Great News

For those of you who didn't hear my shrieking (I can't imagine there's anyone in the northern hemisphere who missed it :) Darkness Unleashed debuted #24 on the New York Times Bestseller list and #120 on the USA Today Bestseller list. I have to admit I'm still buzzing with excitement since I never truly dreamed this would happen. My writing career has been far more the lesson of the tortoise than the hare. It took almost ten years of submitting to to publishers before I sold my first book. It took another five years to move from the short, sweet regencies into the more mainstream historicals. Then came the paranormals and five books to reach the bestseller lists. I hope that those who dream of one day seeing their writing published will take heart from my story and realize that for every writer who is an overnight sensation there are far more of us who have stood in the trenches, writing and perfecting our craft for years before ever being given an opportunity. And most of all, I hope I can inspire others to put aside their fear of failure and go for their goals, whatever they may be. I have stacks and stacks and stacks of rejection letters, some of them assuring me that I am a talentless hack that should keep my day job, but I never let them take my dream. Don't let them take yours either. Just go for it :) Happy Thanksgiving to All! Alex

AAD blog hunt winners!

Ok.. we had some great entries, and we have 2 winners! Jennifer Mathis Afshan So congrats! But guess what? We have another wild card winner. they wont get as much stuff, but they do win some goodies! Mortal Sinn So congrats and email me at blueflamesabove@yahoo.com with your address and I shall be sending you goodies in a week or two.

Mixing Things Up...

Dragons are perhaps my favorite characters to write. Why? They're playful, smart, strong and sort of mysterious. At least my dragons are. Then there are the dragon shapeshifters. My dragon princes are half human/half dragon. They've got all the cunning and power of the dragon and Alpha maleness to the Nth degree. Hubba hubba. ;-) As it happens, I have a new dragon book coming out in ebook formats on the 17th. It's called DRAGON STORM and it's not only a fantastical visit to my dragon world, but it's also a dimension-travel tale that brings twin dragon princes to our modern world where they meet their destined mate (yes, it's a very naughty menage!) and bring her back to their medieval-ish world. Yes, I'm really mixing it up in this book! It will be in print from Samhain Publishing sometime next year. But I've got something even more daring coming at the end of next month. Zombies. Yep, I said zombies! Not a word you'd normally associate with romance, but like I said, I really like to mix things up. ;-) I'll post more about it next time, but keep an eye out for a duology called HALF PAST DEAD from Kensington Brava. It's my first-ever release from a big "NY" publisher and it contains the novella that will launch a series of military paranormal romances I'm calling Guardians of the Dark. The first novel in the series will release in March, titled ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD. The heroes in the series are all special ops military dudes and their task is to fight the zombies alongside some cool women who come into their lives. The heroine of the first novella is a Navy doctor. The heroine of the first novel is a county cop. There will be at least three more of these stories - one more novella that will release later in 2010 and two more novels. Zombies may not sound sexy, but believe me, the men who fight them are super hot. *fanning self* When I was asked to write about zombies, my first thought was "Huh?" But then I thought about it a bit and I realized it was the next logical step for the paranormal genre. It pushes the boundaries, which is something I'm used to doing and it was definitely a challenge. Hopefully you'll like the mix of menacing zombies and heroic protagonists who are tasked with saving us all. I wouldn't call these books "horror" but they definitely have some suspenseful moments here and there, in between a whole lotta romance. I can't wait to hear what you all think of not only the zombies, but my latest dragon adventure. Have I gone too far mixing things up yet? LOL.

1,2,3 GO! The Blog hunt is ON!

The AAD blog hunt is underway! So how do you win the goodie bag filled with AAD stuff? Simple. Visit the following blogs and answer this question for each blog: What is (authors name)'s AAD blogpost about? Send your full list to info@authorsafterdark.net before the 10th of November. Please note, ONLY FULL AND COMPLETE LISTS WILL BE COUNTED TO WIN. Jacquelyn Frank Sunny Joey W. Hill Stella and Audra Price Bianca D'Arc Rosemary Laurey Jennifer Armintrout Madeline Oh Georgia Evans Mechele Armstrong Samantha Sommersby Cat Johnson Cathy Clamp Eliza Gayle Diana Castilleja Leigh Ellwood Tilly Greene (posting Nov. 6th) Selena Illyria Stephanie Julian Judi Fennell Kayleigh Jamison Linda Mooney Mima Teresa Noelle Roberts JoLynne Valerie Only the BOLD names will have blogs. Now for the disclaimer: Contest open to US residents ONLY. Sorry guys but I'm not sending stuff overseas! Good Luck to everyone and come and see all the awesomeness for yourself next year! Details for next years event will be made public very soon!

Holiday Season!!!!!!

It's started!!!!! Yes, I get a little excited by the holidays. I actually consider the holiday season to start on Halloween. So...yay!!!! I'm also really excited because my holiday season, for the first time in three years, isn't packed with deadlines. Oh, I have stuff to do -- I have a novella proposal to write up, a Sydney Croft book to write, and revisions to work on for the fifth Demonica novel, but I don't have anything actually due between now and Christmas. So I'm TOTALLY going to enjoy these next two months. What about you? Are your holidays looking to be crazy, or do you have a little breathing room?

A fantastic weekend and an amazing contest coming!

Hey All! The AAD weekend was a rousing success. All the authors and readers had a fantastic time, and the food was great too. Sadly, Jacki missed much of the weekend, but on the upswing, we are going to have AAD again next year! So all shall be redeemed! I'm sure you are going to see lots of pictures of the weekend if you havent already, and I bet your all envious about the goodies that were given out. What? you dont know what they were? Well Attendees received at least 6-8 free books from Dorchester, Tease Publishing, Jacki Frank, Changeling Press and others, goodies bags, wax lips, a tshirt, a pocket mirror from Tease Publishing, lots of promo goodies, a cooler from Phaze books, and Ooh yeah over 5000$ in door prizes were give away this weekend too! So we decided, why not let the ones that stayed home win something, and get pumped for next year? Well... Starting November 5th, you will get your chance! On November 5th, there will be a post on this blog with the blog homes of almost all the authors involved in this years AAD weekend. To win a prize, simply visit the blogs, read the blogs, and then answer this question for each blog: "What did (insert authors name here) blog about for the AAD weekend?" We will be posting the email address to send these answers to on the 5th as well. PLEASE put all answers into ONE email. You are only elligible to win if you have a answer for EVERY author on the list, no partial lists will win. So what do you win? How about a welcome bag filled with stuff from the event? And guess what? we have 5 of these bags to give away, though sadly, they wont have everything give away at the event. If you would like that, you need to come to the event next year in September, LOL. So who is excited for the 5th! the Blog hunt will be on!

Authors After Dark Weekend was awesome!

My day to blog and i've literally just walked in the door from the fabulous Authors After Dark weekend. Stella did an amazing job and I think everyone had a really great time! I know I did. I arrived on Friday just in time for the Pantheon mini event, which was the perfect opportunity to reconnect with old friends and start meeting new people. After the mini event we took to the ballroom for a very nice cocktail party and everyone got to ooh and ahh over the raffle baskets. I love that part. :) Before you knew it, it was time to change into our PJ's for the ice cream social. Immediately I was already falling in love with the festive and casual vibe of the conference. I wore Halloween themed PJ's and even brought my stuffed bear Licorice. Saturday was busy with standing room only panels about vamps, witches and faeries. The readers had lots of great questions and I loved being on the elemental panel and sitting next to Joey W. Hill. The signing went well with many readers picking up the Pentacles of Magick series and the Pantheon anthology. Saturday night was dinner and the masquerade party. Many attendees went all out with costumes and again the party was fabulous. Carol, a fantastic reader and aspiring author did an outstanding job as usual on her costume as Jane Austin, Vampire. She inspires me every conference with her creations. Sunday we enjoyed a hearty breakfast (again, Stella did a great job with all aspects of the weekend and the meals were wonderful) while the tickets were drawn for the raffle baskets. Alas I did not win the Joey W. Hill or Mark Henry baskets I so desperately wanted, lots of folks took home incredible goodies. The last panel of the weekend was a combination of the shifters and demon panels because we went over on time for the raffle but the casual semi circle of amazing authors was great. I'm always impressed with the beautiful and elegant Sunny, and Rosemary Laurey entertained readers with tidbits about a golden cock in one of her books. My plans to tweet the event live got thwarted a few times by my stinky cellular provider when I kept getting error messages when I hit send. I still managed to get quite a few pics up over the weekend and you can see those on either my Twitter or Facebook page. I'm already looking forward to next year and as soon as the official dates are announced, i'll be adding it to my "must attend" calendar. Will we see you next year? I sure hope so. On a completely different note, in the last month i've had a new paranormal release. Obsession of Jayde from Loose Id. Here's the blurb: When Jayde returns to Hickory Falls to settle her grandmother’s estate she finds a mystery and a destiny she's not sure she wants. It starts with an antique puzzle box with a necklace and a note that only says Beware of the Obsession. It also includes a bakery everyone is anxious to see reopened despite her inability to cook, and a pair of hunky, too-good-to-be-true tenants living in the same building. Marc and Anthony are lovers waiting on their third to complete them, the Guardian they have sworn to protect. When Jayde finally arrives they are anxious to get her into their bed…until they see the necklace around her neck. It serves a powerful warning to them -- and to her if she knows what it means. Now they have to take things slow, seducing her before they reveal the duty she has been called for. When the Guardian denies her calling, the protectors will do anything in their power to convince her, but in the end it has to be her choice. Free will is a bitch, but so is their obsession with Jayde. Read more here Take care, Eliza