It's Our Party And We'll Rock If We Want To!

When people think of the GayRomLit Retreat they think of great books, great authors and a chance to talk about a genre that tends to grab hold of readers and never EVER lets go. Us ladies here at The LL Word got all of that and much more when we went to Albuquerque for GRL 2012. The weekend was amazing, not only did it meet our expectations but totally exceeded them. Since LA had gone to the first GRL in New Orleans we were lookin forward the activites, but mostly  we expected it to be a weekend to see friends we don't get to see nearly enough, put faces to the names of people we'd gotten to know online, and connect with new people who we now call friends.

From the first event at the which was the opening ceremony we knew that this year would be something special. After the opening words of the ALWAYS amazing Ethan Day,  JP Bowie another one of the fabulous event organizers stood up and read some touching words regarding the passing of authour William Neale. He later asked  us to take a look around and see our family in that room. This people that we share this enormous passion with were there with us and that is what it felt like... like family. We were in this room because we shared a strong love for stories of men who get to live their happy ending. ALL OF US not just the people we came with, but also those that we added during the weekend even those we didn't get a chance to talk to,or those that we might know online but had differences with...We were there together to celebrate these stories. The entire weeked had an aura,  of acceptance and love and HAVING FUN. There really is nothing like arriving at a place where everyone will just accept you for who you are, no questions, no judgement, so many people during that weekend said to us GRL was their chance to just BE.

                               From the top left: Tina, LA, Cole, Sadonna, Snow
                                                                  and Laddie

                         From the Left: Tina, Cole, Sadonna, Laddie and LA
                    At Club Effex in Albuquerque after seeing "My Big Gay Undead Wedding"

                                          

Thanks to our friend, the awesome and adorable Steph (Snowtulip on Goodreads), we were able to hear about a cabaret show that was being put on by the New Mexico Men's Chorus Group at Club Effex in downtown Albuquerque. The show "My Big Fat Undead Gay Wedding" was a highlight of our weekend.

The show was fantastic and showcased the talent of a group of fabulous Out and Proud gay men from that lovely city. Laddie was especially happy to hear the fantastic performance of "Who Wants To Live Forever" by Queen. Both of us loved the strong and emotional rendition of "Creep" by Radiohead. Bel the video we took of that performance.

                                         

From Left: Ethan Day, LA and Geoff Knight

 Some of the best moments for us were going to the readings of some of our favorites authors like Amy Lane, Ethan Day, and the very animated Jet Mykles. Meeting them was also a great treat. Laura had her fangirl moment when meeting Amy Lane while Laddie just about died when she met AKM Miles. We both got to meet were Aleksandr Voinov (an amazing surprise) who was the sweetest man and Val Kovalin who are way up high on Laddie to-read list and two of Laura's favorite authors.

We also met fellow bloggers like Chris from Stumbling Over Chaos and the LOVELY Julie from Joyfully Jay two fantastic ladies with whom we had some of the most fun moments of the retreat. The authors that we met and LOVED are too many to name so we'll just mention a few...Margarite Labbe, ZA Maxfield, Eric Arvin, TA Chase, KC Burn, Abigail Roux, Kate McMurray, Heidi Cullinan, Marie Sexton, Geoffrey Knight, Isabelle Rowan, Tara Lain...All wonderful and fun. We loved meeting you all.

                         LA and Amy Lane she didn't cry but it was a close call!

One thing that was awesome about GRL was that no matter what differences we may have had with some authors and readers online the aura and attitude of the weekend was completely friendly and welcoming. We really think that says something about the people who love the M/M Romance genre and how amazing they are.

So, where is GRL 2013 happening? Atlanta, Georgia. That's right, Hotlanta baby!! We are looking forward to seeing older friends, newer friends and a whole bunch of amazing authors in the hot, hot south next year. Will you be there? We certainly hope so!

                          From the left: Margarite Labbe, Julie, LA, HC, Gyn and Leigh.

Before ending this post we just want to say how proud we are to belong to this amazing community of people and we COMPLETELY want to express our absulte most heartfelt THANK YOU to the organizers of this event...We could never tell you in enough words what being able to gather with all of our friends means to us. Here's to a year of fabulous books and to talking all about them at GRL 2013!

                 Gyn, Tina, Julie, LA, Leigh and Alexander...Our last night. It was a good one.

-The LLadies