Thursday at the Orlando Reads Books Convention in Altamonte Springs, FL focused on writer workshops. Friday morning had several more workshops, followed by lunch with sandwiches, pasta salad, chips and cookies in the ballroom. After this meal came a Mastermind session where authors could ask questions of industry guests.

Friday night was a Masquerade VIP Reader and Author Dinner. Many attendees wore costumes and/or masks, but others did not. Some authors had reserved tables to sit with their fans. Otherwise, you could sit wherever you wanted. Dinner was a salad, chicken with sides, and cheesecake. I sat with author Corinne Kenner and her husband. Since the dinner started at 8:00 pm and I was commuting, I left early.

Saturday morning had a Book Panel with Elite Authors, a Reader Café for New Releases only; and then Author-Reader Speed Dating. For the speed dating, authors were assigned tables. Our table had six authors and four empty seats. There was little guidance as to how this was supposed to work except someone in charge yelled out every five minutes that it was time for readers to switch tables. We each gave our spiel, and I handed out postcards. It was a good way to meet readers but it would have been better with fewer authors per table and more readers. Also, the moderator could have used a whistle or bell to sound the time.

The Book Fair was Saturday afternoon. I shared a table with cozy author Natalie Palma. Saturday night was a pajama party, but I did not attend.

Note that this hotel was warm, not chilly like other places. But it was also undergoing remodeling with some doors left open to the hot air.

Here are authors JoMarie DeGioia and Jessica Baker:

Coming Next: Writers Workshops

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