Authors After Dark NOLA

The Authors After Dark convention was a great deal of fun, in one of my most beloved cities, New Orleans. I am slammed on deadline, so here's my quick and dirty wrap-up. It is really hard to wrap my brain around all the events, visits, panels and sights, so forgive me if I miss a detail or two. I have my head in two different fictional worlds right now, as well as filming, so I'm a bit scatterbrained.

I feel so very at home in New Orleans, it is a city of great power for me. You may recall the last time I was in NOLA, this past February, and my amusing incident as a "Legit Vampire". I am pleased to report that my Vampire Legitimacy continued this trip. As I went into the Boutique du Vampir, the woman behind the counter looked up at me and asked "are you a local? You seem like a local."

I take that as a compliment. I got a chance to meet a whole bunch of new friends, spend time with fabulous folks like con organizer Stella Price and my steampunk peeps A. L. Davroe, PJ Schnyder, the hysterical Tee and Pip Morris (stay tuned, I'll eventually have some upcoming business with those two fabulous hooligans) and Lia Habel. One of the delights of the convention was the Steampunk Tea where my fellow authors and attendees really got into some gorgeous costuming. Well done, friends.  I finally got some quality time with the utterly magical Theresa Meyers who is kind, lovely and so very talented. She taught us numerology and that was just plain awesome. Fellow Apocalypsie Danny Marks delighted me (as usual) and I was very pleased that there was a growing space for Young Adult Lit at the convention.



Leanna Renee Hieber, Lia Habel and Pj Schnyder at the Masquerade


I hung with my beloved Jennifer Armintrout and Bronwyn Green and laughed until my sides hurt (in a corset. It really hurt. But it was so worth it). I met new readers, bloggers, industry professionals and helped lead a parade of beautiful masquerade-clad ladies and gents after I'd danced to Depeche Mode alongside the fabulous Jessa Slade. Jade Lee and I exchanged our usual love-fest upon seeing one another and I was delighted by the surprise arrival of Barbara Vey of PW's Beyond her book. Some of my fave bloggers got a chance to snag the last physical ARC copies of The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart and I was able to introduce Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul to a new host of readers and enthusiasts. I so dearly appreciated readers and bloggers bringing me copies of my Strangely Beautiful novels, I almost cried to see them, I can't tell you how much that support means to me considering they are currently out of print and authors are receiving no royalties from the now defunct Dorchester Publishing. I am VERY excited to say that we should have some exciting new news on the further life and resurrection of that series, so stay tuned!

And did I mention I love dressing up? It is my very favourite of activities. :) It's become something I'm fairly known for at conventions and events at this point, and I embrace it with all the love and fun with which it's meant. As a professional actress as well as author, I just can't say no to theatrical dress. It really isn't a costume at this point, folks. These are my clothes. It's the way I love greeting the world and it serves as a way, a bridge that brings my own Gothic fiction into the real world in a way that is tactile and inhabited. I hope people have as much fun with it as I do. Rule # 1 is never take yourself too seriously.


Goth in Hot Weather. St. Louis Cemetery 1 

A whole wonderful crew of us went to St. Louis Cemetery #1 and I had a lovely time (if withered by the heat). Goths in hot weather. Oy. Thanks Bronwyn for the photos! Please see Jess Haines' fabulous wrap up of the convention, replete with some of our very fun adventures together as I spearheaded a trip to visit the ghosts at Lafitte's Blacksmith shop and my introduction of Absinthe to the uninitiated. And then there was tht thing where her phone went in a crypt. (!).
While taking a few moments alone to gather the sacred energy of that amazing city I love so much, I felt the history moving in me. Alive in me. I chose the New Orleans home of my Dupris brothers, characters in my upcoming Eterna Files saga with Tor/Macmillan, on my favourite street, Rue Royale, right next to the gorgeous 19th century Court of the Two Sisters. I love it when historical research and fun go so naturally together!

I miss you so much, NOLA, I'll try and return to you soon! Much love. Back to deadline!

Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend 2011

As my artistic cup runneth over with awesome projects and further books to write, I'm going to have to be very picky about what conventions I'm able to do. But here's one I'm going to always do my best to attend; Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend. I attended last year, had a great time, and I just returned from this year's event in Philadelphia. The easiest way to wrap up the spirit of the weekend is that it's wonderful quality time with enthusiastic readers, bloggers and fellow authors in a fun environment filled with panels, treats for readers and bloggers, charity raffles, a huge book signing and plenty of chances to dress up. And you ALL know that's one of my very favourite things.
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Thanks to everyone who made it possible on the whole AAD team, especially Stella Price who was always juggling a million things at once. Thanks to the amazing readers and bloggers I met, the many friends I was blessed to see again, and to the wonderful fellow authors whose work I admire, some of whom I already know and love, some of whom I met in person for the first time. I was very excited to not only be signing the Strangely Beautiful series but also to be there promoting Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul. November 8th will be here before we know it! Extra-special thanks to my other half, he is SUCH a good sport, as you'll see below.

The fabulous Mandi of Smexy Books took this at the AAD Booksigning:






















On Friday night, the Mythos Masquerade was held in mythic splendour. I could not, of course, pass up an opportunity to dabble in my own mythology and portray my version of The Goddess Persephone as I have envisioned her in The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess. She turned out fairly well if I do say so myself, pretty much just the way I hoped (save for all the special effects that would, as I've described her, have her shifting and shimmering colours all the time).


In this costume, I wanted to evoke an essence of Percy Parker but still represent this distinct being who is mysterious, magical and luminous. The shimmering fabric and a lot of glitter helped with luminosity... Isn't it amazing how the mirror has a different expression? The Goddess is magic, I tell you, she is mysterious and her own being...






















Here's my beloved at my side being a good sport and playing a rather perfect young Alexi Rychman... (note the scarlet cravat which gets its own backstory in Perilous Prophecy)... Thanks to Grace at Livre De Amour for this photo!

The Steamball was a ball between great enterainment in the Olde City Side Show, beautiful vendors and I even got the chance to get my dance on and Goth out a bit on the floor. (My booksigning outfit was my Steamball outfit. Once in regalia, I remain in regalia all day.) And then my sweetheart and I had a gorgeous Sunday in Philadelphia, despite the rain, the art museum is incredible, and so was the awesome vegetarian German food at Brauhaus. Yum.

And now, back to deadline! Magic Most Foul book II is well underway, but deadlines approach, so it will be quiet around here for a bit, but do stay tuned for my DragonCon schedule!

Cheers!

Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend 2010

The Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend was not only a huge success in every way, but gosh it was fun! Hosted by bestselling author Jacquelyn Frank, who is beyond fabulous, and organized flawlessly by the force of nature that is author Stella Price, this personable yet larger-than-life conference, in only its second year, is an event to be reckoned with. I was fortunate enough to be utilized as a featured author and participated in panels on worldbuilding, about the many inventive creatures that my fellow authors and I have created in our diverse worlds, we discussed Steampunk and I even got to present the Victorian Language of the Fan. Being in a generous, friendly, excited environment, all of us together for the same idea; love of paranormal fiction, creates a great space for sharing, making new friends and having great parties.
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I was so thrilled to meet some of my beloved book bloggers who have made all the difference in my Strangely Beautiful series, like JoJo's Book Corner, Bibliophilic Book Blog, Intense Whisper, Simply Ali and Joyfully Reviewed, and the particular delight of Larissa's Life and her interview at the Literary Masquerade, where I got to play Miss Percy in person- and where Percy won the costume contest! (See below). I also got to meet many fabulous fellow authors. Jennifer Armintrout and I got to go all mutual fangirl on each other. Thanks tons to Jacquelyn, Stella and Froggy and all the organizers for creating a wonderful experience! And thanks tons to Biz Urban Photography for the following great photos:

Photo 1: Gaslight Gothic

2: Lurve for Stella

3: Teaching the Victorian Language of the Fan
4: Playing Miss Percy, caught in one of her shy, quiet moments at the Masquerade

5: Author Jennifer Armintrout as Marguerite from The Scarlet Pimpernel (one of our mutual favourites), with Miss Percy at her side
6: Miss Percy wins the costume contest announced by Jacquelyn (in lovely Regency regalia) and Stella (in Steampunk plaid)

7: Last but not least, Miss Percy's first interview! Thanks Larissa!

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Newsy Bits

As we come into my favourite season; Autumn, I'll be busy with events, releases and new work. I've a new Strangely Beautiful series release in A Midwinter Fantasy, huzzah, and I'm very excited to be working with some of the crew of Unhallowed Metropolis on upcoming ventures.
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Around and About, or, My Writer Friends are Awesome:
1. Congratulations to my friend, colleague and Lady Jane's Salon co-founder Hope Tarr who launched Beer Gardens NYC, an awesome App that gives you the rundown on all the Beer Gardens in the Big Apple, so very useful for tourists and natives alike, be sure to check it out, the upgrades they have planned are as great as the App itself already is. Having had such a wonderful experience with tasty beers while visiting Germany, I'm so excited to have a way to find those brews here in my city! They've gotten a mention on The Gothamist already, yay! For their latest news, fan them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. (And the App is a $1.99 well-spent)
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2. Congratulations to my friend and colleague Stella Price who, in the midst of the superhuman feat of organizing Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend has managed to release the latest in Stella and Audra Price's American Satyr series, and since she hasn't had time to promote her really fun work as best she'd like to- considering she's so incredibly trying to make all of us Authors After Dark authors look good- the least we can do in return is tell everyone about it, so check out her latest!
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3. I'm very excited about the signed ARC of Skyler White's IN DREAMS BEGIN that I picked up from Skyler herself at DragonCon. We were on the Angels in Fantasy Literature panel together and she's so lovely, and the subject mattter of this book deals with one of my favourite authors, the poet Yeats, so I'm very excited to read the rest of it AND very excited to be hosting a giveaway of this lovely work via Twitter. Join me there to be sure you don't miss it, as this is a book not to be missed.
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4. And a huge THANKS to photographer and woman-of-many-talents Jessica M. Coen for her amazing photos of DragonCon, several of which include me (like this one), and all of which I love. Her Flickr account is full of delightful things, especially for those of you interested in STEAMPUNK...

(And for those of you who missed my gushing DragonCon ode to Doctor Who fangirl love, please see my previous post, "Being Romana")
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5. Katiebabs of Babbling About Books (mega-congrats to Kate on her many book contracts this year!!) knows the coolest people. She introduced me to Brian Solomon and thusly to his blog, The Vault of Horror. It is so full of awesome win. Visit it and enjoy!
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6. And lastly, while I wish I could call author Caleb Carr my friend, I just have to say that I finished The Alienist and it may be one of my favourite books of all time. Dr. Kreizler has nestled himself into my personal canon of literary loves.

Newsy Bits on Leanna in particular:

I am VERY thrilled an honoured to be named the 2010 RWA NYC Author of the Year on Thursday! Thank you RWA NYC and to all the people who made this amazing year possible for me in so many ways.
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Regarding A Midwinter Fantasy:
Please note that due to changes at Dorchester Publishing, this anthology will release digitally (eBook) ONLY. I am sad about this change, as I like having my work in every format possible, because I have readers who like all the different formats and this limits my ability to do signings for this particular work. Moving forward with Dorchester, the rest of the series should be available in Trade Paperback Format but that transition isn't coming in time for this release. If you were one of the wonderful fans who pre-ordered this title, I thank you for your support, your accounts shouldn't be charged as the item scheduled to ship actually won't exist. Double check and if you have any concerns, I'd try and contact customer service and any other questions to Dorchester directly.
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I do hope you'll be willing to join Rebecca, Michael and the whole Guard coterie in "A Christmas Carroll" on September 28th, Midwinter Fantasy's release day, in digital format. I'll have a small "Christmas Carroll" blog tour right around release day so stay tuned for that, and also, on release day I'll be posting an excerpt from the novella. It picks up directly between where the last chapter of The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker ends, and the Epilogue. It is the "Christmas miracle" to which Percy refers. - As for the rest of the Strangely Beautiful series, it's scheduled to be both in print and in digital simultaneously, so we won't have this problem going forward, it's just that A Midwinter Fantasy got caught amidst the transition. (Ohioans: Please note: I will be in Ohio October 9th to teach my Direct Your Book! Workshop for the wonderful OVRWA Chapter in Cincinnati.)
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Other works:
1. Thrilled to report that my "Marketing Smackdown" column that I write for RWA NYC Keynotes newsletter has now been picked up by many regional RWA newsletters, even in Canada! Very glad all my in-the-trenches and trial-by-fire marketing knowledge has been taken as useful by many RWA Chapters.
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2. I'm very excited to be joining the team of Unhallowed Metropolis for some fun fiction involving their incredibly awesome RPG game of "Neo-Victorian Horror" - stay tuned this fall for more details!

Happy September!