Beyond the Book: All About #RT15!

This bookish feature is an original by me! I had the epiphany for this the other day when I was writing out my 15 bookish confessions. (See #7) A lot of times I like to go "beyond the book" and do something that will connect me with the book and characters a little more. It will pop up on Mondays! Be on the look out for which books caught my eye and made me go beyond just reading it! 

     This weekend I was blessed to be able to go to Romantic Times (RT) 2015! It was held in Dallas, Tx which is about 3 1/2 hours away from me. I had been counting down to that for the past 30 days lol Finally the day came when we were able to head out there.

     My experience was CRAZY. There were so many people there. This was actually the biggest bookish event I've ever been to and let me tell you, I was walking around with eyes like saucers. What made me the most happy was seeing all the teens around that were so excited about books. Really, that made the trip. Granted, most of the teens were there for the same couple authors, but the fact that they were reading at all made me smile. I met so many of them as well that I stopped and chatted up books with and convinced them to get the books I was holding or casually mentioned. This trip reminded me why I wanted to be a YA librarian. 

     Anyways, when I got there on Saturday, that was the morning of the Giant Book Fair. Check in started at 9 AM. I got there about 9:15 and there was already a freaking line almost a mile long lol The only reason I was ok with that was because the decor at the hotel was LOVELY! lol 

       There were bookish things all over the place on almost every part of the hotel and I thought it was awesome.But anyways, tthe line was already crazy so me and mom wasted time chatting about some books, some authors, and took some pictures. I was having fun already and it was only the beginning.

     When we started going in, they basically squeezed us into this room thing and for about 45 minutes to just stand there. At first me and my mom were confused, but then she said we were all getting gifts and the squeezing us into one room made more since. They were counting lol We ended up getting these Sylvia Day bags that rolled. Pretty cool considering we all would need one soon. 

     As for the Giant Book Fair, it was fun but it was CHAOS. There were soooooooo many authors and so much going on and it was a little overwhelming. I ended up getting all my books signed (except for 2) but I only managed to snag 3 of the books I wanted to buy and get signed there. Almost everytthing was sold out. No one really bought that many. Which kind of upsets me that they didn't have a place where we could buy books the whole time. But when all else fails, there is always Amazon. I can always meet most of the authors later on. Well, hopefully lol 

     But anyways, during the Giant Book Fair my freakin phone decided it didn't want to have any type of battery and my portable charger didn't want to work either. So in other words, I only got a couple author photos. But I went and got some of the ones that I thought were pretty important. The ones who I owned more than one copy or an entire series of theirs. 
First I went to JLA and got my Wait For Me signed! She said I looked really familiar, which is pretty impressive since I met her about 2 years ago at Houston Book Rave on my Birthday. I guess my crown really was memorable lol 
Next was Kiera Cass. I went to her line because it was already wrapping around. And guys let me tell you.... SHE IS JUST AS CUTE IN PERSON AS SHE IS IN HER PICS. I love all her freaking bows and flowers and everything. She's adorbs.
Then I made a beeline for Stephanie Perkins. On the picture there, I added a filter because when I met her I like legit teared up. My face and my eyes were both red afterwards. I had to explain to her she was the reason I started reading contemp, why I fell in love with the genre, and why it's my favorite. She loved my overly tabbed copy of Isla and even though it was already signed from the pre-order campaign, she happily signed it again and personalized it. She is so lovely and amazing and cute and just EVERYTHING.
Then there was Kasie West. I had to take a pic with her and give her one of my business card booksmarks so she could visit my blog to look at all the Beyond the Book posts she inspired. I didn't realize it until I was saying it to her, but I have three Beyond the Book posts featuring all three of her books. She said she would go and give them a look which left me feeling a little bit giddy.

Then I met Abbi Glines and Cage. Although I haven't read the book featuring him yet, I'm getting there. I'm making my way through her Vincent Boys series right now. It's starting out pretty rocky, but I think it'll end up ok. Especially if all her freaking book boys look like the dude pictured.
Last but not least I took a selfie with Katie Finn. Or Morgan Matson. No, it was a Fierce Reads thing so it was Katie. But you never know with those two, since they look so much alike. ;p Anyways, by this time I was at the Fierce Reads pizza party. I was a little late, but the line was already so long I missed the bags :( This is the second time I've missed getting a Fierce Reads bag at an event. Which sucks because I want one so bad because of their super cool logo lol But anyways, I missed the pizza but I was ok because I really only wanted to meet Katie and Anna Banks. I wanted to get a pic with her as well, but by that time my phone was dead. But I did meet her and I got a signed Joyride bookmark.
     After that, we went starght to the other events. Me and my mom both learned our lessons of being late or exactly on time to where we went and started going to places early so we could be in the games. The first one was too full so I went to the YA Speed Reading Panel which was funny. I found a lot of other books that I needed to add to my TBR and read sometime. So then I had to leave there early and get to the next room so we could all fit in. That's the only thing I wish was different. I wanted to be able to stay in everything and not have to worry about being locked out.
     Last but not least there was the Teen Day Party. EVERYONE was trying to get their hands on that Epic Reads, Fierce Reads, Penguin Teen tote bag. Including me lol I told my mom to go down there and stand there early and she said "Why? You'll be fine." I begged her to go and she finally said ok. And when she got down there, she texted me saying "HOLY CRAP you were right. I'm in line now but I'm way down the hall and wrapped around the corner." I freaked out. Even though they said they had 500+ bags, I NEEDED this one lol I missed the Fierce Reads one, so I wanted to grab at least one. But we both managed to get one and a trip through the prize room. And then the room erupted in trades and mingling. This is the part where I wish I still had my phone because everyone was having so much fun talking with each other and authors. It was fun.
    The people I met and wished I could have gotten pics with were Tamara Ireland Stone, author of Time After Time, Time Between Us, and Every Last Word. I told her I was the one who was asking about a POV from Bennett way back before it was even announced. She said she remembered me and I was truly honored. I tried my hardest to win that ARC of Every Last Word but someone got to it first. But I did win the Twitter giveaway she had! I got a little goodie bag from her and the UK versions of her first two books. But I wanted Every Last Word because the girl in it reminded me of me. In case you all didn't know, I have OCD and Separation Anxiety and her book features a girl with OCD, I wish I had a book like that when I was a teen. It would have given me different ideas with how to handle it. Or at least a way to helped me realize the signs earlier.
     I also missed out on all the bloggers I met too. It sucked that I didn't meet them and sit and talk with everyone. But there was just too much going on. Every one was rushing and running around and there was no time to talk to anyone. We ended up talking on Twitter and Instagram most of the time. Unless of course we were in line. This week I met Sara from @SaraMStuart on Twitter, Heidi from yabibliophile.com or @hmz1505 on Twitter, Val from stuckinbooks.com, and Sara from What A Nerd Girl Says! I wish I had gotten pics with everyone, but it was cool that we all recognized everyone from social media lol I wish I had met Jen or cupcakegirly though :( I had a Texas sized hug for her lol
     Anyways, this was supposed to be a quick write up, but it's turned out to be superrrrr long so I'll end it here. Here are some other cool pics I got before my phone died.