Goldilox and the Three Weres: KissCon KC Wrap Up and Giveaway

I finally got to go to a book event! And it was so much fun!

Avon's KissCon came to Kansas City last weekend. And not only was it in my area, it was in my library! (That is the one I visit most often.) They do this event in different cities throughout the year, so if it comes to your town you might want to check it out. This stop featured authors Lenora Bell, Lori Foster, Linda Howard, Cathy Maxwell, Alisha Rai, Jill Shalvis, Jodi Thomas, Marie Tremayne and Lori Wilde.

They started with a panel discussion that included game show style questions and Never Have I Ever.

Here's what I learned:

-Cathy Maxwell is from Olathe, KS and was instrumental in getting this event to happen. She'll also be at GenreCon this summer at the same location.

-Authors don’t always remember the plots of their books once they’ve written the next one. When they went down the row describing their latest release, more than one said something like, “That’s all I remember. I’ve written four other books since this one.” The same thing happens to me only it’s more like “I’ve read forty books since then.” I don’t feel so bad about it now.

-Alisha Rai is a secret agent (OK, the exact words were "secret second life" so maybe she just has a pseudonym.)

-Alaskans like to have sex in the woods. (Maybe it's too cold for bugs there?)

-And anything that goes goes wrong can be blamed on Jill Shalvis's husband.

Then there was an audience Q&A. Here's a shot from the stage (photo credit: Avon editor @amayzingchen) so you can see how full the room was. That's the top of my head a few rows in front of the ladder.

Avon streamed the whole thing on Facebook Live so you can actually watch it here. Pay attention to the authors' book recs near the end because I totally forgot to write them down.

The panel was followed by a book signing where my local indie, Rainy Day Books, had books from all of the authors on sale. I posted my haul on our Instagram.

Here's Alisha Rai signing for the ladies in front of me in line. I just finished her Forbidden Hearts series (more on that coming up in a future post) so I mostly went to stalk her. And she was lovely even though I may have rambled incoherently.

Jill Shalvis actually had the longest line. I haven't read her but she described her latest series as Friends+Sex and the City in a small town setting, where a San Francisco high rise serves as the small town. Small town romances are my catnip so I plan to check that out.

I thought this set up actually worked pretty well. Half of the author tables were set up on each side of the wall. Here are Lori Foster and Marie Tremaine signing in the hallway.

There was also a paid VIP event afterward that I didn't attend. And I can't even find pics online so I may have missed some super secret stuff. (Has anyone been to one of these? Tell me what happened. I'm dying of FOMO!)

I really enjoyed KissCon and I was happy to see how many people came out for it.