This past weekend's ApollyCon was my first time going since it debuted in 2015 and wow – it's certainly gotten bigger and more awesome. For those of you who don't know, ApollyCon is an annual three day conference featuring Young Adult, New Adult and Romance authors and is 100% sponsored by Jennifer L. Armentrout (aka one of my favorite authors ever). There's signings, panels and all sorts of other fun events that let you hang out with bookish friends and mingle with authors you adore. The first time I went it was mainly to see JLA because I'm such a super fan but in the last two years, I've gotten involved as a designer and did all their badges, banners and much, much more. So when Steph and Hannah (the two lovely ladies who organize this extravaganza) invited me to go this year for free, I couldn't pass up the chance. Especially when my dear friends Alexa and DJ said they wanted to go to, I knew we could make a really fun weekend of it and that's exactly what happened.
Day 1
Very, very early Friday morning I met up with Alexa and DJ at New York Penn Station to take the train to DC. It had been years since I had gone to DC or even ridden on Amtrak but I happen to think it's a lot of fun. One, I don't have to drive. Two, if you get your tickets early enough it's surprisingly cheap. And three, napping, reading and chatting with friends is a great way to pass a 3.5 hour train ride.
It honestly felt like we arrived in no time and immediately headed to the hotel/venue for the conference. We grabbed a quick lunch, dropped off our luggage and picked up our badges to get started with the signing. It was so cool to walk around and see everything I had designed in real life.
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| top left photo c/o DJ • look at my badge! |
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| I saw JLA and Sarah on Day 2 but their photos worked best in this collage |
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| First row is Jaleo and second row is Bayou Bakery |
Day 2
The next morning, we woke up bright and early to get breakfast at Bayou Bakery. If you are ever in the area, I can't recommend this place enough. It has a really cozy setting and the food was A+. We got beignets (!), grits with cheese and bacon (!!) and cafes au lait.Then it was back to ApollyCon for Day 2. Our badges let us bypass the long lines (thank goodness!) and we got to see JLA, Cora Carmack (I told her how excited I am for the next book in Stormheart) and Sarah J. Maas. All three were super nice and as always, Sarah continues to be one of the kindest authors I've ever encountered. I just adore her. Once we got our books signed and shopped at Book Beau, we decided it was time to do a little bit of sightseeing.
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| Our best Apollycon photo was taken in the well-lit lobby. Note to all coordinators: why is the lighting at bookish events always so bad?! |
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| I could take a dozen photos of the Reflecting Pool (oh wait) • how I love these two |
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| DJ takes the best photos! I really like my hair in this one, lol. |
Afterwards we got lunch, grabbed our things and headed to Union Station to go back home. The two days went by so quickly and I 100% attribute that to all the fun I was having with Alexa and DJ. I'm already looking forward to going to ApollyCon again next year with these two!
Some of the books I got signed and my new Kindle Book Beau
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Were you at Apollycon this year?
I hope you had just as much fun as I did!
I love that going to ApollyCon has definitely become an annual tradition for you and DJ and I! It's so much fun to travel down together, and to see some of our favorite authors too <3
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