BookLovers Con was amazing for several different reasons. One of the best things about it was being able to meet and really talk to readers from everywhere.

Saturday was the busiest day of the conference for me. I was going from about 8:30 in the morning until almost 11:00 at night!

The first thing to do was prepare for the Book Bash, the huge Author Signing Event at every BookLovers Con. I had brought books with me (the first two Widows’ Club books are now out of print and I had to bring all of my House of Pleasure books which are POD) and the bookseller had provided the other four Widows’ Club books.  That ended up being a LOT of books! My table was very full. I had to arrange things so I could offer swag AND still have a place to sign. And I got to put up my brand new Jenna Jaxon banner! So cool. Needless to say, it took a while, but I finally got it arranged to my satisfaction.

I tried a new advertising idea on my House of Pleasure series. I had my dear friend and graphic designer Patricia Green design placards with a “quote” from the heroine of each book on it, hoping to give the reader an idea of how exciting the books were. They garnered a fair bit of attention and I actually sold every copy of the first book of the series, Only Scandal Will Do, so I’m very pleased with the idea!

After getting the table set, I went back to my room and Ella Quinn acted as my lady’s maid and helped me dress in my Regency gown for the book signing.

I had a blast at the book signing, and the Regency gown got a lot of attention! I sold several complete sets of my Widows’ Club series along with other random sales, and as I mention, all of the Scandal books. I was extremely pleased with the Book Bash. And the Regency gown turned out to be quite comfortable. The only issue was the hat or capote made me rather warm the whole time. But as my hair is very short, I couldn’t just style it in a Regency style. Still, the signing and gown was quite a success.

Ther was no time, however, to rest. I had to change clothes to go to lunch (I refused to eat in the gown) and was too rushed to change back for my next event, Around the World in 80 Minutes. In this event readers were issued a “passport” and each author was set up at a table with all their swag. Readers had to go to each author, get them to sign or stamp their passport, and once they had all signatures, they could enter a raffle for gift baskets the authors had provided. It was a fun time and I got to distribute a lot of my remaining swag.

Finally, there was the “I Put A Spell On You” Hocus Pocus themed dinner and afterwards the Saints and Sinners Ball.

Instead of attending the Saints and Sinners ball (we were just too tired), Ella Quinn and I held an informal wine tasting with four bottles we had bought but hadn’t drunk. So a good time was had by all.

The next morning was a delicious Brunch and Bubbly breakfast send off and then I left for the airport.

All in all BookLovers Con 2023 was the best I’ve attended. I’m sad it was the last (but like Hocus Pocus perhaps it will return eventually) and if it does come back, I’ll be one of the first to sign up. Thank you so much, JoCarol Jones, for everything!