Romance Con Recap!

Signings and panels and cheese curds galore!

Happy September, everyone! To my absolute delight, I’m writing this newsletter while dressed in a cozy sweatsuit and snuggled under a weighted blanket. There’s a morning crisp to the air this morning, ushering in my favorite time of the year.

I also have a lingering skip in my step after an incredible weekend in Milwaukee for Romance Con. This was my first time attending a book conference as an author and it was truly an 11/10 experience.

The weekend started on Thursday night with an author mixer, where I got to meet so many writing friends in person for the first time. There were also several times during the night where I was talking to someone and then looked at their name tag, only to realize we were already friends from the internet! It was a blast.

On Friday, I moderated a panel called “Recipe for Love: What Food Brings To Romance.” I got to chat with three incredible writers, all of whom use food to season their love stories. We had a great discussion about how food can be used as a characterization tool and what meal choices say about people (for example, what sort of person orders fajitas at a birthday dinner?). I just wish I’d taken photos with my fellow panelists!

For lunch, we dined at the 3rd St. Market. My husband/assistant was like a kid in a candy store, especially when he saw the beer wall! The rest of the afternoon was spent in the signing hall, which was such a treat because I absolutely love chatting with readers. I also got a chance to visit Romance Con’s vendors. Look at these treasures I picked up from Longhand Pencils and Books by Britton!

On Friday night, my husband and I went out for bratwurst, cheese curds, and spotted cow beer because, when in Rome! Then we met up with a bunch of other writers for drinks. I gotta say, sitting at a round table with some of my favorite authors was absolutely surreal, and I deeply regret not taking more photos.

On Saturday, I participated in a panel called “Putting the ‘Com’ in Rom-Com,” and let me tell you, it was the most fun ever. We all laughed so hard and it was truly an honor to be in the company of some of the most hilarious writers in the genre.

After that, I participated in another signing hall, where I got to meet even more readers, and then it was off to evening programming. First, I enjoyed an author dinner, where I was seated with another author and several other readers. Then we got changed and headed to the Main Character Masquerade. Avi and I dressed as Lexi and Jake from Till There Was You, and not gonna lie…I was very attracted to him in that backwards hat.

Speaking of Till There Was You!

If you’ve recently read Till There Was You and are looking for more, I’ve got great news: I am working on a bonus epilogue that I’m planning to release to my newsletter subscribers this November. So stay tuned!

And there’s more! If you have not yet preordered Never Planned on You, I’m offering a preorder incentive! If you preorder from my local indie, Cupboard Maker Books, you’ll get this Graham Wyler bookmark. How cute is he?!

Preorder Never Planned on You HERE!

As a reminder, preorders are the best way to support authors you love. So if you’re thinking about reading Never Planned on You, treat yourself to a preorder! I’d be so incredibly appreciative.

Last but not least, I want to share my favorite anecdote from the conference. Earlier this year, I read This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan. I was so blown away by it, both because Kennedy’s such a gifted writer and also because as a fellow autism mom, I loved how she represented the experience of parenting an autistic child. While I was reading, I kept thinking, I wish I could talk to Kennedy Ryan and tell her how much this book means to me.

Well, I guess manifestation works. Because on Friday, I was eating breakfast alone in the Hilton lounge when Kennedy Ryan herself walked in. I invited her to sit with me and over coffee, I got to tell her how much I appreciate her writing as well as her organization, Lift 4 Autism. If you aren’t familiar with Lift 4 Autism and their annual romance auction, you should absolutely check out their page and learn more about the work they do to benefit the autism community.

And that’s all from me! Happy Reading, everyone!

<3 Lindsay