I was going to organize this post around a central idea originally—signings, maybe, or going to RT in a group—but I’m still a little too woozy from the whole Romantic Times Convention experience and all I’ve got are bits and pieces. So bits and pieces it is, as in several random things I learned at RT 2012.

1. Signings are both ordeals and delights. Delights when you meet someone who knows your work. Ordeals when you don’t. During the massive three-hour print signing on Saturday, I decided to just relax and enjoy the experience. I sold a couple of books, talked to a few people and watched the show. I recommend that approach because, like everything else at RT, the show is definitely worth watching.

2. It really helps to go to RT with other people. It’s not an unfriendly place. You could always go to workshops and parties by yourself. But it’s so much easier when you have peeps to share things with. And, of course, it helps even more if those peeps are the Naughty Nine.

3. While costumes aren’t required at RT, they’re certainly part of the mix—and not just at parties or specialized workshops. Several authors dressed up for the signing, including one in a rather nice Queen Elizabeth I dress and another in a Marie Antoinette wig. And, of course, there are authors like J.R. Ward who dress up as part of their working personae (unless Ward has always worn black leather and shades, which could be the case, I guess). I even dressed up in my uptight, Midwestern way. My sequined “diva coat” is definitely not something I plan on wearing to the grocery store anytime soon.

4. RT isn’t exactly designed for morning people like me. Those of us who routinely get up at five aren’t exactly at our best at midnight. On the other hand, I did make it to some workshops that my night owl friends slept through, so I guess it evened out. And my Naughty sisters made sure I sat up late in the bar a couple of times and was present at the Ellora’s Cave party to cheer my buddies in their “perp walk.” However, being all bright-eyed and bushy tailed at seven a.m. can have its downside. I was an hour early for the book signing because I didn’t read my program carefully.

5. The flowers for our nametags that indicated published authors were a great idea, but they kept falling off, enabling author after author to exclaim loudly “I’ve been deflowered” accompanied by obligatory shrieks of laugher.

6. In many ways, the best part of the convention for me were the long conversations with other writers, particularly my Naughty sisters. You can learn more about writing from hearing other people’s frustrations and triumphs than you can in a week’s worth of workshops.

7. Cover Model Karaoke with the Smutketeers and the Nine Naughty Novelists is clearly the wave of the future. Look for us next year, y’all! And for that, you’ll have to actually come to RT—something I highly recommend.