My time at Authors After Dark in New Orleans & giveaway!

Hi GCReaders!

So I finally have sometime to share my experience at Authors After Dark with everyone! When I got home I literally just sat around all week. Then this week I attempted to catch up with e-mails, blog post etc. It's been a very crazy month for me LOL.

We arrived at AAD (Debbie and I) three days before the convention so that we could sight see and eat at almost every restaurant possible. Yeah, I gained about seven pounds off that trip LOL! Once the convention started it was no sleep for us. Not that I was sleeping very much before that anyway, but it was just pure excitement for four days straight.

The convention started with a Welcoming party. The welcoming party was a lot of fun and I finally got to put faces to a lot of bloggers that I talk to on Twitter and Facebook. I also got to meet some of my favorite authors like Cynthia Eden, Alexandra Ivy, and Kelly Gay/Keaton. They were super nice!(See Video Below)



I attended AADNOLA this year as a Featured Blogger, and because of this I got the chance to attend a Blogger ARC Party. When I got there, the room was filled with boxes of books, and at each table sat an author. It felt almost like speed dating. It was fun! I got to jump around and chat with Joey W. Hill, Melissa Schroeder, Alexandra Ivy, Leanna Renee Hieber, Suzanne Johnson, and about three other authors. We got lots of goodies and books!

There were lots of panels and one of my favorite panels that I enjoyed a lot and for some reason it sticks out the most in my head was the self-publishing panel. Authors Melissa Schroeder, Eliza Gayle, Cat Johnson, Tina Folsom were a part of this panel and I have to say, it was very informative. I learned a lot about self-publishing that I never knew before and now I have so much more respect for self pub authors.

Oh, and any panel that Dakota Cassidy was on, I enjoyed a lot. That woman needs to be my best friend! She is just so much fun to be around. That was one of the first things I told Debbie and my friends. Any panels with Dakota Cassidy on, you need to go too! You will laugh your little booty off! LOL!


I also went on authors Suzanne Johnson's Post-Katrina Royal Street Tour. This tour for me meant a lot. It wasn't a huge tour, in fact it was only Suzanne, me, and three other girls. AND WE GOT TO RIDE IN A CAR LOL! Avoiding the HEAT! The heat in NOLA is not a joke! I was warned by tons of people how hot it can be and thought Please, I hate the heat. So anything in the 80's in bad weather to me. Oh no, the heat down there was always in the 90's and SUPER humid! It was bad!

Anyway, this tour was a bit sad for me, but fun at the same time. And I say that because Suzanne Johnson took us to some parts where Katrina hit and where it hit the worse. It was very sad hearing the stories. If you don't know, Suzanne Johnson actually lived in NOLA when Katrina hit. Luckily she manged to evacuate, but she was a resident there at the time. She also took us to parts that are in her book , Royal Street, and showed us DJ's (her main character) house.

Sorry if I am jumping here, but I am trying not to make this post so SUPER DUPER long. There is just so much to share. Debbie will be sharing her time at AAD as well, so be in the look out for her post.

I will let the photos/videos do the rest of the talking ;-)

Author Kelly Gay/Keaton and me having dinner at JAX'S Brewery. I swear, that is Apple Juice I am drinking ;-).

The blogger party where I got meet authors Kristen Painter and Sylvia Day.

This was our view from our hotel room.

 Author Joey W. Hill, Master of Ceremonies, welcoming everyone!

Welcoming Party!

A video of the Welcoming Party...

Author Stella Price giving us a fun welcome!

 Author Stella Price and Me!

I got to present an award at the Bookie Awards! I was so freaking nervous! lol

 I attended the Masquerade Ball as Ari from Kelly Keaton's Darkness Becomes Her.

My creator, Kelly Keaton, and Me (Ari) Kelly actually made the little crescent moon on my face. :-)

Sam (my partner in crime for the night) and Me (Ari) See that corset, when I first put it on, I put it on UPSIDE DOWN! LOL! Author PJ Schnyder actually pointed this out and helped me with my crisis. Thank you!!

PJ Schnyder, Lia Habel and Girl, whose identity will forever be a mystery to me, in their awesome costumes. I have no idea who was under that mask LOL!

 Some more awesome costumes!

Video of the Masquerade Ball...

All videos were shot using my iPhone.

After the ball some of the authors and us went walking the streets of NOLA in costume!

I also got to meet Laurie London. She attended the convention as a reader. I love her! We talk all the time on Twitter, so I was so happy I finally got the chance to meet her in person!

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For pictures, check out our Facebook page... http://facebook.com/GCReading

Registration for next year's Authors After Dark, which will be held in Savannah, GA, is now open! http://authorsafterdark.org/pages/registration.html

Next year is going to be even more crazy! There will be three PARTIES! Plus, for the first time ever there will be a YA Day, and guess who was asked to help out on YA Day? You guessed it.. ME!! I am super excited and cannot wait to share with everyone the list of authors that will be joining us for YA Day next year. We are still adding to it. :-)

In the meantime, check out the list of the adult FEATURED AUTHORS: http://authorsafterdark.org/pages/authors.html

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GIVEAWAY TIME!

I know, finally right? LOL!


Here is what I am giving away from Authors After Dark...

• AS DARKNESS FALLS SAMPLER signed by Katie Reus!
• Shadows Before The Sun by Kelly Gay
• Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus
• The Naughty List by Donna Kauffman, Cynthia Eden, and Susan Fox
• Demons Prefer Blondes by Sidney Ayers
• Night Seeker by Yasmine Galenorn
• Phoenix Rising and The Janis Affair by Philippa Ballantine & Tee Morris

Plus, a cute little swag bag!

RULES:

• US ONLY
• Must be 18 or older to enter
• Contest ends one week from today
• Winner will be announced on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER accounts
• Winner has 48 hours to reply to our e-mail and claim their prize, or we will pick a new winner. 
• Enter via Rafflecopter below.

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