This was my first event of 2025. Unlike all of my events from last year, this one was the first I have ever had to rely on someone else to get my stuff to the venue. I had no choice but to ship my books and fly out.
So let's start at the beginning of the journey:
I mailed my books to the organizer, Rayanna, at the very beginning of March. I didn't want to risk Amazon direct shipping bad copies of my books, so I had them sent to me and then re-packed and sent them via media mail to Rayanna. When I say I was paranoid about damaged books, I mean I was PARANOID. There was enough tape on those boxes to allow them to survive a deep sea excursion.
After an anxiety inducing ten days, I finally got confirmation that both boxes were delivered. Now that my books were there, my brain would no longer consider backing out, despite my social anxiety screaming at me that it would be too much.
Fast forward to the morning of the 19th.
My flight was around 9am EST, so I figured I would leave for the airport around 6am. It's about an hour and a half drive to the airport, so that would leave me with a little over an hour after getting through security before the flight would leave. Only, I woke up at 4am and noticed a Lyft request for an airport ride just after I poured my coffee. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make money on the way to take myself to the airport, so I inadvertently ended up there a full 2 hours ahead of plan... 3 hours before my flight.
It didn't take me long to realize I forgot an important travel accessory in my rush to leave - my noise cancelling headphones. Being in a forced social situation, like stuck on a plane directly next to strangers, I need headphones to control the stimuli around me. After kicking myself mentally for leaving them sitting on my coffee table, I went to the newsstand and bought a new pair for about $35. I was forced to buy a kid's design, but honestly I would have selected those over the sold out $60 adult ones anyways.
The first flight was fine and the transfer in St. Louis was about as smooth as they can be with the exception of feeling like I had to walk to the complete other end of the world (seriously I went from gate 2 to gate 32 or something like that). This flight was PACKED, and I ended up next to some pretty inconsiderate people. Thankfully, this leg of the journey was a short 45 minute flight. Then, I was one of ten people staying on the plane for the final leg to Las Vegas. This final leg was entertaining with the flight attendants, but I was glad to not have to get on another plane for a few days.
The Uber ride to the hotel was a nightmare. I split the ride with another author, so I had to wait around for her flight to arrive (only 20 minutes after mine). I figured I would order the comfort ride because of the extra leg room would allow us to keep our carryons with us in the seat. The driver refused to allow us to keep our bags with us outside of our purse/backpack and complained the entire time about how we should have gotten a larger vehicle and that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to being a driver... I've been a driver since 2016... I think the guy saw two women and thought we were pushovers. If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want to pay the cancellation fee, I would have gone with another ride. Instead, I sucked it up and suffered the twenty minutes to the hotel.
That night was the mixer, so after going to registration and getting my gift bag, I ended up mingling with other authors I had been dying to meet as well as some of the cover models I've seen on MANY books. By this point, my social battery was almost completely drained. And yet I still managed to have a 30 minute conversation about Star Trek with someone.
The morning of the first day opened up with my throat and head feeling like they were on fire. Apparently, I had forgotten just how dry it is in Las Vegas compared to Ohio. I thought all of the issues I was having were due to dehydration and the dry air, so I drank some water and figured that was it. As the day went on, I realized quickly that it was more than just lack of moisture.
The air was trying to kill me.
Apparently, juniper is a really popular plant for the hotel/casino where we were and it just so happens that it was pollenation time for the juniper plants. When I was away from the hotel portion of the location,it wasn't too bad, but enough pollen was getting inside that it became unbearable to stay in my room for too long.
The only solution? I damn near bought a pharmacy of allergy remedies to be able to make it through. I had nose sprays, cough drops, pills, eye drops, nasal strips... you name it, I bought it.
I spent some time going to the activities on Thursday once I had the opportunity to take some stuff for the allergies. I read a bit out loud from Alive and my anxiety basically told me that I needed to run away after that.
Because my room wasn't an option, I decided to walk - yes walk - up to the Paris casino because "it's only a block away"... I had forgotten just how far a Vegas block actually is. I walked up to Paris, played a few slots, and walked back to the Tuscanny after a brief perusal of the Bazaar between Paris and the Horseshoe.
I got back just in time for Cover Model Bingo and had a blast with the terrible rhymes. Although, a lot of the comments from some of the readers and fellow authors in the audience gave me the squicks. I'm very much a proponent of things needing to be equal across all genders. Some of the things they were saying and insinuating toward the cover models were highly inappropriate in my mind, especially considering they would NEVER be said to a woman model without some sort of reprimand happening.
After a dinner break, which I spent with one of the organizers and her almost daughter in law, it was time for the pajama party. I wore my slippers and shorts, but didn't really get any reaction to what I chose to wear. Karaoke was a blast to witness. And somehow even sober, I managed to get out on the dance floor for the Cha Cha Slide and some salsa dancing.
By the end of the night, I was exhausted and collapsed into bed.
My body woke me up at 4am from being unable to breathe without hacking up a lung. The allergy meds I got were working their asses off, but it wasn't enough while I was asleep apparently. So after a mere 4 hours of sleep, I was trudging through the buildings over to the coffee shop inbetween the hotel and casino. The white chocolate mocha I got there did the trick enough to soothe my throat and wake me up a bit.
I'm pretty sure this was the day of the lunch with an author thing, but don't quote me on that. I was so overstimulated that I ended up at a table with a bunch of people I didn't know, eating chewy steak and cold mac n cheese. There's not much memorable or happy about the group meals, so I'm gonna skip over most of those.
After lunch, I figured I had some time before the afternoon panels, so I took an Uber to check out the Hello Kitty Cafe over by New York, New York. I got an iced white chocolate mocha and spent way more money than I should have on some new Kuromi stuff. I got a new mini backpack to use as a purse, a nightlight, and a few other items.
Then, I went for a walk into New York, New York. While there, I had the luck I always do when it comes to slot machines... I only seem to hit the bonus/free spins when I need to be somewhere.
By the time the first machine stopped with the free spins, it was already too late to make it back for the first panel. I wandered around a bit more, throwing $5 in here and there at machines that I thought looked interesting. Again, the curse of the free spins hit when I wanted to go back for the next panel. After 20 minutes of continuous bonus and free spins, I decided that I was going to find something else to do before my curse made me miss everything for the day.
Instead of heading back to the hotel when the machine finally stopped, I decided to go to the only casino and attraction I didn't get to hit the last time I was in Vegas. I walked over to Excalibur to get the tram over to Mandalay Bay. Had I known that the Shark Reef Aquarium was on the complete opposite end of the casino AND convention center, I would have just sucked it up and taken an Uber.
Even though it was a blast and a wonder walking through the aquariam itself, my legs were screaming at me by the time I got back to my room at the hotel. I ended up missing the second session of Cover Model Bingo, and I'm kinda glad I did. The pics posted online showed that the models were asked to strip for every Bingo called. I definitely would not have been comfortable being in that room for that.
A new friend asked me to dinner at the cafe in the casino, so I didn't have to suffer through the what's for dinner game again. The food was amazeballs and the pricing was cheaper than some of the restaurants back home in Ohio. After dinner, we saw each other at the party. I didn't really stay long because it was a very long day and with the signing the next day, I wanted to at least try to get more sleep.
Yet again, my body woke me up at 4am, coughing and hacking. My throat felt even worse than it had the day before, but I knew it wasn't from being sick. If I was sick, it wouldn't have gone away when I left the hotel to do my touristy things. I ended up needing a double dose of the white chocolate mocha before I felt human enough to people.
As soon as the time came to be able to set up, I took my stuff over to the hall. Some of the volunteers really wanted to help, but my anxiety took over and I refused all assistance pretty much all day, with the exception of needing a quick potty break. 2 coffees and about 4 bottles of water before the event started meant I really needed to go.
After tear down, there was about an hour between that and the big dinner and party to close out the event. Even though I'm not a country or ranch type of person, I was really looking forward to some good authentic barbecue and being able to laugh and have fun with all of the new friends I made.
Let's just say that the food was less than authentic and the only thing on the entire table that was safe for me to eat was the potato wedges. I couldn't even touch the sauces so I had to have them plain. I brought it up to one of the organizers that I was leaving to get something to eat because I couldn't eat anything there and that I would be back. While I was gone, someone swiped the swag and book that were at my seat. Every insecurity I've ever felt about being unwanted at social events came rushing forward, so I made my escape before tears started.
I woke up with a headache at 5am. At least my body let me sleep in an extra hour. But I think that had more to do with the small bit of rain that fell and knocked down the pollen a bit. After getting my coffee, I packed all of my bags and the two boxes of unsold books to be shipped back home.
After an excursion to FedEx to ship my books and a trip back to the Bazaar for a few more souvenirs, my new friend gave me a ride to the airport where I felt like my throat was going to either tear apart or close up. The lingering pollen and cigarette residue on everything was driving me insane. By the time I got on the plane, I was ready for the trip to be over.
The flight itself was relatively uneventful, but the Cleveland airport was a nightmare. We got in around 1am, and of course our plane got docked at THE FURTHEST terminal from baggage claim. My legs were already swollen and killing me from walking all over the place the last few days, plus the flight causing additional stress and swelling. And then I had to walk the ENTIRE length of the airport to get to my bags.
As for my bags? They were the last 2 unloaded to baggage claim and they stopped the conveyor belt as soon as my bags cleared the flap, so I had to fight my way around everyone else to get to my bags, breaking two nails in my attempt to lift them from a place they should have been clear of if they hadn't stopped the conveyor belt too soon.
Then, I had an even longer walk to the parking lot, during which I broke another nail and almost dropped my bags twice from the floor being uneven. By the time I finally got to the parking lot, I was nearly in tears. Halfway through, my bags got caught on a crack in the pavement and I nearly fell. I couldn't stop my bags from falling, so my backpack ended up in a puddle. No one stopped to look or help or anything while I struggled to get everything back upright and made my way to my car.
And on the way home, I almost ran out of gas and had to stop at a shady middle of nowhere gas station at 3 in the morning. All I wanted was to get home and get to bed, but the universe seemed determined to cause maximum damage.
All this time, my throat was on fire - having gotten worse during the flight.
For over a week after the event, I was sick with a sinus infection that morphed into an upper respiratory infection. Throughout all of this, I didn't spike a fever at all. What this tells me is that it was only allergies and my body trying to expell all of the crap that Vegas put into my body.
Looking back at the week and my time in Las Vegas, if you take away all of the crap revolving around the air trying to kill me, it was a fun event and week. I made some new friends and found some new readers. I had some new experiences and realized new things about myself.
Will I do it again? Absolutely.
Next time, I will be more prepared and know the questions to ask ahead of time to make sure I have what I need for accomodations. I can't blame the organizers for what they were unaware of. It was a very well run event. Honestly, if the air itself wasn't trying to kill me, I think my time would have been much more enjoyable.
As an author, I am NOT in support of the use of generative AI.
I have never used it. I WILL never use it.
Not for prompts. Not for searches. Not for outlines. Not for writing. Not for covers. Not for advertising.
I do not and will not support the use of generative artificial intelligence in any creative sphere.