Why, why, why won’t my blogger let me have paragraphs? ARGH. Sorry for the text being so smooshed. Read on if you dare…So Saturday me and BFF Michele Bardsley headed off to the first evah Readers ‘N Rita’s mini-con. The con derives its name from those crazy Dallas Tea Lady broads and their ability to flatten a pitcher of Margaritas cold while they frolic and talk all things book-ish.Boozers.All of ‘em.LOL. No, I’m kidding. I mean, they drink, but not to the point of inebriation–it was more like just a hair shy (tee hee). Anyway, it was organized by the Dallas Tea ladies who have a group called Readers ‘N Rita’s, and whom I’ve blogged about before. I lubs them. They support me when I have book signings. They promo my books. They’re all round the best evah, and there’s nothing I like doing more than hanging out with them. They rate right up there with a good trip to Ferragamo.So the mini-con was held at the Radisson here in Dallas, and Sherrilyn Kennyon was the guest of honor. I only saw a small glimpse of her at lunch where each author hosted a table. I sat with Allie, Ellie, Andrea, and Kelly my stolen BFF who ate every last bit of her chocolate cake even though she’s on a diet. I mean, like INHALED it, people Allie’s a longtime friend and supporter who comes to my book signings and is so pretty I could slap her. She’s on the right there, her cousin Ellie is in the middle. Ellie’s awesome and so much fun. Kelly, my stolen BFF is on the left. And as you can see–she’s wearing a very flattering sweater that’s TOTALLY NOT IN HER COLOR WHEEL. LOLLOL.  And then there was Andrea. All I gotta say about her is this–who knew? She’s the cutey behind everyone else in the pic, and dudes, she’s the snark MISTRESS. I mean, last I met Andrea, she was all quiet and demure. At lunch, she was suddenly possessed by Cathy Griffith. I LMAO off at some of the stuff she said with a poker face as she dined on chicken marsala and wild rice. Love. Her.The con is meant solely for the readers to get together, meet some authors, and do what they do best. Talk books, plots, likes, dislikes. For the authors, it was informal fun in an intimate setting. We hung out, chatted, ate, spent some time testing out all the cool pampering stuff my pal Summer was selling. it’s called Arbonne–they haz bath gels and wrinkle reducers, and all sorts of goodies. It’s kind of a no-brainer that I was completely in for wrinkle reduction… And then there was da booze and the RITA portion of my tale–below is a pic of the incredibly sweet, Sue, who clearly felt the man size glasses for our margaritas just didn’t do her boozing ways justice–so she stuck a straw in the pitcher. Sue rocks!  And of course, there were the crazy fans like Chris ( a snorter, not a spitter), and Genelle. Chris all tried to make like she knew who I was. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve seen your covers…” and for a time that soothed me–till I heard she’d read Michele’s books. Now she kinda has to be dead to me, ya know? And it’s too bad because she’s pretty funny and her NY accent is so awful, I laughed till I shed tears. No, I’m kidding–she’s not dead to me. She made up for it by talking to her friend on the phone who really did know who I was, and the appropriate gushing commenced. LOL. Seriously–Genelle and Chris were a blast :)And then there were the games… Candace Havens was the con MC, and I gotta tell ya, she’s pretty funny. She writes for Berkley (go pre-order The Demon King and I–hurry!), and she’s also a Hollywood reporter. We dished with her, and she was totally down with some snark. She came up with the idea that we should all write something we’d heard at the con that was sorta juicy on a piece of paper, then sign our names to it. But I hadn’t heard anything too juicy–so I made my own juice up. When she read my bit of gossip “Dakota Cassidy is really a man” the entire room gasped until she read that I was the one who wrote it. Shoulda heard the relieved laughter… I must be very convincing, is all I gotta say about that  But-I did win an awesome tote bag for my gossip efforts and I totally plan to give it away when I do my ARC blitz.And then–the event that shall hereafter be dubbed–THE INCIDENT–My pal Sandi knew how distressed I was because my swag bag had no crazy straw in it. It would only seem right that I have a crazy straw, and I was feeling incredibly slighted–but Sandi came to the rescue. She flubbed a little because it was YELLOW. But she completely made up for it when she caught herself, gave me that horrified “OMG–I offered Dakota Casssidy a YELLOW straw” look, then ran off to bring me back a blue one. I was so proud of her I almost shed a tear :)Lot’s of other authors attended, too. Like Rosemary Clement-Moore (I almost made her spit soda out of her nose), and Lauren Willig. Rosemary had some of the best FMP’s I’ve ever seen in this melon color–hawt, people! Go look her YA books up. I won a copy, and I fully plan to read it this week.  And of course, there was BFF Jaye Wells who now has the most FAB cover for her upcoming release Red-headed Stepchild. This book is so terrific. Urban Fantasy, vamps, and all sorts of rawkin’ goodness. Look for it March 30, 2009.And in charge of most everything were Sara and Gwen Reyes who made the day so much fun. With the idea in mind that this event was FOR THE READERS–they went out of their way to make it such a great experience that I’m so in for next year. They had lots of little nuances for the authors, like the green room, that even though it wasn’t green, was a place we could go and relax if we needed down time–and the informal roundtable discussions were just that. Informal, fun, and a forum for readers to tell us what they like and don’t about books. Big hugs and major thanks for such a stellar day, ladies. You were AWESOME! Oh, and next year–Christine Feehan’s coming! Go on and consider coming to Dallas next year in November–if you’re a reader, you won’t be sorry :) And did I say Christine Feehan?Woo to the hoo, baby!  DC