Romanticon: Friday Evening

Romanticon Day 1 started on Friday at 5:00 am with a strident alarm from my digital clock. After hiding my head under the pillows for a moment, I shook myself and walked groggily to the shower. I really didn’t want to miss my early flight. I read and napped during the flight, changed planes in Charleston, NC, and arrived around 1:30 pm in Cleveland.

At the baggage claim, I collected my suitcase and donned my heavy jacket, while wondering if I would be able to locate my pre-reserved limousine’s driver. Just then I saw a man in suit walking by with a sign that said Romanticon. Before I could say anything he asked if I was Mona Risk. God bless him. My first worry vanished when he informed me that two friends were waiting for me outside. I hugged Judith Rochelle and recognized Rita Thedford. Big hugs again. Our driver Greg was the perfect gentleman and promised to be on time to pick us up on Monday morning for the return flight.


I checked in and unpacked. My roommate Betty Hanawa hadn’t arrived yet. I went to register and met my wonderful editor Helen Woodall who flew all the way from Melbourne, Australia, for the conference. Helen was as lovely and nice as her emails suggested. Of course, her nails were painted in green and she wore a frog ring. She handed me my Romanticon bag loaded with books from Ellora’s Cave and Cerridwen Press books, and a special gift from The Lotus Club. Martha Punches who was handling the registration with Helen received my special hug.











If you have never attended a workshop by Raelene Gorlinsky you’ve missed the crème de la crème. She had the chairs arranged as a big rectangle so that the attendees could all face each other and actively participate in the workshop. The first one I attended was: Act It Out, where she had volunteers act some weird scenes from rejected manuscripts to show what was wrong with the writing. During another workshop, So You Want to Be An Author? published authors were asked to share their experience and advise aspiring authors. In Tell Us what You Think? Readers told authors what genre they like to read. Another interesting workshop was Promo Items by Marianne Stevens, Anny Cook and Judy Atkin.

A Reviewers Panel, Joysann (Publishers Weekly), Chrissy Dionne (Romance Junkies) Sheila Gallagher (Two Lips Reviews), Mimi Tremont (IMRR), and Moderator EC Editor Helen Woodall. The reviewers told us how they review a book and how the review should be received (never take it personally).

About 200 people, women and a few brave husbands dressed in their best 60 and 70ish outfits for a fun soiree of music and dance with the Cavemen ( Ellors’s Cave models).


Kelly Kirch,
Anny Cook,
Joanna Waugh,
Helen Woodall








Mona Risk,
Betty Hanawa

Marianne Stevens



Stay tune for more on Romanticon: Saturday on tomorrow’s blog.


If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.