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