Blogger announcement

Ahoy everyone!

Ok so we had 20 bloggers sign up and as of RIGHT now, I only have room for 12 for the blogger bags. These will be special bags of books that will be given out. Now Why only 12? because they will have ARC's and special edition stuff from the publishers, and the most I can assure getting from them right now is a dozen. Now, in the event that I CAN get more stuff, I will be adding more. As of now the Bloggers not chosen in the below list (and they were chosen using random.org) are the ONLY ones that will be offered blogger spots should spots open up.

ALL those that have registered as Bloggers will be able to participate in the blogger programming, and parties, but unfortunately, I cant guarantee ARC's to anyone but these 12:

Lillie H
Lady Grace
Qwill
Ali (Simply Ali)
Robin K
Jojo (Jojo's book corner)
Mandi (Smexy Books)
Tigris Eden
Bells
Larissa (Larissa's Life)
Minxy (loose knickers)
Sarah (Sarah's reviews)

So congrats, and We are building an AMAZING track of programing for you all! I cant wait to talk about it!

Thanks guys!

Registration information: PLEASE READ!

Hey all.

So Pay pal is being a big old dirty bum and isnt letting me use the new account we set up for AAD till they figure some stuff out. That doesnt mean Im not opening registration. But it does mean that you guys cant pay for it yet. So this is how we are going to do it.

At NOON EASTERN TIME I will be opening the registration form on the website. This will ensure everyone doesnt grab the pitchforks and call for my blood and a good hanging tomorrow afternoon. Honestly I dont look good in rope.

The second Pay Pal lets me use the damn account, I will be emailing everyone that registers to revisit the site, and click the pay pal button. The you will be able to pay for it. I'm sorry about the 2 time visit to the registration page, but at this point its the only way I can do it.

I believe that the hotel will be open as well tomorrow, so check that as well! Don't forget, get your registrations in ASAP, to make sure you have a room available. (wouldnt it be awesome if we sold out of our roomblock????!)

For those that dont know, AAD is doing this year without a backer, which means that we had to open all new accounts and such, as well as incorporate as a NFP (Not for Profit). This is the reason why its been so hard to get everything done. Now in the long run this is an amazing thing, and we still are committed to making this the cheapest event in romance fandom.

So I know you are ready to rock (cuz I am!) Tomorrow starts the insanity!

Big AAD news!!!!

Ok guys!

Well its Friday, the website is loading up so you can see all the awesome goodness that we have in store (well the beginnings of it, I swear theres lots being figured out as we speak!) but i wanted to give you guys the big big news!

We have a new Master of Ceremonies for AAD this year and we are all tickled pink to have the ever lovely and talented LARISSA IONE!!!! Yes I know! Totally excited here, especially because this will also be Larissa's first AAD and shes up for a BUNCH of awards in the Bookies!

Now... on to more awesome news...

We were told this morning that BORDERS will be out bookseller this year! Very excited, especially because the BORDERS closest to the hotel is all of 2 blocks away! This is very advantageous to everyone!

The Authors After Dark Website is up and running, and I have a date for registration and room reservations to open: NOVEMBER 10th! And just an FYI, the hotel told me to make the attendees aware of the fact that they normally sell out of saturdays, and WILL dip into our room block if they have to.

So who is excited? I'm so excited! Ok off to get some work done!

Website, updates and registration info

Hey All!

Sorry I have been quiet on this end, pertaining to AAD info, but I have some right now I wanted to get out to all of you. So shall I?

The AAD website will hopefully be up by the 5th. Why the wait? I'm making sure we get all the info on it and its up to date. We have some awesome things involved this year, and there's a lot of stuff to add in, so I'm making sure its perfect.

AAD Registration opens on November 10th. Excited? I bet you are! I know I'm really excited to see all the new amazing authors and attendees that are planning on joining us this year! So for those that have sent me emails with questions, allow me to address them here:

YES: we will have writing workshops set up for authors, run by some of the best authors out there today including Zoe Archer, Allie Boniface, C.J. Henderson, and Tilly Greene so far, so Check out the AUTHORS CORNER page for updates!

YES: We will have 2 nighttime parties, A Mythos Masquerade and the Steampunk Ball. Both will follow dinners and will run several hours.

YES: We will have special events this year that will be 'Ticketed'. This means that there is a limited number of people able to attend these events, so those that are really interested will buy a ticket, and ALL PROCEEDS from these events will go to the charities this year.

YES: WE will have a tattoo artist attending again this year, 2 actually, and will have a full roster of vendors in our After Dark Bazaar! Bath and body, jewelry, clothing, handbags... I will be posting about the finalized count in a few months!

YES: we will have agent and editor appointments this year, though limited. More on that as we get closer, Appointment registration opens June 15th.

YES: there will be a complete Blogger track this year, including workshops, panels, meet and greets and some special surprises! We have to limit our blogger list this year to 10-12, (because we want to ensure they receive the best ARC's and goodies available.) Blogger Hopefuls will be screened (blog checked out) and notified if they made the top 10. This is not us vetting one person over another, its simply first come first serve.

YES: there WILL be a charity basket room this year. Authors are encouraged to donate baskets and books, to help us raise money for some most deserving charities! If your an author (or publisher) looking to donate, PLEASE contact me ASAP so I can get your name on the website.

Panels will run like normal, 50 minute events, and a full list will be up soon on what we plan to offer this year! AAD 2010 had some of the best attended panels I have seen all year (And I did 20 cons this year!) So I'm hoping to duplicate that for 2011!

And last but not least... The BOOKIE AWARDS! Yes, I know a lot of you are excited about this event, and the possiblity of winning a READER NOMINATED award, the ONLY READER NOMINATED awards in Romance Fandom! I know Im excited, and Im flattered we were even nominated for anything. Im in some of the best company I could ever hope for, and I know that whoever wins this inaugural year, will be tickled beyond Tickled! Voting begins November 20th ON THE WEBSITE on the Bookie Awards Page. We will have a running list of presenters going up as they come forward and agree to it. Ooh so whats the Bookie awards? What does all women love? No, not chocolate (well maybe, lol)... Jewelry! Yes this year's Bookies will have Jewelry for the award, a wonderful certificate, and that chocolate could be in the mix too...

Excited? I know I am... So... Stay tuned! It all starts happening in a few days!

Bookie Awards Nominations!

Hello all!

I'mhome from my week in SC and low and behold, I actually WORKED while I was there, Surprise Surprise! So as Convention Director for the AAD event, Im happy to present to you all the nominations for 41 of the 45 categories for the first annual bookie awards! Now the Bookies from this moment onwards will be handled by our Bookie Awards staff, both are readers and attendees and have agreed to give their time to make this a fair and impartial ballot.

This year, because of lack of nominations, we have omitted 4 categories. That could change in the future. Also, Any partial nominations (title without an author) were not counted. Voting begins in November, so shall we... get to the good part? Ok then...

Anthology of the Year:
Haunted by Your Touch by: Jeaniene Frost, Shayla Black, and Sharie Kohler
Nocturnal - Jacquelyn Frank, Kate Douglas, Jess Haines, Claire Willis
Four Play by Maya Banks and Shayla Black
Nauti & WIld - Lora Leigh & Jaci Burton
Wasteland Series by bradley, Alexander,Fiesty and Jordan
Laced with Desire, Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill, and Denise Rossetti
Burning Up by Angela Knight, Nalini Singh, Virginia Kantra, and Meljean Brook

Author of the Year:
Kresley Cole
Joey W. Hill
Bridget Midway
Andrea Creamer
Jacquelyn Frank
Shelly Laurenston
Larissa Ione
Jeaniene Frost

Author website of the year:
Joey Hill
Julie Garwood
Bianca D'arc
Jane Porter
Maya Banks
Sherilyn Kenyon

BDSM short story:
Trusting St. Nick by Yvette Hines
Honor Bound, Joey W. Hill
Handcuffs and Headlocks by Kim Dare

Biggest Friend to Romance:
Joy Harris
Courtney Milan
Sarah Wendell
Stella Price
Susan Grimshaw

Best Shifter short story:
Vampire in the basement, Susan Hanniford Crowley
The Wolf Within by Mandy Monroe
Flirt, Laurell K. Hamilton
A gift of Daybreak, Stella and Audra Price

Blog of the Year:
Larissa's Life
Smexy Books
bibliophilic book blog
Smart Bitches Trashy Books
Story Witch (joey W Hill)
JoJos Bookcorner
Novel Thoughts
Wicked Lil Pixie

Contemporary short story:
A Damsel Without A Dress by Rita Sawyer
Unstoppable - Laura Griffin
Stupendously Blind by Tonya Ramagos

Cross Genre Novel:
Warrior, Zoe Archer
Dead in the Family by: Charlaine Harris
Tempting the Fire by Sydney Croft
Sacrifce by Dakota Banks
Slave To Pleasure, Eliza Gayle
Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh
The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker - Leanna Renee Hieber
The Wolf Next Door by Lydia Dare

Debut Author:
Kelly Creagh
Jack Greene
Erica HAYES
Jess Haines
Lydia Dare
Gini Koch
Sonya Bateman

Demon Novel:
Demon from the Dark, Kresley Cole
Sin Undone by Larissa Ione
Fearless Love by Stacey Espino
Original Sin - Allison Brennan
Ectasy Unveiled - Larissa Ione
Devil's Playground by Jenna Black

Demon short story:
The Darkest Angel Gina Showalter
Crystal Dreams - Kate Douglas
Demon Scorned by S.K. Yule

Ebook only Novel:
Nisey's Awakening by Dakota Trace
Table for three/Lainy reese,
Slave To Pleasure, Eliza Gayle
Beyond Eden by Kele Moon
Conquering India - Melissa Schroeder
Where the Rain is Made, by Keta Diablo
Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

E Book only short story:
A Slave to Her Passions by: Jessica Coulter Smith
One wicked night/ heather boyd
Taken by Tarot, Eliza Gayle
Shaken by Dee Tenorio,

Erotic Romance Novel:
Rampant by: Saskia Walker
Branded Sanctuary by Joey W. Hill
Vampire Trinity, Joey W Hill
Dane by Elizabeth Amber
Casual Fridays by Bridget Midway
The Bid - Jax
Starlight Rite by Cherise Sinclair
Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas
Wicked Enchantment by Anya Bast

Erotic short story:
Making the Man by Yvette Hines
One wicked night/Heather Boyd
Aloha Kaua by Jenna Byrnes

Erotica Novel:
Rampant by: Saskia Walker
Branded Sanctuary by Joey W. Hill
Vampire Trinity, Joey W Hill
A Table for three / lainy reese
Double Punch - Tilly Greene
Naked by Megan Hart

Fantasy Novel:
Shalador's Lady by: Anne Bishop
Born of Ice by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Last Dragon Standing G.A. Aiken
Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh
Catch of a Lifetime - Judi Fennell
The Barbarian Prince by Michelle M Pillow
Enemy Lover, Karin Harlow
Double Cross by Carolyn Crane
Wicked Enchantment Anya Bast

Fantasy short story:
Here There Be Monsters, Meljean Brook
Poseidon's Catch, Susan Hanniford Crowley
Bilss, Cat Johnson
Cyras Cyclopses Tilly greene,
Seriana Found by Marie Harte

Historical Romance Novel:
Blameless, Gail carriger
Sinful- Charlotte Featherstone
Much Ado About Marriage by Karen Hawkins
Captive Sin/ anna campbell
The Firebrand - Susan Wiggs
A Hellion in Her Bed by Sabrina Jeffries
Forbidden Highlander, Donna Grant

Lifetime Achievement Award:
L.A. Banks
Diana Gabaldon
Laurell K. Hamilton
Christine Feehan
Lora Leigh
KM Moning
Sherrilyn Kenyon

GLBT: M/M Novel:
Vampire Trinity, Joey W. Hill
And Call Me In The Morning Willa Okati
Devlin and Garrick by Cameron Dane
State of Mind, by Libby Drew
Fair Game by Josh Lanyon

MC/IR Novel:
Corporate Needs by Bridget Midway
Dog Sled Selena Illyria
Sensual Confessions (Madaris Family) - Brenda Jackson
The Better to Eat You With by Lena Matthews

Most Accessible Author:
Joey W. Hill
Gini Koch
Bridget Midway
Nicole Peeler
Christina Dodd
Jacquelyn Frank
Stella and Audra Price
Nikki Duncan
Caridad Pineiro
Larissa Ione

Online Community of the year:
Joey Hill Fan Forum
Interracial Multicultural Romance Readers
Romance Divas
All About Romance
Midnight Breeds Forum

Paranormal Menage:
Vampire Mistress, Joey W. Hill
Vampire Trinity by Joey W. Hill
Fearless Desire by Stacey Espino
Embraced By Passion Diana DeRicci
Perfection by Kris Cook
Moonlight Menage, Stephanie Julian
Whirlpool by Vivian Arend

Paranormal short Story:
Flirt, Laurell K. Hamilton
The Phoenix Project - Jacquelyn Frank
A Demon's Kiss by Sable Grey
You Burn Me, by Stella and Audra Price

Publisher of the year:
Pocket
Phaze Books
Harper Collins
Ellora's Cave Publishing
Purple Sword Publishing
Tease Publishing LLC
Penguin Group
Kensington
Samhain Publishing

Reader voted star of tomorrow:
Stella and Audra Price
Yvette Hines
Leanna Renee Hieber
Leah Brooke
Lara Adrian
Gini Koch
Anya Bast

Romantic Suspense Novel:
Healer's Choice, Jory Strong
Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden
After Dark - Beverly Barton
The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks
StormWalker, by Allyson James
Bring On The Night by Jeri Smith-Ready
Skin Tight by Ava Gray

Scifi Novel:
Touched By An Alien by: Gini Koch
Cryoburn, Lois McMaster Bujold
Runner's Moon: Challah Linda Mooney
Alien Revealed by Lilly Cain
Skin Tight by Ava Gray

Series:
IAD, Kresley Cole
Sweet Series by: Maya Banks
Vampire Queen Series by Joey W. Hill
Guild Hunter by Nalini Singh
Dreamlight Trilogy - Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle/ Amanda Quick
Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J.R. Ward
Demonica Series by Larissa Ione

Shifter Non Wolf Novel:
Entwined by Fate- S.A Price
Eat, Prey, Love by: Kerrelyn Sparks
No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Healer's Choice by Jory Strong
Naked Dragon by Annette Blair
Bear Necessities Dana Marie Bell
Wildfire - Christine Feehan
Twin Spirits by Mary Winter
Beast Behaving Badly - Shelly Laurenston
Eternal Hunter, by Cynthia Eden
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister

Single Author anthology:
Bedtime Stories by: Jean Johnson
Tales of the Otherworld Kelley Armstrong
Tempted - Lori Foster
Men Times Three - Bonnie Edwards

Steampunk Novel:
The Iron Duke - Meljean Brook
Steamed by: Katie MacAlister
Blameless by Gail Carriger
Dreadnought, Cherie Priest

Steampunk Short story:
Love in a Time of Steam, Elizabeth Darvill
Here There Be Monsters, Meljean Brook

Vampire Novel:
Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian
Her Vampire Husband - Michele Hauf
I'll be slaying you, by cynthia eden,
Lover Mine by JR Ward
Enemy Lover by Karin Harlow
His Redeemer's Kiss Diana Castilleja
Shadow of the Vampire by Meagan Hatfield
Vampire Trinity, Joey W Hill

Vampire Short story:
Flirt, Laurell K. Hamilton
Vampire in the Basement by Susan Hanniford Crowley
Forever Mine by Jude Mason

Werewolf Novel:
Sin Undone by Larissa Ione
A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare
Pleasure of a Dark Prince, Kresley Cole
Styx's Storm - Lora Leigh
Alpha Awakening by Diana DeRicci
Wolf Signs - Vivian Arend
Dark Succession, by Teresa D'Amario
Blameless by Gail Carriger
Moon Sworn, Particia Briggs

Western Romance Novel:
Unridden, Cat Johnson
I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown
Early Dawn - Catherine Anderson
Corralled by Lorelei James

Western Romance short story:
Christmas in Red Willow - Cheryl St. John
Discovering Daisy by Lacey Thorn


Congrats to ALL the nominees and thank you to all the nominators! Voting will commence in November, so watch for the polls to be open! Thanks again to the Bookie Awards Staff, and to all the awesome Bloggers and readers that took the time to nominate for our first year!

Giving Away My AAD Bag!

This September, I had the honor of attending Authors After Dark as a featured author and panelist, and I had a great time. I enjoyed meeting people with whom I'd previously communicated online, and it's always a pleasure hooking up with Bridget Midway, Yvette Hines, and Denise Jeffries. We were the Golden Girls of Erotica and hosted an 80s cheesecake bash. Not sure what's on tap for next year, but I'm in.

For October, I'm planning two different giveaways, so read the whole post!

This year, I brought home from AAD a bulging goody bag of books, promo, and all sorts of neat stuff, and I'm giving it away to one lucky reader. Here are the titles you'll get:

Wild Blue Under - Judi Fennell
Queene of Light - Jennifer Armintrout
Dark Days & Wicked Nights - sampler of excerpts from Allyson James, Devyn Quinn, Meljean Book and others
The Tease Dark Tarot: Death - Dorlana Vann
Tigers and Devils - Sean Kennedy (M/M)
The Beast Within  - Erin McCarthy, Bianca D'Arc, and Jennifer Lyon
plus two freebies by me: a print version of Dareville After Dark and a proof of She Loves Me, my F/F collection.

To enter for the above giveaway, simply click on http://bit.ly/LeighsAADBag and fill out the form. US winner gets the bag, International winner gets free downloads from DLP Books.

Deadline to enter is October 15 th, midnight EST.

My second giveaway will tie in with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My mom is doing the walk for the third year in a row, and as I can't take the time off to do it I will use my Facebook Page as a month-long tribute to the great women we have lost to this disease. Every day will feature a different woman and hopefully create awareness that self-detection and early detection is the key.

For this giveaway, I'll send one US winner a gift from the Republic of Tea (a Sip for the Cure selection) and a print book from my backlist, reader's choice. One International winner gets a $15 gift certificate to Phaze Books. To enter this giveaway, you only have to like my Facebook page! Deadline to enter the second giveaway is October 30, midnight EST.

Stella's AAD Recount.

Authors After Dark is now over for 2010. What a wild freaking ride. For those who don’t know, I’m the Convention Director, and the one who gets the ulcers for a year before the event. Don’t get me wrong, I love this event, and I love doing it, and what it represents.

I might bitch about the craziness while there, and I might lose it a bit, but on the whole, I live for this kinda thing. So lets get to my recount, shall we?

Thursday was an insane. We got up early, packed the uhaul and made our way down to the event hotel. When we got there, we started to unpack and get it all set up. WOW. 5 hours after we got there we still weren’t done, but the excitement was setting in for me. I was very happy to finally be there and getting it all out to everyone. I don’t think people realize that after a years worth of planning, of storing stuff in your house, its like Christmas to get it all set up and know that SO MANY people are getting SO MANY goodies. I love playing Santa. (no not Satan, though I probably channeled the evil that weekend...)

Anyway, suffice to say that Friday and Saturday went really well. The bloggers got a fuck ton of extra books, each meal went off well, tons of books and goodies and everyone was really happy with the food and the choices (that chocolate cake was DIVINE!).

Parties were fun as well. Tons of goodies and alcohol, and OMG it was great to see the authors that attended last year and welcome the ones that came for their first year. Having friends there, people I get to see only a few times a year, is worth all the aggravation and insanity. As a self imposed hermit, it’s nice to interact with others that I have something in common with. Writing is a solitary existence, and when we, as authors get to hangout with other authors and readers, it makes it all worth it.

I realize this account is sorta generalized, but that’s because most of the weekend was a blur. Anyone that was there will tell you I didn’t sit down for more then 5 minutes at a stretch, missed all but one of my panels and only made one of my appointments. I worked my ass off to make it perfect, and I think I was close to succeeding.

Sadly, we had some issues, some of them are things that could be avoided for next year, and some of them have to be addressed here.

We had a crasher. Normally I would be so excited that we had a crasher to the event, but this was totally uncool. AAD, in essence is an event that works for the reader. We make it more then affordable, because we believe in the reader/ author relationship. So many cons make money off their events, we don’t make one dime other then for the charities. Because of this, extra things are absorbed by Jacki and the staff, at our own expense.

So with a crasher coming in and having dinner, and taking books, books and a meal they didn’t pay for, hurts not only the con but the attendees. The crasher came in, disrespected the event, the event staff and hosts and more importantly, the attendees because they ate on their dime. A crasher didn’t feel the need to pay for this, but had the brass balls to come in, and apparently felt that they were above everyone else that DID follow the rules. That chaps my ass. That shows a blatant disrespect for their fellow readers and the people that worked so hard to make the event so worthwhile.

Unfortunately, since someone thought it was acceptable to take advantage...we have to tighten up and hire security to be sure the right people are getting what they paid for.

Second, Hotel issues. PLEASE DON’T WORRY! Next year’s event will be at a different hotel, one that actually isn’t a bunch of ass hats that were trying to thwart us behind the scenes. I’m sorry to all the attendees that had issues with the hotel (especially the ones that got charges on their room when they shouldn’t have, I hope that worked out) and I’m really sorry about the issues with the schedule. Because the hotel didn’t bother to mention us losing a room till I got there Thursday morning, I didn’t have time to make the changes seamless. I will do better next year, I promise.

Now what to expect for next year:

• Two tattoo artists… ooh did we mention there was a tattoo artist this year? Yes there was and Geoff was awesome. Next year, expect him with a friend to rock the event with ink galore!
• A Mythos Masquerade
• A Steampunk Ball
• A fantastic BDSM event (information to come!)
• A Karaoke party with Jen Armintrout and Resplendence Publishing
• Amazing Vendors

And much more! Stay tuned to the AAD blog for all the happenings and a NEW layout for next year!

Thanks again to all the authors and attendees for making this year something to remember. We couldn’t have done it without you guys. I’m looking forward to many more years of this con, and goodies galore!