovers Convention, and we were thrilled she could join us in Chicago for the 2012 RT convention. Today, Megan shares why she continues to make the RT Booklovers Convention an annual event, and why it's so important to her as a bookseller, reader and romance lover.

For me this year's RT Convention wasn't so much a group of informative business meetings as a giant family reunion. After a year communicating long distance via email, Skype and Facebook, I was finally able to hug the women who, through out shared experience as romance readers and sellers at the RT Conventions, have become a close extended family. The pre-convention days are spent at the bar in the lobby spotting friends and extended family members as they arrive. Each new arrival — be they bookseller, loyal reader or author — is met with glad cries of recognition and embraces from those that have waited all year for this one event. Travelers from far and wide fall back into easy conversation as though we were never parted, news is exchanged and offers of help abound for the slightest problem, concern or query because that is what family does.

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With over sixty YA authors taking part in this year’s second annual Teen Day at the RT Booklovers Convention, we asked a few of our favorite writers to share their favorite moments from this year's convention. Get an inside look at what it was like for Richelle Mead, Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan and Alyxandra Harvey to hang out with fellow booklovers, authors and, of course, YA fans!

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RICHELLE MEAD

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During the second annual Teen Day at the RT Booklovers Convention, readers got a chance to hear from authors during three separate formal discussion panels. The event started with “From Spark to Fire: Interactive World and Character-Building Workshop,” continued with “Feeding the Fire: Conflict and Action in YA Novels” and wrapped up with “Tending the Inferno: Series, Stand-Alones and Genres in YA.” Then attendees headed off to the fantastic Teen Day Party. But if you couldn’t join us in Chicago, today we bring you a peek inside the action with a look at the three author workshops.

In “From Spark to Fire,” a panel moderated by Melissa Marr, authors Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder, Beth Revis, Veronica Roth, Margaret Stohl and Cinda Williams Chima gave us a peek inside of their head and their series. So what are some of the things we learned?

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During Teen Day, Young Adult fans had many chances to mix with authors. All Saturday afternoon at the RT Book Reviews Convention there were panels that encouraged readers to get to know the creative talent behind the stories they love. As several more traditional panels ran, genre fans also got the chance to learn more about authors during the Author Speed Dating session and hear about upcoming books during the two Author Speed Reading events.

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Teens got a chance to spend time with some of their favorite genre authors during the Speed Dating session. As a group of writers revolved through different tables set up around the room in three-minute intervals, readers got to have their questions answered, and in some cases even spend some one-on-one time with the authors they love!

RT’s Meera Patel shared some of her highlights of the session. She told us, “This was a fantastic panel that let teens spend a little time with some of their favorite authors, and gave them a chance to meet new authors. Personal time with your favorite author? Where you get to talk about whatever you want?”

Did you know ...

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At this year’s RT Booklovers Convention, fans celebrated love in all its forms at the nighttime soiree Joyee and Gabrielle’s Big Adventure. The event was hosted by authors Joyee Flynn and Gabrielle Evans, who are both authors of male/male erotic romance.

Hosts Joyee Flynn and Gabrielle Evans

A quick look around the packed evening event made it clear that the first event celebrating male/male romance was a success! The party was certainly warm and welcoming, full of erotica and romance readers all supporting love in its many forms. We had a great time hanging out with booklovers who are longtime fans of these types of stories, and those who had never tried m/m books before.

In addition to fans mingling, checking out the cover model servers and enjoying Sex on the Beach and Cosmo shooters and a chocolate fountain, readers also got to go home with an awesome goody bag. The bags contained swag in many forms, including a wristband that was actually a thumb drive — and came stocked with books from both authors. (Read on to learn how you can win one of these thumb drives!)

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This year at the Giant Saturday Bookfair during the 2012 RT Booklovers Convention, YA Alley was the place to be if you were a young reader or simply young at heart! The area was packed full of authors, there were over 60 in attendance. From big names including Melissa Marr and Richelle Mead to debut authors like Jus Acardo and everyone in between, authors and fans had a great time interacting. For everyone who wasn't able to attend, three of our favorite new authors share personal facts that readers don't know — and let us in on a secret about their heroines.

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Josephine Angelini told us a bit about herself and a bit about her character Helen, the heroine of the paranormal series Starcrossed, who discovers that she's descended from ancient Greeks ... a heritage that comes with a curse from the Furies themselves. On a personal note, Josephine revealed to us that in real life she has size 9 feet and can't eat cheese (so sad!). And what did we find out about her character Helen? This sassy, accident-prone teen is a lip gloss fanatic!

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Earlier this month, at the RT Booklovers Convention, we hosted our first annual Pitch-A-Palooza. Billed as “speed dating for authors and editors and agents,” it was a chance for authors to spend three minutes pitching their next project, book or series to agents and editors in one-on-one sessions. The atmosphere in the room was very friendly, which helped newbie aspiring authors feel comfortable pitching and although there were long lines to meet some of the agents and editors, things moved swiftly and smoothly. The event had over forty agents and editors in attendance, and authors got a chance to pitch an average of about twelve times.

But it wasn’t just about the three minutes when authors were chatting with the editors that were important, the event also had a special Pitch, Feedback & Advice Booth at the center of the room, where a literary agent, Hollywood producer, media personality and image advisor were happy to help aspiring and published authors polish their pitch, to make sure that they were doing the most with the time they had available.

And what did the agents and editors think of the event? We got a chance to chat with several of them after the end of Pitch-A-Palooza and they shared their takeaway!

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As the newest staff member at RT BOOK REVIEWS magazine, this was my first time attending our convention — and boy was it a doozy! From meeting my favorite romance authors Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Loretta Chase to catching glimpses of fiction idols like Anne Rice and Sue Grafton, every minute of convention seemed to be packed with excitement. But my favorite moment, by far, was sitting in on the panel "No Holds Barred With J.R. Ward and Jessica Andersen." I'm not exaggerating when I say I've never encountered a more fanatic reader following than the people who were at this reader event. In fact, the crowd's obvious enthusiasm inspired me to pick up the Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and just a week after convention, I'm already on book four. I can't wait until I get to the point that I understand all of the spoilers Ward divulged at the chat. Want to find out what they were? In Ward and Andersen's own words, "Keep reading!"

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