Ep 102 RomantasyCon TIPS + TRICKS for BookCon Attendees and Panel Hosts! | Los Angeles 2026

What’s it like going to a bookcon? What are some tips and tricks we have to make the most of your romantasycon experience? We’ll tell ya! At the beginning of this year we set some podcast goals for 2026 and shared them with you all… and just a week later we were invited to join Fabled Fantasy Events for their 2026 Romantasycon event in LA as media partners! To go to a bookcon in a professional capacity was an absolute dream come true, and a way for us to really see that this is just the beginning! Because of you and all the amazing people we’ve met in the book world, we hope to do many more events in the future. So THANK YOU for listening. Without our Crow Cult we’d just be two silly ladies yappin’ about books… with you, we get to be a MURDER of crows yappin’ about books. 🤘

Today we go over our faves and fails of the epic weekend, our tips and tricks for making the most out of your con experiences, and we talk about the highlights of the bookcon experience! We hosted a panel about mixing horror with Romantasy and got to interview Kaylie Smith, Erin A. Craig, Autumn Kraus, and Bea Northwick! Then we hosted a second panel about magic systems and world building with MM Parks, Adalyn Grace, Laura Thalassa, and JD Evans. Please go check all of these authors out and give them a follow -  It was an absolutely amazing experience and we can’t wait to do it again! 

To filming our 100th episode in our hotel room, to meeting all of you in the wild, to our Wuthering Heights obsession… it was a weekend to remember! We go over all of this and even dish advice for people in the media space working at a bookcon for the first time. 

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Check out these author interviews? ⬇️

Penn Cole talks with us about Strong Female Characters, Feminist Themes, and her debut bestselling Spark of the Everflame Series! https://youtu.be/7ukNImyoObw?si=7C3Y9kOUMN4hfcKb

We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4

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Transcript

We did our first panel, Gothic. And he looks inside and it's just full of all these Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. I screamed. I scrumped and I fell down. It's kind of like the first time you go to Disneyland versus the 30th time you Alani could only power us for so long.

Hey you guys, I'm Ashley. And I'm Liz. and welcome to a spoiler-free episode of the Besties in the Books podcast.

Today's episode is all about our romantic con, our fabled fantasy events second experience with them. And we're so excited to talk about it because last year, as you guys know, we went to uh Romantic Con LA 2025 as regular attendees. This year in 2026, we went as media partners, which was really cool. So exciting. One of our goals for 202 like already checked off the list, which is amazing. Yeah. So, thank you Fabled Fantasy Events for having us. So exciting. And thank you guys for supporting us, you know, cuz then in turn, Fable Fantasy reached out to us and it's just it's a symbiotic relationship. And we thank you guys so much. Your support means so much to us. It means so much to us that Fable Fantasy asked us to host those panels and the dragon race and it was such an incredible experience. Yeah, I could cry. I'm crying, baby. Very grateful. Yeah, Ashley. Yeah. Water old water works is her new nickname. Yeah. So, yeah. So, today we're going to be um you know, talking about our tips and tricks for going to a BookCon if it's your first time or maybe not. But we're also going to be talking about maybe some things that we would suggest um from a media partner perspective um since we did get to host a couple panels and the inflatable dragon race as Ashley said before. Um and we're just going to be talking about our experience in general, how it was interviewing these authors and just hanging out and meeting a lot of you guys out in the wild, which was really cool. Um but before we get into it, we just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. Yeah. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day and your book to come on and listen to us. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like to listen favorite podcasts, including YouTube. And we're also on Instagram and Tik Tok. Besties in the Books podcast everywhere. To our new friends and our original OG Crows. Thank you guys so much. Seriously, seriously, seriously. Thank you for your support. And you guys might have noticed us walking around or seeing in our stories some new Bestie merch. Woo. So, we created this flying on vibes t-shirt with a cute little book and wings. It's neon vibes. And then on the back, we have I'm calling it right now, but we can workshop it. The sword of the ugly truth. Okay. Because I saw that. I saw that on the episode map and I was like, actually, I love that. Okay. So, hey, it's like sword truth, sort of the ugly truth because, you know, we're sharing our opinions. Take them or leave them. We're roasting our favorite stuff and our least favorite things and it's just the truth. We're no holds bar over here. So, we don't want to offend anybody, of course, but a truth is the truth. So, hey, uh there we go. And then we also have a new antisocial book club hat for the spring and summer girlies. I've been rocking mine and loving it and kind of a take on the beanie one. So, you can check that one out. And we'll have a new tote bag as well with the sword of the ugly truth. Maybe some other little surprises in there. So, that merch line is now available right now as well as our original merch line. And there is going to be a coupon code romantic con. If you want to use a code for a little money off, it'll be about a week long while this episode is new and fresh. You can use that discount code with your order. So check out that you guys. Thank you again so much for your support. So awesome. Also, I just wanted to mention here, Ashley and I were I mean we voice memo every single day and text every single day. All day long. 19 times. Yeah. Um but yeah, 19 times. 10,000 times. That was more like 10,000. Yeah. Um, but no, it's funny because I was like, uh, you know, we're always saying, you know, may the crows be with you, whatever. And I was like, oh, it's in the Yesterday I said, oh, it's in the crow's hands, right? Like, it's in God's hands. It's in the crow's hands. And then I was like, wait, crows don't have hands. You like went into a full spiral. I was cracking up. In the crow's hands. Oh, crows don't have hands. Okay. In the crow. No, they can't hold it with wings. In the crow's claws. Okay. In the crow's claws. Like, you okay there? You okay there, buddy? It was so cute. I saw my world flash before my eyes, but also it was hilarious. So, anyways, imagine if they had hands though, little arms. Yeah. The lore for the tiny hands over here on the channel also is growing. So, Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Any anyone who's seen the our re that we made about Withering Heights in the hotel room at Romanty Con, so it is relevant to this episode, okay? Like, gets our humor. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It's a good time. It was so fun. So fun creating it. It's great. Good hands all around. Yeah, every everyone loves a good tiny hand or creepy hand somewhere. They're up here. I don't know if you guys can see them. Um and my daughters keep stealing them and scaring each other and me around the house. So, it's great. It's great. They're little Kathy hands running around. Okay. So, all right. Favorite fail of the week. We're just going to do BookCon edition, of course. Obviously. So, why don't you kick us off with your fave and fail BookCon edition romantic con? Great. Well, you said you were starting first, so here we go. Um, fave and fail. No, I'm just kidding. Uh, fave and fail. Fail is that what did, how did I put it, Liz? I'm sitting there at the end of our trip. So, Sunday, we got a late checkout. Thank you, Builtmore, for having that as an offering to the crows. Um, and we we snatched that up. And I'm just thinking, dude, because we had to we'll talk more about it, but we missed the ball. The bell of the ball we missed. So, that's a bit of a fail, right? Um, Saturday night. So, we'll talk more about that in our section where we go over our entire time. Um, and so I'm thinking, you know, on Sunday I'm getting ready, packing my bag, and I'm like, what could we have done differently like to make sure that we can fit everything? And Liz is like, gee, I don't know, be younger, have more energy. Yeah. Like Alani could only power us for so long until we finally were crashing out. So yeah, um, the fail is just that we couldn't do all the things no matter how much we did. It's like, how is it possible? I did more in my life than I did that weekend and it still wasn't enough. You know, because that's the thing is like there's they Fabled Fantasy does a great job of having plenty to do. Plenty to do and sometimes you're going to have FOMO cuz you can't do it all. But hopefully it's not a one and done for you. Hopefully it's not a two and done for us. Like we'll continue going and experiencing. So, but you know with that fail also comes lots of faves of literally the whole weekend. How can I choose just one? Having the opportunity to host an author panel. Incredible. Incredible. Incredible. And two at that. So good. I mean, coming from it's it was it's trippy because, you know, Liz and I are filming in our safe little bedrooms, you know, like or book rooms or whatever. And to take it on the road, it's trippy. You know, it's it's a readjustment, but also I think you put it as like it felt natural. You know, it didn't feel as scary as we thought it could. It was a weird phenomenon because it's like I it was like I was telling Ashley and I was trying to explain this to my dad cuz he was asking too. He was like, "Well, do you get stage fright?" I'm like, "I don't get stage fright. What I get is like nervous that we're not going to like ask the authors the right questions or that the authors won't feel like the conversation was meaningful enough to really get the point across about their books. Do you know what I mean? It's like that's where I get nervous and I feel the pressure is like are we doing these books and these authors justice because like they deserve so much. Um and and we only had 45 minutes. Yeah. like which can be short for a camera. Yeah. So I'm so I wouldn't be able to do it without you straight up like I need somebody asked me oh Ashley only do it or Liz only do it. No cuz it's like an emotional support bestie that and like I'm watching the time Liz is looking at questions. We can have little notes because you know we'll talk about this in our panel section. Some panels go faster than others and some are more talked out. So, you kind of have to be flexible with that if you're a panel host. And we'll talk about, you know, our tips and tricks with that for anybody that's listening that might want some insight behind the scenes of panel making as it were. Sounds like woodworking. But, uh, camera panel making. Actually, this is a podcast about doing what are those things? Baseboards. We'll be building baseboards today. Yeah. You know, building the foundation. So, uh, it's just it's it's a trip. it's a trip, but then also felt so natural at the same time. So, yeah. Well, yeah, that's what I was getting at is like I felt nervous. So, we'll talk about more of like exactly what we did, but going into the room initially and seeing all the chairs and like you know the stage up front and I was like, "Oh my god." Well, then we like sat down at the actual table in front of the mics and it was like, "Oh, I'm good." Yeah. Like it was like, "Okay, I feel better." Like as soon as I was sitting down in front of the mic, it was like we do this every week. Like okay. Yeah. Yeah. It felt totally different. I think it's too because the mics were stationary. If we had to hold them, it might have felt different cuz you're then you're having to like think about your hands. It's think about too many things. So it felt very natural in that way. Yeah. So um dude, I mean, but everything was a fave. Like ah we'll go on and on and we will cuz that's what this whole episode is about. But for now, for now, Liz, you go ahead and tell us your fave and fail. Yeah. Um, so my fail was similar to yours. I said I struggle with more than one event a day um that we're hosting, like one big event. And I just put I'm a fairly antisocial girl. So, I feel like um that's like a common sentiment at a book convention, right? like it's a convention of people who mostly can probably identify with being a bit antisocial, quiet, introverted, etc. That's why reading is one of our favorite hobbies. And so like it definitely is like it feels very like a welcoming safe space to those types of people for sure, but still it can be very like overstimulating because it is just a lot going on all the time. Um, so I definitely put like the Yeah, we need to you could just always refine how you kind of like navigate an event like that. It's kind of like the first time you go to Disneyland versus the 30th time you've gone to Disneyland. You know what I mean? Totally. That's a good way to put it. Yeah. Yeah. It's like at this point I feel like when Ashley and I go to Disneyland, it's like we're zipping around. We're doing this stuff. Like we're trying to be as efficient as possible and like it's tiring but we've got it kind of dialed in. So, it'll just take it'll take some more times before we have it like streamlined like that, you know, like yeah, will we be tired? Yeah, for sure. But it'll be like we checked all the things off the boxes that we wanted to do, you know? And Builtmore is kind of set up like Disneyland where you have these different lands. Builtmore, it's all over the place, which I thought maybe the Orlando one would be like that, too, but somebody had said Orlando was very easy cut and dry, like a big convention center kind of. Yeah. If you've been to Disney, you're like looking at your phone. You're figuring out where the lands are. You're figuring out the wait times. It's literally like that at the mall, you know, and it's just some adjustment. Yeah. Because you're literally stairs, elevator move, boom, boom, boom, you know, and so it's like it's it's socially, it's emotionally, it's physically exhausting, all in a good way. So, you're running on vibes, but yeah, it's definitely Yeah, it's adrenaline, you know, meeting new people, like all those things. I think it's Yeah, it's just uh we need to just refine our strategy and that'll just come with time. You know what I mean? That's exciting though. Um so that's what I put as my fail, which isn't really a fail. It's like it's just, you know, it's it's hard to not be able to do everything that you want to do because you're just one you're just one lady with only so much energy. You know what I mean? Um and then yeah, my fave were the author panels for sure. I mean, we love interviewing people here over on the podcast, but being able to interview four amazing authors at a time twice was like literally so cool. Um, and about topics that are important and interesting. And yeah, it was just top tier. And then I put in parenthesis just being silly in the hotel room. Like that's always like a good time. Like Ashley and I have been doing that since what 200 probably uh two no you joined the year after so 2023 silly times in hotel since 2023 no 23

but yeah oh messing around the old what did you call it the old Rinda Ashley and Liz mess around yeah like literally the best the best so fun so fun and speaking of Rinda. Special shout out to Rinda, our friend and assistant for the weekend. We would not have been able to do half the stuff without her. More than that, she, you know, went around introducing herself to authors, hanging out, shopping, passing our stuff out, saying hi to people, which like literally is not something Liz and I easily do on our own. We might seem like very social people and we can be in that setting, but it's really hard for us to like put ourselves out there where Rinda's like, "Here, listen to them. They're great. Here, check that out." You know, and if we're talking to anybody, here, here's some stickers. Let me take your guys' picture. And that is exactly what we needed because once too many logistics get involved, I feel like both of us kind of shut down or forget or feel awkward. Or if we have a third party saying, "Here guys, let's take a picture." You know, and we don't have to like look around. Can somebody take our phone? Take or like get get your phone out, dig it out of your bag if you're carrying all this stuff. Yeah. I think for me, I'm just not a good multitasker. Like, and so that's where I get lost because it's like if I'm trying to look at a book, then I have a hard time also paying attention to like, oh, but I need to be like talking. Or like if I'm talking, I have a hard time remembering that I need to take a picture or get stickers out or like it's like I can't do all those things at once. My brain just doesn't do it. Yeah. While also talking to the people in front of us, you know, and have and being present. So, we were able to do that this time and it was amazing. She got our coffee for us too, which like literally is so needed. Um, you know, and so much more. sheep. If you if you missed that episode where we took Besty's on the road and did a slumber party in our hotel room instead of the ball, uh Rinda helped uh moderate that for us and it was so fun. I can't wait to do it again. It was so fun. So, shout out to Rinda. Thank you so much. Let us know if you guys met her cuz she is awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And she's often in book club, so she's around. Yes. Mhm. I have a special moment to share that was off camera that I wish we got it but we didn't know. Okay, we are literally because it we didn't know because it was a complete accident. It was not on purpose at all. There was no way to predict it. Okay, we have tiny hands. Okay, we have the tiny hands in the room. I'm in the bathroom freshening up before we went to do something when we got there. And Liz, I just had a feeling I'm Liz is going to jump out and scare me with those tiny hands cuz it got really quiet. Liz and Rinda in the room. So, I'm like, "Oh, I'm going to be on my guard. They're not going to scare me." I grew up with a sister that constantly scared me. I'm ready. Okay. I was expecting her to come out this way, right? So, I'm like, I'm not Joke's on her. I need to get something out of the closet. Liz was in the closet and didn't and was just getting her hands ready. Scared the crap out of me. I screamed. I scrumpted. And I fell down. It was so good. It was so And we just laughed for a good five minutes straight. Well, I was playing the long game because I was like, if you guys know, you know the Builtmore closets apparently are huge. Okay. Well, no, we got we somehow got a bigger room than I booked us for. So, thank you, Builtmore. That closet was not that big last year. Well, this one was big this year. Okay. So, I was like, great. I could comfortably hide in here until the opportune moment to jump out. But what I was going to do is not even jump out. I was just going to take the tiny hands and creep them around the edge of the door to start freaking them out, right? Like out of nowhere. No, Ashley did not even give me a chance to. I She just opened that door up, saw me. I wasn't even doing anything scary. I was just me in there. If you ever seen that Grinch reel where he's at the Universal Studios and he's standing behind the corner and he scares people and he's like, I was just standing here. I was like, so like gez. I'm like, I didn't even scare you yet. Why are you laying on the ground? Oh, you did. I woke right up then. That's for sure. No Alani needed for that one. That was a good time. Hey, that was a favorite. One of the best scares and was not even planned. So, yeah, totally. You can't script that out. The best ones are. Yeah. Okay. So, now now that we've covered that because we had to make sure to include that. I got to give it I got to give it It's credit where credit's due. Good job scaring me even if you did it fully. You meant to, but you just weren't meaning to do it that way. So, exactly. It still got the point across. Probably better, if you will. Yeah, that's true. The only thing not better about it is that we weren't able to capture it because it was so candid. That was the only downside. Literally. Yep. Okay. So, last year we gave you guys our top five tips on if you're new to BookCons, what you can do to make your life a little bit easier. And so, um, we'll go ahead and share those again right now because I, you know, I went through them when I was going over, you know, what we talked about last year and I was like, these are all still very relevant. However, now we have even more. Yeah. So, we're going to add to that list. We're going to build to the list. Um, so you want to just go back and forth and share them or do you want me to go over the old list? Okay, let's go back and forth. So, number one, get there the night before. Mhm. So, whatever your first event is that you are participating in, try to get there the night before, not the day of, because it really helps with the chaoticness of the whole situation. If you've ever been on a cruise, think of it that way. I mean, in this case, the the ship won't leave without you, but the party sure will. You know, the party sure will. The party will. I mean, in this case, Fable Fantasy took care of us for Thursday as well, so we didn't do that last year. I think for this particular event going on Thursday was fine. Check-in was crazy at 3:00. We just went at Nate and came back at 4. Yeah. And it was no it was no one was there. Yeah. Um so I thought Do you feel like that was fine? I thought that was fine getting there at that time because the first event wasn't until eight or nine. Well, and def Yes, I think that's fine. And depending on what tier of ticket you have as well, that may or may not even include the Thursday night. Exactly. um like party mixer, you know, whatever you want to call it. We'll go over that in a little bit here. Um so that might be an opportunity for you to just check in, have some dinner, hang out, you know, get situated, learn the lay of the land, all learn the lay of the land. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. So that's actually number two. Well, there we go. Yeah. Yeah. Get a detailed lay of the land. Um I can't remember because Rinda was kind of doing all this. Was there a map on the actual app? Yes, but the Builtmore is extremely complicated. Yeah. So, I felt like the map was kind of where the different ballrooms were, but I feel like they didn't show everything. Like, it was a hard when we were doing panels cuz we wanted to figure out where the panels were cuz they were different than last year. It took us a while and we had to ask around, but then those people are also trying to figure out where everything is also. So, we definitely went um in some back rooms and we went on adventures trying to Yeah, went on some adventures, but we are glad we did it because if that was, you know, a scheduled time maybe for a ticketed author, they were in different areas than last year, you would be stressing. So, at least get there the night before depending on what time your first event is. So, if you're in a ticket that is starting Saturday morning, I would say try to get there Friday at some point. And then know that the later you go into the weekend, there might be less accessible parking cuz that's what we ran into last year going our first we paid actually for the old to the tears, but we didn't go on Thursday night. So, we went for our first ticket at author on Friday. We got there like an hour before. Not enough time. Not chaotic. So yeah, take a look at your schedule for whichever book con you're going to and if you can swing it to go the night before to see your lay of the land, it would be best. Yes. Well, that way the morning of you can kind of just like get your coffee and have a snack and then like meander to wherever you're going. Um and you know they had big like billboards of like the maps. So yes, they did have that this year which they didn't last year. So a lot better. if that if that's a possibility, go and they're usually like wherever like very nearby where you do check in and get your badges and all that kind of stuff. So like take pictures of those maps because those will probably be the most useful to you um when trying to navigate it. Um I feel like lots of times Yeah. like when we asked for directions. Um even the people that we were asking sometimes didn't know necessarily where we were supposed to go. So sometimes people that worked at Builtmore Yeah. didn't really know which room was called what. Yeah. So, it's a lot. It's a lot of people helping. There was sp another shout out to Fabled Fantasy, a lot more staff this year, more security, more volunteers. So, that was good. But some of these people aren't working there all the time. So, they still, especially that first day or two, they're figuring stuff out, too. So, it's kind of it's kind of tricky. That's why it's best to try to get there. If you can't get there the night before, get there a little bit early so you don't have to feel rushed. Yeah. Well, and it must be said too, like kind of what you were talking about before, depending on what BookCon you're going to, like it's going to be so different like layoutwise, like but this hotel is a historic hotel. It's not a Hilton Convention Center. So, it's like it's very like, you know, the best way to describe it is it's like you feel like you're in the hotel in the Shining, okay? It's like there's so many levels and there's room like big stashed away in you know ballrooms to be you know and so it's very there's staircases that are sometimes like where does this even go to and then you realize one of the you know events is down there. Um so it's kind of a bit of a maze and it might not be like that for every convention. Some of them might be way more straightforward if it's more of a modern hotel, but it this one is historic and that's the charm. I think that's what makes it special, but then at the same time it makes it a little bit more difficult to navigate. Yeah. Yeah. And I do want to touch on the ADA as well and the accessibility because that was a huge problem last year at the Builmore Hotel. And I can't speak to the perfection of how everything was executed, but as just seeing what was in place this year versus last year, so many more ramps were in place, more access to the elevators, people manning the elevators for the accessibility elevators where last year they're like literally hidden on the walls, guys. Yeah. Yeah. So there's people manning it and looking for to help people. So that was an improvement. Again, I can't speak on perfection of that, but it looked to be a lot more stepped up. So that is good that they are hearing the critiques that need to be made and they're following through with it cuz I think a lot of times we see companies go, "Oh, yeah, sure, sure." And then nothing happens. So I'm very glad that they're doing something about that. For sure. Agreed. Agreed. Okay. So what do we have? What do we have next? Oh, okay. Bring snacks and provisions and some kind of streaming device. Well, asterric. Yeah. Yeah. Snacks and provisions, of course. Stock your fridge with a Lonnie like we do is great, you know. Hey, it's awesome. Um, but really it just kind of depends on Yeah. Like how close is your hotel going to be to food? Is it easy to just walk out on the street and get something or is it going to take a while? You know, for us there wasn't a whole lot of food options in the hotel. Although this year a restaurant in the hotel was open whereas last year it was not. Yeah. I felt like food was um not at all last year. Mhm. So this year the restaurant opened because it was under construction last year. And then they had other options too like kiosks and stuff and Rinda went down and got a breakfast buffet. So way more options this year. However, expensive and limited depending on dietary restrictions. So we Uber Eats everything but that can get pricey. So budget budget for food. Mhm. I mean, it was nice also for us, you know, it's like we made sure that we had plenty of snacks in the room, energy drinks, like Yeah. all that kind of stuff. Water. We brought a case of water. Um, so which they do give out. And this time when we checked in, they let us know cuz last year we found out when we were leaving they have water and like cookies, you know, for us. Um, this time they let us know at check-in, come by anytime you need more bottled water. So, that's good to know. Um, it's a trek. It's not a trek. It's in the lobby, but it's me. It's another thing to have to do. That's why it's better to just have some bottles in the room. Um, but it's definitely big improvements. Staff was friendly. Staff was great. So, for that hotel. Um, and then the Fire Stick/App Apple TV I did remember to bring this time. However, I couldn't get it to work on the TV. But we were too busy anyways and ended up not coming. I think I finally got some Well, the TV was improved since last year. So, I feel like consistently this has been a problem in like all hotels we've stayed in recently. Like I don't I I don't know what the deal is, but it's like all these hotels are upgrading their TVs to smart TVs, but then nothing works because there's so many it's like there's so many people there using the internet that then everything is just impossible to use. So, I don't know what the solution to that is. Be be so excited to be out of your room doing stuff that you don't notice. I guess. Yeah, I guess. But that's like one of our favorite things to do is put on stupid TV and, you know, eat pizza in bed. So, you know, if you're like us and you like to have that option and you're not maybe you're not flying or something or you have the storage for it in your suitcase, bring a little Fire Stick, Apple TV, and see if you could plug it in. They did have it at this hotel, but again, it was very not working great. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think in the I think in the past when we have watched stuff, we've had to just like watch it on my iPad. So, yeah. It's like what is this TV for? Paper weight. That's crazy. Yeah. Okay. What's next? Next one. Set those alarms for ticketed authors, panels, all those events that you need to basically make a reservation for, if you will, because they will sell out just as they did last year. This year, Romantic Comm was even more organized, but things still sold out within minutes. Oh, totally. Within minutes. So, specifically set a time for your reservation for those whenever they come available early on at whatever book you're doing. And then make sure you're setting that time aside and building it into your schedule for the day. And then with that said, you know, you have these different time slots. Utilize time, schedule in time for yourself to visit the different rooms with maybe smaller authors who aren't ticketed or just different authors, different shops. There's it's kind of I didn't even click to me until we were there doing it, but it's almost like, you know, a market at the same time because you'll have other rooms with different authors and different bookshops that are selling and different types of book sellers and different merch. I was talking to someone about it and I guess they did it differently. So, last year we did not budget any time really to go around and just do shopping and like check out all the ballrooms with all of the other authors. We spent most of our time in ticketed author lines, which we'll talk about a little bit more here in a sec. Um, but someone I can't remember who mentioned this to me, but someone mentioned that what they had done this year was they intentionally mixed the artists and the makers um with the author booth. So, that has not always been the case. Um, okay. I liked it a lot this year. Me, too. Um, so yeah. So now it would be like here's some authors but then here's uh you know like character art and then a clothing boutique and you know like there would be like a mixture and so it made it feel a lot more like a market like you're saying. Um whereas both market and like a good vibe, people meeting each other, people talking. So, so I know we only went like one time last year to just the authors area and I know a big complaint was, you know, you have you have your ticketed authors which are like what eight of them and then all the other authors who are still some of them are, you know, big as you say like they're traditionally published and indie and then so some of the ones that are like the next step is going to be ticketed, they're having lines wrapping out into the hallways and we still had one or two authors like that, but last year there'd be like one room where like it's just whoever's in line for what and crazy. So, I think mixing the market style in there definitely helps accommodate for that some of those longer lines. It's just fun cuz then it's like I know for me at an event like that like I personally am always going to prioritize authors cuz that's why we're there, right? Like for me at least. But I know. So then I know that for me it's almost like at the end of the weekend I could be like, "Dang, I didn't buy any character art because I like didn't take the time to actually go see it." Or I didn't buy any like, you know, cute bookish tees or like merch because I didn't take the time to do that. And this time it would be like, "Oh, well, it's right there, so of course I'm going to go look at it." Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. So I feel like it gets a lot more eyes on the small shops, too, which is really cool. That too. Yeah, that too. Yeah. I wonder I just just curious just spitballing here. I just I wonder how much better people's sales were this year because it's all intermingled for both sides for book and then I wish okay maybe there is a better way but some of the authors that we sought out they weren't selling their books there you have to go different places and so that kind of makes it a little bit tricky if like you're just so like some of us we are discovering authors for the first time you know we're watching them on panels and stuff we're like oo I want to go get their book and okay well I met them I went to their table but now I have to go to ripped bodice upstairs to get the book. So maybe if there was a different way of finding out, I don't know how to solve that problem. But yeah, I agree because it's like when you're roaming around, I know that there was a couple authors where yeah, you'd have to go upstairs, buy their book, and then bring it back down to their table to have it signed rather than, you know, they didn't just have a table full of books that they could then sign and give to you. And I get it, like maybe they don't want to be responsible for the retailing portion. Um, but there I feel like there needs to be like a little bit more of a streamlined way. Like maybe even if like the bookstore quote unquote, you know, which is essentially the ripped bodice doing a pop-up shop. Like maybe if that was closer cuz that's like upstairs and the rooms are downstairs. if they had like a little room like maybe just of the authors that are in that room, a small table with those ones that they could refill as needed because that definitely prevented me from doing some of them cuz it's like, well, I'll just have to get it later so I don't have to shle more stuff cuz the point would be buy it there, have it signed while we're talking and chatting, you know? Totally. So, yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, there was only one that I was like, I want to go out of my way to make sure that I go up and buy it and then have it signed later. Um, but I could see how that and some were already sold out. Some were already sold out by Saturday afternoon, which good for them, but be prepared for that. There's lots of sellout, lots of sell out, selling out, not sellouts. Yeah. Um, okay. So, then the last thing that we wanted to reiterate um from last year that we think is still very relevant um bring trinkets and treasures to trade. Yeah, it's fun. It's a fun good time. It's just like it's very stubborn camp nostalgia. Yeah, you know, but the updated version, you know. Um yeah, bookmarks, stickers, you know, candies, whatever. That was really fun. And it's a great way to like network, not just for people like, you know, who are there in a media capacity or social media capacity like us, but um you know, if you just want more people to more book friends in general. Yeah, that's literally how we met Jennifer last year. Shout out Jennifer. What's up, girl? Sorry we missed you at the ball. Sorry, we missed the ball. Sorry we dropped the ball at the ball. Um, but that's how we met her last year. We're just sitting at a table. She's like, "Here, you guys want some bookmarks?" We're like, "Great." And then, "Hello." Yeah. Yeah. So fun. Crob besties ever since. It's great. So, it's a good like, especially if you kind of are like us where that first socialization can be a little bit tricky. Sometimes it's a nice little gateway and see if they take the bait, you know? See if it gets the conversation going. If it doesn't, hey, you g you made a cute trinket friend, you know, and it can end at that. But, you know, just like a an olive branch, but not because you guys had issues. Yeah. It's just it's an icebreaker, you know. Icebreaker. There we go. Yeah. Good icebreaker for sure. Okay. So, let's add to the list. Now that this is our second our second BookCon, we have a little bit of a different perspective also. So, um I'll just kick it off and we can go back and forth. Okay. So stay at the hotel itself. Like we know that this is not an option for everyone. Um for sure, but we will say that you know both years we were surprised at the affordability of booking within the room block that Romantic Con reserves. So do know that because we were expecting it to be a lot pricier than it actually was, which was great. Um, and if you can stay at the hotel itself, it just makes everything else just more streamlined because you can literally you can drop stuff off in your room if it gets too weighed down. Literally, you can go lay down if you get too weed down. You can set stuff down and you can lay down. Basically, that's We went back so much. We took so many breaks. We would need to cuz there's not a lot of places to just sit and chill. Yeah. So, know that. I would definitely say that's a one of um the things that I would say I don't I don't have many critiques because I feel like for the most part it's a good time, but it would be nice if there was more areas in the hotel where you could just like pick up your lunch from Uber Eats and then just like sit there and eat it. In their defense, I do think they had that this year, but we didn't realize till later. there was like the quiet room area, but sometimes they would have stuff going on in those rooms. So, they weren't always accessible. And then upstairs near where they're tattooing, they had a quiet room, but what if it's full cuz it was like literally such a small room with a few couches. So, yeah, definitely know know your personality, know your energy levels going into it. If you're going to stay off property, it might be more of a trek. I mean, we did have some friends that stayed off property and they liked that hotel, too. But they didn't feel like, you know, they're like, gosh, I want to go and take a nap, but it's like, I got to go across the street over here, and that's going to take out another half an hour of of travel time, you know, just walking. So, yeah, definitely recommend. Well, it just helps you maximize your time as well, like you just said, you know, because then it's like if you do want to rest or take a nap or get ready or whatever, it eliminates that travel time. You don't have to be confined by like I know for us like yeah like how late do I want to stay out you know what I mean like you kind of don't have you can put those things out of your mind you know because you're just like oh okay well I just can go back upstairs but think about if you're Ubering to a different hotel how like then how much money is that going to cost versus just staying on property. So all those things to consider and add up in your total cost for sure. Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah, and we like we talked about in the last section, but set your alarms and sign up for things ahead of time. You know, some things will be changed during, so make sure that you have your app notifications on or whatever book that you're going to is utilizing to let you know of changes, but set alarms for everything. I live my life by alarms or you're going to miss it. Otherwise, you'll never remember anything. Either will I. Yes. I mean, unless you're just sharp sharp as attack, then then share share your ways. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. Next thing, bring books to get signed. So, you know, it it depends on what your priorities are. If you've already pre-ordered things, if you're picking stuff up to get signed, whatever. But what if you have I did this last year. What if one of your favorite authors is there and you already have the special editions that you love and treasure so much? Bring those. It is not in bad form or bad taste to bring your special editions, to bring your books from home um and have the author sign those. Like they have tons of stuff for you to buy there, you can if you want to, but not necessary if you already have stuff. So, as long as you have a way to transport it, bring it for sure. Yeah. And some of the authors that weren't selling books there, you know, had they had their quick link so you could order and ship it to your house, too, if you're traveling or if they were sold out. So, Yep. Shop early if there's something that you want specifically because things sell out. Definitely. Definitely. Like we said, books were selling out super fast. A couple of t-shirts, uh, a lot of the t-shirts, I would say most of the sizes sold out cuz they're not going to carry their entire inventory. And of course, you get online, but then you're going to have to pay for shipping. So, if there's something that you really want, treat it like you go to TJ Maxx and Ross. If you see it, you want it, just get it. What we did this time, um, and it might not be the best way to do it. It just depends on what you need. I'm somebody who I need to marinate on things. I don't like doing impulse purchases. So markets aren't the best place for me because I definitely overthink things. So for what we did is on Friday, we did our perusal around all the rooms. We made sure to stop by some of our friends booths and met some authors that we were going to do on the panel. And so we did our lay of the land and I got some ideas of the things that I wanted. And I am I'm glad that I did that. However, things do sell out. So I did have to miss on some. You have to be okay. You have to are you okay with missing out on some of the items that you want selling out? And if you are okay, then you can do it this way, right? Yeah. We did our perusal bought some stuff. I don't know if you bought anything that first time. And then on Saturday, we went back after our last panel that we were scheduled to do. We went and did our purchases and bought things. But at that point, so much not so much, but some of the stuff already sold out. So, well, I know it's like, yeah, I know that I can go online and I can like buy this stuff whenever I want to, but it's sometimes it's nice to just be able to go and get it in person and have it there and have it be part of like the memory of going to BookCon. Um, it's not the same as like ordering it and then just like getting it in the mail at your house, you know? It's um if you have, you know, the room and space to be able to cart it all home, um it's fun. So, yeah, just make sure to keep that in mind to plan accordingly, for sure. M um so that takes us into our next tip, which is plan a way to get everything home. I It's hard. A lot of people fly to these things like me. You know what I mean? It's like I can't I already had two bags cuz I've got podcast stuff and then I've got my regular stuff, Disney stuff. And so, you know, I was really lucky that Rinda is a very responsible underpacker. Yeah. Um, and so she was able to basically bring uh an additional suitcase to tote all of our books and extras back home. Um, which was great. But yeah, make sure to keep that in consideration with the amount of stuff that you are buying. So bring an extra suitcase or something. Yeah. Yeah. If you're because or else we were going to have to ship Liz's and Rinda stuff in a box, you know, and that cost a lot more than a $30 checked bag. More than the Yeah. for an overage fee, you know, of $150. Like you were like, "Dude, do I have I can fit it in, but it's going to go overweight." So, yeah. So, definitely be prepared. You're going to take home more than you think you are. Even if you're just getting a, you know, swag bag from the ticket. Yeah. Some of those were heavy, you know. So, definitely keep them in mind. So, if you're traveling, we saw somebody bought I want to say 90 books. Then I found Oh, first of all, I was like, "Holy smokes." But then I found out she's she just built her home library. So she went there with the intention to fill it, which is awesome. Such a great way to do that. Supported so many indie authors as well as Trad. And so cool. How she ended up getting home still, I don't know. But she did it cuz I saw that I saw her home library. Yeah, that's awesome. When there's a will, there is a way. But yeah, definitely bring something because you're coming home with stuff. Okay. Well, and that's the thing, too. Some people are able to just drive there. I forget. You know what I mean? It is in LA. It's like a lot of people are able to just drive there like and aren't don't have to take into account the flying piece, you know? So, there's that. The 90 books lady did have to fly, but I don't know. That's crazy cuz I'm just like, dude, books are heavy. I just don't know. Yeah, I got to reach out to her and answer get that question answered. How'd you do it, man? Tell us. Share with us. $500,000 later. I know, right? That's the thing is like I don't mind spending the money on the books and supporting these authors, but the shipping or the flight, you know, like luggage cost, it's like like I don't want to deal with that. Come on. Yeah, for sure. For sure. It's I think the Disney analogy is great. If any of you guys I'm sure lots of you guys have been there. It's just a you know, you go, you repeat it, you figure out what works and what doesn't work, you formulate a plan that'll just make you more efficient. You know how like how you can be so I can be people but me specifically I'm talking about I can be so smart and so stupid at the same time. I think that's everybody. You know it wasn't until this is my second book con but I'm you so used to calling it BookCon that I forget that it's shortened to convention and that like I don't I'm not a convention lady because again I not an impul I can't impulse I can't buy stuff on the spot. I got to think about it. You know, I'm not good. I like a good farmers market, but I'm not great with conversation. I kind of just am a looker. I'm a lurker and a looker. And then I come back around a second time. Um, so then I'm like, "Oh, it's to set up like a convention." Yeah. Okay, great. So, it's a convention, guys. So, so remember that. I think it was, but I do think part of that was cuz last year it was set up so differently. It was very author forward, which is ideal, right? But then having the mix in is like the perfect balance. So this is perfect for me. I think that is more how conventions are. So hey, just give me a minute. 5 to 10 business days. It'll click for me. So there we go. That clicked. Mhm. So all right, let's just talk about what we did. What did we do? What did we do? It's only been a week and I miss it so much. Literally. I know. So all right, let's just start. We'll just do chronologically cuz that seems to make sense. Yeah. Um, no. We'll do an Instagram version just by random. No reason. We'll bring in We'll bring in Spongebob reel for no reason. Okay, great. So, all right. So, we got there Thursday. Thursday night was the Silk and Shadow Affair, aka the Vampire Mixer and downstairs party, right? Um, no, that one was upstairs. That was on like the vampire was upstairs and the extra party was downstairs. Not extra. It was different ticket levels. Yeah. ticketed levels. So, as media, we are given the ticket level to be able to do the upstairs vampire ball. So, we figured we should rise to the occasion like the undead out of our coffins. And we went and it was so much fun. Yeah, it was cool. All the the fondue that looked like blood. That was that'll stand out in my brain for a while for sure. So, there was little treats there. We didn't get anything to drink, but there was a drink station. I think our ticket would have come with a free drink ticket. Liz doesn't drink and I will only occasionally have something here or there. So later so they were wasted on us. We should have given them to you could have gotten soda. I know. I just We didn't even go through our bags yet though until later. So um you and you can get sodas and things like other refreshments as well. But they did have the the dessert station which was included. That was super cool. Fondue. and they had a DJ and fun and I just I love so much about these book cons and one of it is that everybody is so nice and we're all just a like-minded community just feeling the vibe having the fun. You feel like you're in a safe space of just similar similarities with other people too. You don't have a bunch of creeps walking around. I'm sure some bookcons unfortunately do have that but as far as our experience at Romanticity Con so far it's been positive all around. Um, so we can dance and be free without worried that somebody's going to come up and freaking gyate on us, you know? So that's nice. That's refreshing. Uh, and then the And then you get to look at everybody's costumes or even just daily outfits just and everybody's throwing compliments around cuz everybody's so freaking cute and it's just so fun and we met so many people that way and it's just such a vibe. Yeah. So that was cool. It was a great way to just like start the weekend, like kick off the weekend, you know? Yeah. Um, so yeah, definitely enjoyed that. So that's how we spent Thursday night. Um, then we went downstairs to the little the karaoke party. That was so fun. That was fun. That was super fun. Yeah, we only did three songs cuz it was the end of it and uh it was like I could have done that all night. It was so fun. It was very It wasn't It was you know, it wasn't just somebody going up on stage and only singing. It was a whole group effort at that point, you know, and it was mics getting passed. So fun. And we heard great things about the Minotaur riding. So like bull riding, they call it Minotaur. And they had like other little areas that we didn't check out, but there was a lot to do for sure. And people going up and down stairs that were different ticket levels. And it's just so fun. Like you said, a great way to start the weekend. Yeah, it was a The energy at the karaoke was also hilarious and fun. That was a good time. Yeah. Yeah, that'll that'll that sticks out to me for sure. So then Friday, what did we do Friday, Ashley? We did our first panel, Gothica. Awesome. Yes, we did a panel with four authors. So, we'll go ahead and give the authors a shout out because I feel like we should and they're all amazing. And it was basically a panel about how these authors were mixing romantic elements with horror elements or gothic elements. So, um obviously that's totally up our alley right now. see our obsession into Withering Heights. So that was very like tangentially related to that which was cool. Um and it was a way for us to yeah just get to know some authors. So we had um B Northwick and so her um book that she's talking about right now um is Black Wicket. So go check that out. Um Aaron A. Craig. So her new book is The Land So Wide, but a lot of you guys probably um know her from um I'm The House of Salt and Sorrow. Yeah, I'm like I have it sitting right there. Um Autumn Krauss, um her release that she was talking about is Grave Flowers. And then of course the lovely Kaye Smith, who we all know and love from Fantasma and Enchantra with the third one in that series coming soon. So we got to interview all four of them about Yeah. like how they, you know, create these characters who are spooky and problematic but who we still love. Um, and how you can use devices in like literally literary devices in horror and um to kind of evoke dread or to mirror things that we find to be scary in real life, which I thought was a really cool discussion. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, very cool. So, very cool. Then what else did we do after we did the Gothica panel later on that year? Oh, hang on. With the panels too, the rooms were changed this year and the seating was different. Last year we had uh nights of the round table styles, if you will, a bunch of tables. This way was traditional seating and then we found out luckily after, thanks for not telling us that there were actual camera monitors for the farther back seating. Mhm. So, they had two large monitors about halfway through. So, in case, you know, the vantage point wasn't great, you can see it. I'm glad I didn't have to think about that. It was very like traditional, you know, like panel, table, stage at the front and then just like rows and rows and rows and rows of chairs back. Um, so yeah, that was great for those people farther back to actually be able to see and hear. I I mean, honestly, I know that we I don't know if we've mentioned it on this episode yet, though, but the tech people Oh my gosh. You know how you go to, you know, anything with a microphone sometimes? It's get you get the squeaky squeaky crazy. No, this team had it locked down. I wish I got their business card cuz they were incredible. They the mics were perfection. They were watching and ready to turn our mics on when the time started. You know, the little thumbs up. They had music playing ahead of time. They had it dialed in. And the mics were incredible where you didn't have to be like, well, first of all, you didn't have to hold it, which is great. And you didn't have to be like right up on it. It got you. It's perfect. It was dialed like you said, perfection. And the sound, as far as I'm concerned, what I heard, watching other people's panels, from hearing from ours, everything was perfect. So, that's great. Yeah. Oh, that was another thing that we did that day is we did go and watch the folklore and fantasy panel, right? That was that day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, that was really cool. And that was um I like literally that was hosted by one of the authors because the interviewee wasn't didn't show up. The moderator didn't show. Yeah, that's right. So they had something happened with the moderator. We don't know nothing about anything, but the author took over and did that and she did such a good job. Oh my gosh. So good. Such a fun panel, too. So yeah. And then I'm like I'm mixing everything together in my head because I feel like everything was like such a blur. Um, but we did some vendors and authors that day and then we went back for the dragon race and the cosplay contest. We watched a little bit of the cosplay contest just from like being in the right place at the right time which was really cool. Super cool. Yep. And then we got to do the dragon race which was fun and met some fun people during that time too. You guys killed it. It was So the dragon race we were picturing uh cuz we didn't know too much going into hosting that one. the dragon race being like, you know those Halloween suits where it like blows it up. I guess that wouldn't make sense because a lot of people couldn't do it, but no, it was four like pool floaty uh dragons and anybody can do it. And it was just like four at a time, go and that went on for about 30 minutes and we just were our silly goofy selves yelling and interviewing people real quick and making it fun. And hopefully you guys enjoyed it if you were there. And uh yeah, let a silly time. And then what did we do then? We went and watched Withering Heights again cuz we were like, "Well, how could that that might have done it? That might have done it for me in the exhaustion realm." I was thinking about that recently. I was like, "Dude, I can't believe we did that after all that after that long day." Yeah, cuz like Yeah. hosted a panel, did The Dragon Race. Um Yeah. And then afterwards, because we're actually in like cuz where I live, it's like the latest movie you could go see is usually like still pretty early, but it's like we're in the city, so we could go see a movie at 9:45 at night or whatever. Yeah. Um, and so that is what we did. And honestly, no regrets because Rinda hadn't seen it yet. So she got to experience it for the first time. We were trying to see Six the musical, but it just didn't work out with the timing and everything. And so we were like, well, we could see Withering Heights night because other than those couple little things, there was nothing like major. There was no ball or anything that night. So there was events and stuff, but we're like, h, let's we kind of want to chill. And they were like, "Well, Liz, like we needed to do some stuff." So Liz is like, "Well, if I do it, will you guys go see Withering Heights?" We're like, "Okay, fine." So then we did it and it was great. We had a great time. And then we stayed up probably way past our bedtime talking about it. I cried like a baby again, harder than the first time. So I was cracking myself up because like one of those moments that I had forgot happened and then I remembered it and told my husband about it and like laughed about it all over again. Okay, so we went to go see Weathering Heights, you know, also after dark, right? So, yeah. Oh, and that was hard. That was hard. I do. And, you know, be safe, guys. We Ubered everywhere. Don't, you know. Um, okay. So, we have I have like a tiny, you know, like cross body like Lululemon bag or whatever that just fits like the Bare Mins. Well, of course, I had stuffed it full of Reese's peanut butter cups. I forgot about that, too. Like, okay. Like, literally full. And they're the actual Reese's brand because they didn't have Justin. So they're in the bright orange packaging and they're I mean it's full to the brim, right? Okay. So I've got it cuz I I even told Ashley I said like you know are you paying with your phone because I can't open my purse otherwise all these Reese's will fall out basically. Like it's like and I will be guilty, right? Okay. Well, what we don't realize is that they have security at this movie theater so they're going to check all of our bags when we go in. So this guy like I have to open my purse and I open my purse and he looks inside and it's just full of all these Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and I'm like I'm so sorry and I look so guilty and he's just like uh okay and like didn't say anything like he could just tell like dude I don't care. I'm just the security guy. Like he just wants to make sure you don't have weapons and you're like I'm sorry it's like freaking blowing up Reese's everywhere. So that cracked me up. I was like, "Oh, what a time to be alive." That was pretty funny. Yeah. Yeah. So funny. I'll remember that one forever as well. So good time. That was such a good time. Such a good time. Okay. So then Saturday Mhm. we So Saturday we did, first of all, we seted our alarms hard when we got home from Withering Heights. Yeah. set our alarm hard cuz we had a 9:30 which doesn't sound early but it is when we're up till 2:00 in the morning. Yeah. And it's like, you know, I know for me in order for me to because my brain does not wake up quickly. Like let's say, you know, I have a very social job. Usually I have to start, you know, consistently talking to people maybe around like 9 or 9:30 in the morning. I typically will wake up around 5, six at the latest because I'm like I need several hours to like get my brain in the right headsp space to be like that social. And so that's another thing is like I need to wake up kind of early and like slowly wake up and like have coffee and like you know do all the things. So like we literally have to host a panel. We can't just be like we're just wandering around waking up. It's like we got to freaking go. We got to be be ready. Yeah. Be on. Yeah. Be on. Um, and so, but I also function a lot better in the morning, that being said. So, that was good. Um, so we hosted the do you believe in magic panels. So, that was about mostly like uh world building and magic systems and high fantasy. So, that was really cool. Um, and so that one included MM Parks, her new release, um, or newest release that I picked up at BookCon is The Knowing Witch. Uh we also had Adeline Grace on our panel. Um which she's known the best for her Bella series. Um Laura Theasa uh her Bewitch series is I think what's kind of like newer and popular now, but a lot of you guys know her from book club and her four horsemen of the apocalypse series as well. And then JD Evans um and her book that she was promoting was part of her Rain and Ruin series. Um, which I haven't read that series yet, but it looks really good. Like really good. Um, so that was really exciting getting to such a good deep dive discussion about world building and what they do to build up these characters, magic systems, their worlds, and so insightful and a great look behind the scenes of what goes on to build all that cuz it's like a lot of logistics, dude. It's hard to read it. Can you imagine writing it? Yeah, I know. Yeah, seriously. So, that was great. Um, yeah. I just I love talking to authors, obviously, otherwise we wouldn't do this. Um, love talking to authors and just speaking behind the curtain and I feel like every single person was just so had so many interesting things to say and so what a treat and a treasure. Then we popped in to watch some of the live podcasts with banter and bookmarks. So that was exciting. So cool. Um, so they were interviewing about Direbound, which is Sable Sorenson. Um, and so that was exciting, too, just to be able to Yeah. Again, just kind of like peak behind the curtain and see like what, you know, another podcast is kind of like doing and what their style is and all that kind of stuff, too. That was fun. Definitely. Yeah. Super cool. And we did see one of their panels, too, that they were hosting. It might have been the day before and they did such an amazing job. So, shout out to Vanta and Bookmarks. They did so good. They are three of them that host their podcast. They just had one of them hosting that panel and again such an amazing job. So funny. We saw a lot. We were able to meet, not meet but like see so many amazing authors and then later meet them because they were such a vibe or we connected with them in some way and went and met sought them out to meet them cuz you know, hey, add it to the list of books to read. Yeah. Yep. Mhm. We can never have too many. Yeah. So, we did that and then we wandered and shopped and then we had Okay, so let's just paint the picture for you guys. Okay, we go to Withering Heights at 9:40 at night. We get back to the hotel at probably like what? Midnight. Yeah, we're probably up until 2:00 cuz you know we're just we're just girls. We're going to have and another thinging. Yeah, and another thing. So up till 2. Then you know we got to be up at like 7 7:30 because we're hosting this author panel at 9:30. Um and then you know we spend the day popping into yeah like the live podcast walking around to all the rooms doing our shopping and then we're like sure we're going to film our hundth episode which is our you know sleepover episode and then we're going to go to the point though before we were so exhausted on all fronts like doing the airport signal hands like mayday mayday. We are so we're like literally all laying in bed. I don't we hadn't gotten dinner. We our eating schedule's weird too because of when cuz it's not accessible. And then when you have nerves I don't I don't get hungry if I have nerves at play at all or if I'm tired. So, we're like all in bed just kind of figuring out where the night's gonna take us, but we want to go to this bowl and but then I am like Liz, we literally don't have an episode for Tuesday and because while she so Liz was visiting it was um originally she was coming for two weeks and then we got invited to Romanty Con. So, we when she comes it changed it changed the plan. When she comes down to film we usually try to get like six or eight episodes in. Well, we were Withering Heights kind of took a took the wheel on that one, too, cuz hey, that turned into two 4-hour episodes. Um, so that's part of it, but we just we didn't have anything ready yet, and we don't like to miss our uploads. And also, for me personally, it has always been a goal of mine, so we could check that off this list this year, is to film in a hotel room because it's like one of our favorite things. It's casual. It's fun. So, I'm like, guys, if we can motivate ourselves, we literally just have to sit there and chill. It's going to be funny. we're doing it anyways. We might as well film ourselves and make a game out of it and celebrate our hundth episode. Mhm. And I forced them. And it was I just knew I was like, if we film this 100th episode, we're not going to the ball. If we're going to the ball, then we're not going to do that. Like I knew it was going to end up being like one or the other cuz it just seemed impossible to me to do both. I'm delusional though. You should know that about me. And that I mean that's what happened. It's fine. We'll be able to do both. It's fine. I'm like there ain't no way. But I'm glad that you think that. Um, but you know, we did film that. That was so fun and hilarious. But then, yeah, by the time we were done filming that, we had like also ordered food from this great Italian place that we like. Um, and we're like, "Okay, so now we've like filmed this, you know? It's like it's we're now full of pasta. Full of pasta. Like there's no way. Like there's no way." Cuz it was already like late by that point, too. Like probably like nearing 9 or 10 o'clock at night. Like what are we going to do? Get ready and then go down there for like two hours? I don't know. Yeah, in in a perfect world, if I could replan it, it would change what it was though, is we would have gotten ready and I would have had filming equipment set up. We could film that real quick and then go downstairs and we would have had time cuz we're already ready cuz it's the being ready part. Yeah, that's the hard part cuz we're getting ready for a ball. It's not like I could go out there. I mean, and we did last year. We went out there in sweatpants, but it's different, you know? So, that's like the big night that everybody's dressed up. So we and we had special outfits that we had all ready to go which we can use in the next one. So no big deal. Honestly that's I have no regrets and I'm excited that now I don't have to think at all about my next night when we do a ball. Me too. Like hey it's already done. Great. Well and I mine was like in rushed in a way like I didn't have all the pieces that I wanted. So I'm like okay I can use this all again and make it even better and not feel rushed, you know? Yeah. I mean, yeah. Well, and the thing is it's like I was going as more from Acatar and now we have two more Acatar releases, so it might even be better to dress up like her next year like or whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah. And my blonde hair will be longer. Like listen, I'm looking at the silver lining. I'm excited to like build on this costume. I think it'll be great. It'll be great. The thing that made us the most sad is not being able to come see some of you guys. You know that we were specifically going to hang out with and we died. We died. But honestly, I think everyone like understands because everyone was like we were all dead too or like we went to the ball but we hung out for 10 minutes and then left, you know, and it was it just Yeah. At that point it's like yeah it's going to take us an hour to get ready and I think it would have been like what 30 minutes left and at that point most people already gone anyways or you know different different yeah so I'm so sorry we dropped the ball on the ball the next time now that I got the episode in the room out of the way that I won't force it down Liz's throat again but I want to do it again cuz it was so fun. I was going to say now it's not that I didn't want to do it. that I saw all the things that we wanted to do that day and I was like I don't see this as being realistic. Um so I think in the future like we just have to plan it differently because then we can do both because it's not that I don't want to do it. You know what I mean? So we just need to figure it out. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. Okay. So, should we just call out some of our besties in the wild? Some ladies that we um got to meet slash see at BookCon. So exciting. Okay. So, we've already called out Jennifer, uh, Books with Rogue, um, if you don't already follow her. And we met her last year, but it's just so fun to be able to be like, we met at BookCon and here we are again, she's part of Book Club, which is awesome. Um, also got to meet our friend Sarah at Save by Stacks. Um, who was one of my first Bookstagram friends. Finally got to meet her in person. Also, same with Brooke over at Brooke Ends. Um, she was probably one of the first people that I actually really socialized with on Bookstagram probably three years ago and getting to meet her in person. Um, she was there paing for Lindsay over at Oxford Lemon, Lindsy Stra. Um, and that was really fun. Yeah. Like it's just such a cool It's like I've kind of the way I've described it in the past is like it's like meeting your like longtime pin pal finally in person. Yeah. So cool. It's so cool. Um, so yeah, we got to meet all those ladies. So exciting. And we got to meet the ladies of the Fantastic Pod. Um, which was really cool, too. So, that was neat. It's kind of trippy like when you get there and you can you recognize people and sometimes can't place them or, you know, it's just you're you're coming off the page, you know, as it were. So, it's it's trippy or it's like you can't place them yet. It's like, are they an author? Are they an Instagrammer? Like, are they in our book club? like which where am I placing them? So, it's super fun, super cool. Well, that's how I felt about like having MM Parks on our um one of our panels because, you know, shout out to her. She comments on a lot of our content and so it was so fun to be able to be like you're the MM Parks like and now you're sitting right here next to me and we get to ask you questions about your books. Like that's so cool. That's so cool. Yeah. Well, full circle moments at these things for sure. And then just a quick little shout out to um they weren't there but they were there in spirit um down the bond official sent us our you know our flamy customized black beak and fireheart te's and our impressive wingspan tees. So if you saw us floating around in those um go give them a follow at down the bond official. Yeah. I'm obsessed with the shirts. They're so fun. So fun. So fun. So fun. So cute. Officially licensed merch. So awesome stuff. Yes. Yeah, for sure. All right. So, we have some little little tidbits of advice uh for anybody else who might be a part of a media team for a book convention now that we've done one as a media team. So, the biggest thing, check out your rooms that you'll be paneling in, getting a feel of the land. You know, again, where are you going to be hosting it? That way you don't have to find out the second of, you know, I know it helps put my brain at ease just to be like, okay, we know where it is, so we know how to find it. First of all, especially if you're in a place like the Builtmore, which is a maze. Um, so there's that, but then there's also like it helps me wrap my head around like this is how big the room is, this is how many people, um, you know, these are where the mics are, this is how big the table is, this is where me and Ashley are going to sit. It kind of just helps you to visualize everything so that you can focus more on the other stuff once you're there and it's actually happening. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I feel like I'd be curious um to know this if I am listening out there right now. Hey, were you nervous, Liz? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we were nervous. Of course. It's our first official panel live in person. You know, we we've been nervous with some author interviews and things like that. you know, now we have our wheels welloiled, so not as much, but any it's just you human nature. So, but doing some things to help appease some of those nerves just helps get it out of the way. So, for us, a big thing was seeing those rooms, setting up. We did a couple little practice runs, not full through, but just to like help it feel natural so that we don't have to like deal with the extra nerves, you know? So, anything that you could do to help with that, if you if you're somebody, put it this way, if you're somebody that likes to know where parking is before going to an event, you might want to try finding out the lay of the land or watching videos of previous panels, like doing things like that just to help get a sense of what is going to be going on. So, with that said, not only map your questions, which you know, Liz is our amazing um scriptor, map maker, if you will, map um and structure your interview. Also, make sure you have bonus questions just in case because we saw this happen. So, we were prepared from last year's panels that we watched some authors or interviewees and even with our author interviews that we currently do, they are quick to answer. They are straightforward, quick to the point, they have a small thing they want to say and some are more talked out. It just kind of depends on the person, right? It's like some authors are um you know have done a zillion panels in their day. Like we'll just use Laura Theasa as an example, right? Like she's written a zillion books. She seems very comfortable in front of the mic and she's has a lot of really interesting things to say and feels comfortable saying them. Whereas I feel like you know some authors maybe it's the first panel they've ever done and you know they're a little bit more nervous or maybe like they're just they don't have a whole lot to say about that one particular question that we asked, right? So it's like sometimes a topic can be yeah very well you know flushed out and we can talk about it for 10 15 minutes. Sometimes everyone just answers boom boom boom boom and it took three minutes. Yeah. So having that flexibility and I felt like for our two panels that we did we had both situations and we were prepared for it and we so much we appreciate so much those of you who are able to come up to us and give us feedback on those panels and it seemed like you guys really enjoyed the way they were structured. So, thank you because that's super encouraging to know that we're on the right track and you guys enjoyed the way we had that flow. We were able to build in time to take some audience questions at least for one of the panels. So, that was great. And it was having everything structured out necessary. Well, and I think that the authors appreciated it too because, you know, we just ahead of time gave a little rundown like, hey, this is the order that we're going to go in for answering. That way, everyone gets their moment, but no one is really put on the spot. And I think that they appreciate that because um then it doesn't feel chaotic. Like, it's not like a free-for-all. Like, whoever wants to answer this question just jump on in. And it can feel like some people who maybe have a little bit of a quieter voice can get overlooked. Um or people who don't like being put on the spot might like kind of not like that. And so, it was a good way to keep things rolling and keep it organized. And I think that um as listeners, we got feedback that you enjoyed that because you got to hear from everyone in a concise way. Um and the authors like that because of all the reasons that I already said. So I think that that was really good too. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it sounded like we got feedback from the authors as well and they liked that structure, you know, how we told them ahead of time, this is what to expect on who's answering next because it's less jump scare. Less jump scary. Yeah. Right. It's like a whole like all of you know I'm sure authors get nervous too you know like you said sometimes it's our first time sometimes Adele doesn't she still get nervous going up there and singing? I can't even imagine but I'm sure. Yeah. But like Yeah. literally you know so everybody's human and we're all real and sometimes knowing what you can know can help I think. Yeah. Like not having to be like understanding that you can't have full control over a situation but you can control certain things. Yeah. like if you have and as moderators we're responsible for a level of that. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Um you know which brings me to my next thing. As best as you can know your authors ahead of time. So we did go around and meet some people that we could meet before the panels which was great and it definitely helped a lot. Mhm. Yeah. Just to alleviate some of the stress and um just to kind of touch base and be like, "Hey, what's up? Like we're just regular people. You're a regular person. Like we're just going to go up there and talk." It kind of like helps with the nerves a little bit. Um, and then you know I put a dock together ahead of BookCon that had every author, you know what their new release is going to be, like what their most popular release is, their bio, their Instagram handle. like that way, you know, between Ashley and myself and Rinda, we could go in and make sure that we had at least like a cursory knowledge of, you know, every author that was on our panel, even if we hadn't had um the opportunity at that point to read um you know, a bunch of books from them or anything like that. So, I think that was useful, too. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And the next thing for that we recommend is don't overload your plate cuz as much as we did, we still built in downtime because we that's just our personalities. We need that downtime to recoup. So pretty much after every panel, we kind of we stayed around for a little bit like maybe 15 20 minutes and then we went upstairs to recuperate, kind of freshen up, have a little snack and then go back down. So we needed that. So if that's something that you need, make sure you do that cuz it is a lot of socializing. Yeah. A ton. I mean it it is as you say a convention. Yeah. What a surprise. What a surprise. I mean this is for the the people that are going to be doing media or hosting or influencers out there. Obviously if you're a reader listening to this that's a attendee socializing. It's going to be optional, you know. So take it as you were. If you're somebody that's like whoa whoa I don't want to be socializing. That's cool. You don't need to, you know. Yeah. So do you can choose your adventure for that. But if you're going out there as you know an invited media media team it is expected and we love it like it's great you know and that's for us why we knew to have an assistant there because for us that's what we need someone to manage that part for us so we can focus on the socializing and no problem there and it was great so great meeting you guys out there. Yeah. So yeah that was our last point too. If you can and they will let you bring an assistant. Um, you know, we were kind of like tossing the idea around before we posed it to, you know, the wonderful ladies at Fabled Fantasy. And, you know, we're kind of like, would would it be necessary? Would it be beneficial? Okay, we will tell you with a thousand billion% certainty, yes, it is all of those things and more. You know, if you can and are able and have someone who you can depend on in that way, bring someone with you. Yeah. Shout out to R once again. You saved our lives. Seriously. like so much we wouldn't have been capable of doing cuz you just cuz you can't be everywhere at once too, you know, and sometimes you need you need to know. She she would pull up on the phone for us like where this where's this location, you know, and just little things that you might not think about and you're like, "Oh, I can handle it." It's like, well, you can, but are you going to do it at the level that you might you might actually be able to do it at a higher level if you have somebody there to help you guys out? Especially with just picture taking, you know? Totally. She's the logistical brain so that we can have the, you know, artistic artistical brain like, you know what I mean? But it's true. And the social brain. It's like, you know, I know that for me, I don't have the social capacity. If I also am trying to figure out, you know, where we're going, where's the phone, where's my badge, where's the, you know what I mean? And it's like if I'm trying to do all those other things, then I I lose the capability to be able to be social because my battery gets drained so much faster. Yeah. And so having her do all that stuff behind the scenes was like, "Okay, all I have to worry about is like meeting these people and like chatting right now, you know?" Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Totally. So glad. So glad we had her. I know. I know, right? It's like so grateful. Um Oh, you got to make me cry again. Thank you, Rosenda.

She's like, we always joke that like great. I know. Oh, yeah. She's great. And it's great because we have a friend that we know, you know, is can also be like such a good assistant and wear that hat at the same time that we're having fun. Yeah. Yeah. That's like so special as well. You know, a unicorn. Yeah. Liz and I always have joked since high school like we're two halves of a brain and we equal one brain. Well, Rinda, what if she's the also the whole brain or she has the brains in her hand? She's holding our brains saying, "Here, guys, let me guide you. Make sure this gets done." Thank you. Yes. Beautiful. It's a beautiful creepy thing. Yeah, Frankenstein. It was perfect. Frankenstein. Yeah. Piece us all together. We make one person. Um, yeah. Exactly. So, what we need to know from you guys, okay, because we really want to do obviously more book cons in the future. We want to attend them. We want to participate in them. Like, we have goals for the future of in what capacity. What cons should we attend? What book cons have you guys gone to that you loved that you felt were organized well that you felt you know were executed well that were fun um and but also functioned smoothly. I feel like it's like we're looking because that's what we've experienced, you know, with Fabled Fantasy and I think that that's what we're looking for too is that kind of really nice um, you know, balance of fun, you know, fun and organization because rules are fun. Yeah. Yeah. Liz Lemon or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's also Monica, right? It's like that energy. It's like we want to have fun but at the same time we do appreciate the organization and um how everything is flowing and so yeah let us know like what cons you know it doesn't matter they could be like anywhere in the US send them our way we want to know so that we can start kind of compiling a list of ones that we might want to attend or participate in in the future. Yeah definitely let us know. We'll put a box two up on our Instagrams as well so you can leave a comment. Yeah. So are you feeling good about that? Do you have any uh last words for Romanty Con 2026 before we move on to our Smasher Pass? I don't have anything else to say. I That's That is a first for both of us. Just kidding. We We could talk all night, but specifically about this. Okay. Yeah, dude. Just had so much fun. Thank you everybody. Thank you and good night. Okay, now time for smash your pass. Okay. So, we're going to do romanty themed. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, I said on here that we do three each. So, you want to just go back and forth or do you want to rapid fire me? Rapid fire each other. Great. Okay. All right. Back and forth. All right. Let's go back and forth. Okay. Ashley, smash or pass doing research about the haunted hotel you're staying at ahead of time. Oh. Um I guess pass cuz we we did a little bit last year and we're like, I don't know. This isn't that haunted. Well, okay. For anyone who doesn't know, the reason why I put it was um so it's a smash for me because I like to know lore, but then I but I also have a really bad memory. So I forgot the lore and then was reminded by somebody when we were there. I was like, "Oh, that's right." So for anyone who doesn't know, the Builtmore Hotel was the last known place that the Black Dollia was seen alive. So some I thought that was the other one. I thought other hotel the Cecil. says, "The Cecil Hotel is crazy. I thought the Cecil Hotel was the one where the lady was found in the Oh, there's a Well, yes, but the Cecil Hotel had a lot. I'm going to look it up. So, continue. I mean, that's all I have to say about that. Oh, okay. I don't have any more to say about that. I think that finding out I mean, obviously, if you're staying at a traditional convention center, there might not be that much lore, but the Builtmore is historic and supposedly haunted. Yeah. 1947, that was the last place she was seen alive. So, hey, there we go. I think that you're right about the Cecil Hotel also being haunted because I've listened to some shout out to my favorite murder, one of my favorite podcasts. Um, about that and that was a crazy situation, too. So, yeah, I think the Builmore does have I both of the hotels have a room that's supposedly more hun or a floor. No, I think people were saying there's a specific floor at the Bitmore Hotel. Listen, I'm a naysayer. Sorry. So, I'm not going to like sit over here and crap on everybody's party. So, but I think it's fun and I think, you know, yeah, it's fun. I like to hear the stories and stuff, but I didn't feel anything. But I also literally also forgot, so I wasn't looking. So, you know what I mean? I like the lore as well. Would I actually want to be haunted? Absolutely not. Like, I like it for the fun vibes. Like, I don't need to actually see Kathy's ghost. Okay. Like, I'm good. Yeah, we were making our own ghosts in there. Yeah. Um, I think I would feel like it was more of a haunty vibe for me personally if the hallways weren't such a bright yellow. I don't know. There's something about the wall color that drives me nuts. See, to me that's very like Stanley Kubric, like very like the shining vibe because they're very long hallways and they are and it's very like creepy kind of like overhead lighting that gives that vibe and so I think it adds to that personally. Okay. if the walls were just a different color for me. But I am so obsessed with like architecture and the design because it's very if you've been to the Pantageous Theater, it's very like that. So I'm just like ah eh ghost was right there. I wouldn't even see it cuz I'm too busy looking at the scaffolding and the crowning and the lights. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay. All right. What do you got for me? Um karaoke Liz. Smash or pass? Smash in the way that they did it. I like the group energy and group effort. Yes. It's much less like sad karaoke on a cruise ship and more like fun sleepover at like the best big party karaoke. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so in that way, Smash for sure. It was great. Yes. Yeah. Same answer. Same answer cuz I was definitely curious. I'm like, I feel like a lot of us can be introverted and you're going to have us doing karaoke, like singing at people, but no, singing with people. With people, group effort. Group effort. Yeah. Yep. Um, okay, Ashley. Smash or pass? Finding out and mapping out where the authors you want to see ahead of time are versus roaming freely. Oh, definitely smash. Doing it ahead of time. I think that we made that clear. What about you? Yeah, definitely smash for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I didn't think of these ahead of time, so sorry. Uh, Smasher Pass ticketed authors. Oh, that's my last one, so let's just talk about it. No, it's okay. Um, I would say so last year we did several ticketed authors. This year we did none. That obviously had that was last year. This year we didn't do any. Yeah. Um, we definitely had a lot more going on this time because we were working and there in a, you know, fun capacity, I guess you could say, whereas last year we were there, you know, only just doing our own thing all the time. So, we had, you know, theoretically more quote unquote free time. Um, but even if I was just going as an attendee in the future, I think I would really limit it limit my ticketed author signings um to someone who like literally I am obsessed with and like need to meet in person. Yes. you know, because the reality is lots of times you can find their signed books at the bookstore that are already pre-signed or you can go to their Etsy and you can find, you know, signed copies that you can order directly from them or their website. Um, and so, you know, I would say in the future, yes, I'll do a ticketed signing, but only if it's someone who I want to actually face to face talk to and like meet in person. Yeah. Mhm. But other than that, I would rather roam. I would rather roam around. You have to know that ticketed authors are going to be a time eater because you could be first in line, but you're probably going to be last. We feel like we were last in line last year for almost all of them because we didn't know where the heck we were going, what we were doing. Hey, I don't no regrets. And last year there were specific authors we were wanting to meet and that is why we got to interview. We had actually already interviewed Callie Hart with Quicksilver. So, we had just done an interview with her. So, we wanted to make sure we could see her in person. Um, so we got to go do that and that was great and make that kind of connection and bond and everything and talk about our podcast episode. And then we also met for the first time pen Cole which we hadn't read yet but everybody was talking about it. So, we did that and then we because of that we had her on our podcast so and not in a pushy like it was just very natural and she's like complimented something that we had and we're like oh yeah it's from our podcast and then oh give me your stuff. So very naturally happen. We're not going out there and like forcing ourselves on to any authors in any way. Um so just depending what you kind of weigh your pros and cons, you know, if you really want this sign, it's going to take an hour out of your day. Are you willing to do that or more or more than that? Or more. Yeah. Sometimes. And there can be back to back. It's a lot of standing. It's like Disneyland in that way. You know, listen, I feel like Raven Kennedy is like, you know, we're covering plated prisoner right now. She's my elusive unicorn who, you know, I've been supposed to meet and then it didn't work out and like I we've not got a chance to meet her yet. And so, she's one of those where I'm like, I don't care if I'm in line all day. One day, yeah, I will meet you. Mhm. Um, but yeah, I would say, you know, just kind of weigh how important that is to you and how many hours, you know, you're willing to stand in line because that's going to be hours taken away from when you could possibly do your rounds in some of the other rooms and maybe meet, you know, 10 authors. Yeah. I mean, you can't get it personalized. So, that is something that you can't do from online or a random, you know, shop having it. So, you can get it personalized. Sometimes you can. Yeah. And then um yeah, know that if you if you don't get a ticketed author you really wanted, first of all, sometimes they have extra openings come up later, so check back. But there are so many authors in the other rooms and some that are really popular, too. They can only just they just only do so many ticketed authors. You know, Lindsay Straw is super popular and she had a line pretty much all day, too. and the direbound ones and um nine tales. Like there's still a lot of large authors in the other rooms, too. So, don't feel like because you didn't get those six or eight um that it's all for nothing. You know, there's still a lot of great opportunities that you might not have to stand in line all day. And some of the authors, while you might not be able to get it signed, you might have other opportunities to meet them and chat with them because there some of them are around, some of them go to the ball. So, keep it cool, keep it kind, and have a good time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, I think that pretty much like wraps it up if you're feeling good about that. I'm feeling good about it. I feel good. Can't wait to do it again. 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