Darkly Luminous Release and Book Tour!

Whew!
If I were to list the entirety of everything that's happened in the past two weeks, I'd stare at the list, all my adrenaline would wear off and I'd collapse. But no rest for the wicked. Whee! I've Michael and Rebecca's edits to do, a musical to storyboard and Strangely Beautiful #3 to write! *sips strong tea* *rallies* *dances*

But before I disappear into deadline - I must discuss all the amazing things, people, costumes and events that happened in my busy time away back in the motherland of Ohio. I always love talking to schools, and doing so for my various alma maters in addition to local Lebanon school was a particuar highlight. I just love telling whoever will listen that if you want to write, keep writing. I met so many talented young people, everywhere I went, I was filled with joy and hope for all the awesome books and poems and work that they will produce in years to come.

Speaking of particular highlights, let's talk about my fave fan (and fellow writer) Hanna and her shirts: She made a "Team Alexi" shirt - shown here- that said on the back "Real Men See Ghosts." How much do I love this girl right here? So much.) Unfortunately I wasn't sure which camera to look into at this moment, sorry Hanna. Oh and I totally stole this from her fabulous blog.

As Hanna was every indication, the Darkly Luminous RELEASE DAY signing at my hometown B&N was amazing. Thanks to all my friends, family, close friends, brand-new friends, to friends I haven't seen since high-school, all who showed up at the West Chester Barnes & Noble and gave me so much time, love and support. What a blessing!

Then it was on to the RT Booklovers Convention in Columbus!

Panels, events, dances, booksignings... And plenty of chances for me to do my favourite thing... Dress up. This year I was on a paranormal panel talking about writing creatures and worlds other than Vamps and Weres (nothing against them, but gotta give the ghosts some love too), another about Fantasy, Romance and blending the genres. And yes, I did get to squee about the musical option rights and the possibility of Strangely Beautiful the musical, so that was pretty awesome. My fellow authors were very excited for me and that was a real blessing. I'm thrilled that the news has generated a lot of buzz and excitement in the community.

Another highlight: our fight scene workshop where I got to show a little of my sword-fighting skills from my years working as fight captain in shows and training with the SAFD. This was super-fun and was a much-talked about panel. (Thanks Barb Riley for this photo!)

Here's me and fellow Dorchester buddy Marie-Claude Borque at the Vampire Ball. It's become a tradition to get a great Marie-Claude RT photo - I love her Steampunkerie here and can't wait for her Ancient Whispers to come out! There was the gigantic book signing, where I sold out of all my books! (Good thing Mom and Dad had put a case of Darkly Luminous in the car!)

After the signing I shifted identities. I dashed off to transform my self to become... none other than my personal idol, Jane Austen. New York Times Bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries wrote the most adorable script for us to perform about what poor Jane might think about all these... adaptations of her novel. The skit went over dreamily, it was an absolute blast, and reminded me that I still love a good excuse to be an actress. :) My appearance as Jane then transitioned into Sabrina's Regency bingo showcasing Sabrina's new Hellions series, and Jane got to be a part of the fun. Also, Sabrina was so generous about allowing me to come out as my author self too, talk a moment about my books, and even give some away as prizes. I really admire Sabrina, she's a huge talent, so this was a real honour for me to be a part of her event and to feel that my performance, as well as my author-self, were so warmly welcomed. (Thanks Jill Fazio for this great photo!) Drink it in, kids, its the only time you're going to see me in sea foam green, that's for sure. :)

And to top it all off, Lady Jane's Salon went on the road! Delilah Marvelle, Linnea Sinclair and Sabrina Jeffries herself (I told you she's generous) donated their time and energies to what has been our popular NYC literary salon - in an on tour showcase! We heard from their books, the authors were kind enough to donate books and swag, we drank champagne to toast our genre and we raised $160 for PurrBabies no-kill feline rescue in Columbus! Thanks, generous RT attendees and to RT magazine for setting us up so beautifully! What a great note to end a great conference.

Then... Right back to Lady Jane's Salon back in NYC that very Monday - for The DARKLY LUMINOUS release party! I was very proud of my outfit - alas, the pictures on my camera didn't come out. (Thankfully author Kwana Minatee-Jackson had this I could plunder, I hope to find more). I was also very proud of reading with Christina Britton Conroy and Jeri Smith-Ready. (Jeri and I won Prism Awards the same year, and I'm a huge fan of her so this was a real treat and I'm in love with her new YA novel Shade). I read one of my favourite scenes from Darkly Luminous and our specialty cocktail was a pomegranate martini we called a Persephone. :) They were delicious, and now I am bound to the underworld.

Taking over the interwebz...

Check out my interview for the International Thriller Writers!

Darkly Luminous raves!

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker is a Night Owl Romance Top Pick!

Strictly Reviews

The Book Girl

Babbling About Books and More

Janicu's Book Blog

Strangely Beautiful 5/5 love! - The Book Girl

Strangely Beautiful the musical:
- Smart Bitches Trashy Books gave a shout-out to the musical option rights! - Thanks Sarah!
- So did Dread Central! - Thanks Horror fans!

- Read the fabulous press release Dorchester sent out about the option sale...

Backstory: Want to know why Persephone's maiden name is Parker?

Find out the true story...

Light the Darkness!