Authors After Dark 2013 – Savannah, GA

Once again, I had a total blast at the Authors After Dark convention! This time it was held in the beautiful Savannah Marriott Riverfront Hotel.

Stella Price never ceases to amaze me how she and her band of helpers put together such a fun, amazing con and manage to raise funds for charity in the process. This year, the raffle baskets raised over $3700 for the Jasper Animal Rescue Mission.

Holly came with me, but unfortunately my mom was too busy working to come down to play very much this year. I’m hoping that she’ll be able to join the fun and games again in Charlotte.

I’m hiding the recap behind a break because there are so many pictures in this one. Click on the “more” tab to see the rest…

Ready for the recap? Here we go!

WEDNESDAY

Not really apropos of anything, but it was a pleasure to finally meet Kate Douglas (one of the other authors in the NOCTURNAL anthology) while hanging around the registration desk.

Wednesday was pre-registration and the Rednecks and Romance welcome event. I cracked up at the redneck wine glasses we were given. Immediately after that welcome event was the official welcome event, where Stella and her crew went over what we could expect, gave us a pile of books, and the Master of Ceremonies–Mary Janice Davidson–introduced herself and made us all pee ourselves laughing.

If you haven’t read MJ’s books, they are like paranormal versions of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. Hilarious, insouciant, and wonderful reads. I strongly recommend the Queen Betsy books (start with UNDEAD AND UNWED).

After the welcome, most of us drifted around socializing, though there was a chocolate party and some other stuff I didn’t attend. Sacrilege, I know.

That night was the ghost tour! Thanks to the hilarity and good humor of our tour guide, Nicodemus from Beyond Good and Evil Tours, we had a great time on the spooky, rain-soaked streets of Savannah after dark.

He seemed to know every last detail about the darker underbelly of Savannah’s murders and mysteries, even down to how much some of the haunted houses were selling for, but he managed to add a humorous twist to most of it that kept us all laughing and in good spirits. Plus I was in awe of his binder of photo evidence that he used to show us some grim details along the way.

I have more pics, but unfortunately they didn’t come out terribly well this time around. No new and exciting ghost material on camera, I’m afraid–but you can always review my AAD New Orleans recap if you want some creepy pics.

THURSDAY

Thursday was when the party really got started! For the newcomers to AAD, Torquere Press held a Cherry Popping Waffle Party for breakfast. I didn’t attend, but it was a great gesture on their part to include newbies in the festivities and make them feel welcome.

The day was packed with activities, tons of panels, and lots of parties. I spoke on my first two panels.

Zombies

(With Mary Janice Davidson, Lia Habel, Bianca D’Arc, Isabelle Drake, and Lexi George)

MJ discussed her fear of zombies, Lia talked about how one of her zombies found a way to remove his head and remotely direct his body around, and I had to stop there to make a “little head” joke because I’m just tasteless like that.

Vamps

(With Mary Janice Davidson, Joey W. Hill, Rebecca Zanetti, C.J. Ellisson, Lynn Rush, and Trinity Blacio)

After the zombies panel, we moved right into vampires! I think this one was one of the best, and it was completely packed with attendees.

Once the panels were over, we had open bar sponsored by Melissa Shroeder. It was a good time to kick back, relax, and get social.

That was followed by the Bookie Awards, and then my favorite part of the evening, the Magical Carnival Inflatables party!

The carnival had a little bit of everything. Face-painting, tarot/rune readings, cotton candy, *cough* the cock ring toss *cough*, and, my favorite, the giant, inflatable slide! Damn it, Delilah, I want a rematch race. *shakes fist*

FRIDAY

On Friday, I attended more panels than I sat on. Holly and I attended the panels on dragons, writing a series, and short stories. After that, I had two panels.

Humor in Romance

(With Mary Janice Davidson, Delilah Dawson, Sahara Kelly, Marne Ann Kirk, Julie Ann Walker, and Sidney Ayers)

It really was a blast. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of over-sharing, and good times were had by all.

Writing as a Team

(With Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine, Charlotte Steele, C.J. Ellison, Sahara Kelly, and Jayne Rylon)

This one was a little more laid back, and I’m sorry I didn’t get a pic of this one, but we had some interesting discussions about what it’s like to work with a partner when writing a story and all of the logistics involved.

Right after the panels, I rushed in to the Blogger Swag Party, and in and out a few times to bring in more stuff. I wasn’t expecting so many bloggers to attend or I would have brought more stuff. *g*

After that, I learned some new words in BDSM Bingo. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.

Then it was time to get ready, and join C.J. Ellisson and friends for their pre-party. Drinks, chips, games, hilarity–it was fabulous, and a great way to kick off the evening. Oh, and if you were there, DO NOT REVEAL MY SECRETS.

Next was the Vampire Ball!

I was one of the sponsors. I put together a basket which was shared among the people who sat at my table with me (too hard to pick just one person, I swear).

The Ball itself was a blast, and I hope everyone had a good time! There was dinner, dancing, and a costume contest.

SATURDAY

Saturday was pretty quiet for me for the beginning of the day. I went out to breakfast with Holly and my mom and a few other friends, then went back to my room to read for a while. Saturday was basically “YA day” which isn’t really my thing, but there were lots of activities for the people who do enjoy YA books.

It was also the day of the big book signing open to the public. I am humbled and astounded at how many people came to see me to get books, T-shirts, and other swag signed, and to buy copies of my work. For all who did, THANK YOU! It means more to me than you know to get that kind of support.

After the book signing, we had a big ice cream party in the atrium sponsored by Samhain Publishing. I grabbed some for myself and my mom, then hung out with her and read some more in my room.

At the end of the night we had another pre-party in CJ’s room.

Then there was dinner and the Elemental Ball. I didn’t really dress up for this one, but I loved the costumes!

SUNDAY

Sunday was the farewell event in the morning, and the drawing of the raffle tickets for the charity baskets. I usually do a raffle basket, but with all of the stuff I had to bring for my centerpiece for the charity ball and for the blogger swag party, I didn’t have any room left in my suitcase. Next year I’ll have something fun.

A few random pictures that didn’t make it into the post above:

I’ll do a separate post with pictures from the road trip my mom and I took to get from/to Florida to/from Georgia. You know you’re not ready for this.

To all of my lovely friends, old and new, I had a blast hanging out with you, and I hope to see you all at AAD in Charlotte, NC in 2014!

Oh, hey, did you think I was done? It’s giveaway time! For those who couldn’t make it to Authors After Dark, I have a bag full of books and goodies I brought back with me from Savannah–just for you! Sorry, this giveaway us U.S. only. Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway