Authors After Dark Convention Recap by Selena Illyria

Authors After Dark Convention Recap
By Selena Illyria

Authors After Dark Convention- A Convention for Paranormal/Fantasy authors and readers.
It took place on October 23rd-24th in Suffern, New York.

First off I have to say a big thank you to Jacquelyn Frank, Stella Price and Bianca D’Arc who did an amazing job putting this small convention together. It was wonderful and I look forward to next year.

The first day of the Convention, from the word start it was go, go, go. Not unusual for convention. Most Cons there are a thousand things going on at the same time , workshops, mini-parties, mini-events , meetings, etc. For the Convention, what was refreshing was nothing was piled up on each other.

The Con started off with two mini events, both casual and yet full of energy and fun. Because there wasn’t a lot going on and only a hundred attendees, it made for a more intimate setting. But just because there weren’t a lot of people don’t think it wasn’t full of energy , fun and noise. LOL. Take the Candy shop mixer, giving away the first of the door prizes was an event on it’s own. Every win was celebrated and the prizes given away were awesome, from books to promo to T-Shirts, I even think there was an iPod given away at one point.

Once the door prizes were given away you could eat and wander around and check out some of the things that were up for the raffle.

The raffle was set up to benefit the Pets Alive Sanctuary, which is a No-Kill Sanctuary.

The Candy Mixer was followed by tarot, palmistry and rune. I only looked in but there was a line for it and it all looked very fun.

The next day, we started off with a buffet style breakfast, where more door prizes were given away. After breakfast you had the option of wandering around the bookseller section or attending the Vampire panel (which was a whole lot of fun). The one thing I really appreciated was the panels were one right after the other rather than held at the same time. I missed the Faerie panel but was able to catch Witches and the Craft panel, which gave me a new idea on how to approach plotting for my books.

After that it was Luncheon and a Baby Shower for Audra Price. Happy Ninja! (Inside joke). This was an example of what was put out at the place settings. Very naughty, yes?

SI Note: I didn't see this chocy until the next day. LOL. At first I was wondering what they were doing. On closer inspection I knew I had to take a pic. LOL

After Lunch, there was book signing. I have to give a shout out to Lindsey E. who won a book from me a few weeks ago and has read a few of my books. It is so awesome to meet readers. Here’s a piccie of my place at the signing table.

Yeah, I’m dork for taking a pic of my place at the book signing but I don’t do these that often. The cool thing was that some people from the Pets Alive Sanctuary came by with two adorable dogs (the cuteness was overwhelming).

Once thing slowed down it was time to get ready for the Masquerade Ball, which I didn’t really dress up for. I’m sure you can find a pic of me floating around somewhere. LOL. I just wore a simple dress, boots and my jacket. More door prizes, I actually won a book! Yay! And then the ball/party kicked off.

If you see a pic of me, you’l l notice the jacket was a main stay, I was freezing for most of the time. It’s the only complaint I have. LOL. I have no blood, the vampire sucked it all out. LOL. Kidding! You think. Flash, hon, you missed some awesome costumes. Here are two examples:

Carol dressed as Jane Austen as a vampire

Ann dressed as Morgana.

Quick note about Carol and Ann’s costumes, they were handmade. Gorgeous and Very awesome, yes?

And Lindsey:

There were so many awesome costumes. I have to find the pics. I should mention dinner was delicious. The steak…yum, doesn’t even describe it. I did a bit of dancing, not much and left the party close to midnight I think? Can’t quite remember. LOL.

The next day was the last and I have to say it was sad leaving. In such a short amount of time, a weekend, I’d had so much and meet so many wonderful people.

We had breakfast (more books at the place settings) and then the Charity Raffle Results. AAD managed to raise $!,500 for Pets Alive. I will say this much, the amount of tickets purchased for the raffle, you could probably make a dress or two out of it. LOL.

After breakfast it was the last panel for Shifters and Demons, which I was on. That was a fun panel. *Grin* And then, sadly it was time to go. I am looking forward to next year, even started planning. All I can say is the Authors After Dark was well worth the money and the weekend and would gladly do it all over again.

For More Information on the Authors After Dark Convention go to: http://www.authorsafterdark.net/

For more information on the Pets Alive Animal Shelter go to: http://www.petsalive.com/

This just in (insert my squeeing here):

There will be another big party next year, I hear chocolate may be involved, lots of chocolate. AND, next year AAD will be opening things up to all genres include GLBT. Squee!

For updates go to: http://www.authorsafterdark.blogspot.com/ (Won't be live until after December 09)

-- Dear Reader, Let Me Seduce You . . . Love, Selena Illyria: http://www.selenaillyria.com/, http://www.pinkchairdiaries.com/
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