I AM IN NEED OF AN ASSISTANT FOR AAD!

So due to life getting in the way, I need a new executive assistant for AAD. This is such a last minute thing for me, and I am having enough problems going on with out of the blue issues that I dont have the time to really LOOK for one. So Im going to put the call out here.

WANTED: Executive Assistant to the Director, Authors After Dark

Qualities:
Organizational skills
ability to think on your feet
Self starter
professionalism
Motivated

Duties to include:
keeping the director (me) on task
Helping with the door prizes
Patrolling and watching the Charity baskets
seeing to the Panels and the needs of the moderators
Helping to decorate and set up for meals

TIMEFRAME:
Thursday Sept 16- Sunday 19th (to help set up and get books squared away)

COMPENSATION:
Comped Registration and Free room. TONS of free books and goodies, Staff Tshirt...

Yes, I know I said we weren't comping the con for anyone, but because the Assistant is pretty much what boils down to the on site director (so I'm able to be there as an AUTHOR as well as staff)....

candidates need to really be organized and make me feel like I couldnt LIVE without you being there. You need to be motivated, truthworthy and a people person.

You think you can rock this? Email me at blueflamesabove AT yahoo[dot] com with your credentials and why you think I should pick you.

Go forth, and please forward this blog post to anyone you think might be able to do it.

Online AAD chat party July 15th!

Wanna win some AAD goodies and see what’s in store for this year? On the fence about attending Authors After Dark this year and want some more information? Well JULY 15^th is the DAY!

July 15^th 1pm est at our Blog Talk radio show and chat room, for 90 minutes it will be PURE CHAOS! Enjoy call ins from several of our attending authors including Jennifer Armintrout, Leanna Renee Hieber and Caridad Pineiro and maybe even WIN some goodies from AAD 2009, complete with books and a bag and swag! Yeppers that’s right!

We welcome CALL INS! Got a question for us? Or a comment? We wanna hear from YOU!

Registration closes on August 1^st and we really want YOU to attend and hangout with us, not to mention get tons of free books and goodies! So come and listen on the 15^th, see what we have in store for you, and get that registration in!

Here’s all the Info:

Date: July 15^th

Time 1pm est

LINK:

Call in: (347) 945-6309 AFTER 1:05 PM!

We will see you there and pass the word along!

A few Cali shots...

Ok these are from Madame T's in LA:



As you can see, it was awesome. I have others but these were my favorites. I also have some shots from Big Bear, and driving around Hell's half acre AKA the Morongo Valley Basin But they will have to wait till i get home to update them. So I leave you with a parting shot, Jonah, in all his fat beagle goodness sleeping on the floor of Cara's house..

We got our new cover!!!!!

Ok Im in Cali, and while Im having a freaking ball, Im really excited about this cover!

Isnt it just pretty? Its really good for a second book in the series, and I KNOW you guys will LOVE harley and arabella. OOh the only thing? Arabella doesnt wear that horrible shade of lipstick... Harley wont have something that belongs in 1987 surrounding the base of his cock, *Snicker*

So what do you think?

Updates!

Well Audra and I are through our To Collar and Keep edits and they have gone on to the proofer. I'm hoping we will get our new cover soon, I'm dying for it. like, FIENDING for this cover LOL.

We have been working on a new idea, and its going really well. Im excited about actually working on this one. Hopefully we will have info on this soon as well.

I'm leaving for vacay with Cara North at the end of the month to spend July 4th with her. It should be fun. More on that as I'm on vacay.

Ooh on the 6th of July my cohort in steam Elizabeth Darvill will be here to talk about her first EVER book release, Love in a Time of Steam (Which I did the cover for, LOL). So wait for that, its going to be... insightful.

So that's it from me this week! I'm busy busy busy! More soon!

ten reasons to go to AAD! Join us!

Authors After Dark is the premier FOR READERS BY AUTHORS event. Why? Why does it differ from other cons out there? Well here's a helpful list of WHY:

~AAD is the cheapest con out there that FEEDS YOU 5 MEALS. For the $140 registration, you get 5 meals(2 lunch, 2 dinner and 1 breakfast). NO other con is doing it for that price

~ AAD is the only con that offers a full vegetarian option for all meals. not just a veggie plate, you will have choices like veggie wraps, salads, pasta dishes...

~ AAD is the ONLY romance con that is doing a GLBT track and have GLBT publishers sponsoring and supporting. Readers will be treated to some of the best GLBT authors out there on panels, and doing parties, and over 200 GLBT books are being given away from MLR press! Other publishers involved include Dreamspinner Press, Phaze and Loose id.

~AAD is giving away over 2400 free books to attendees! Books from such amazing publishers as Kensington Books, Ballantine, Dorchester, Phaze, Tease Publishing, Changeling Press, Ink Spotters and MLR Press!

~AAD has some special book giveaways as well, opportunities you wont find anywhere else! Authors like Joey W Hill, Rosemary Laurey, Jacquelyn Frank, Susan Sizemore and tons of others! Attendees can expect Special signed books, tshirt's and ARC's galore!

~AAD is doing a fantastic charity basket raffle with over 50 baskets! Attendees can win such amazing baskets as Kate Douglas' back list, a fabulous book basket from Gena Showalter or Maggie Shayne, ARC's and special goodies from Cynthia Eden, a much coveted goodie basket from Joey W. Hill and many more! And this year you can enter to win a NOOK, itouch and maybe even an IPAD!!!!

~AAD is the ONLY romance con that treats Bloggers like royalty! Bloggers (like the booksellers at RT) will have their own welcome event Thursday night, including each receiving a special bag of books (ARC's, single signed books and special premium promo items) and some amazing opportunities to interview authors! The Blogger party will be populated by Authors, industry and staff, so you will be guests of honor!

~AAD is the only con that offers FREE ALCOHOL (Wine and mixed drinks) for the entire weekend! Also, AAD is the only Romance con that has a Con suite where attendees can visit all weekend, get snacks, goodies and enjoy author sponsored events!

~AAD's night parties are second to NONE! Our friday event has games and speed authoring, sure to give you the face time you want with the authors you love, special door prizes and a room full of fortune tellers, our fantastic Mystical Maven's event! And Saturday? A Masquerade party with a costume theme of Literary characters! And you could with an amazingly fab prize for winning the costume contest, so stay tuned for that.

That not enough reasons? Well how about out attending authors! they include: Jacquelyn Frank, Silvia Day, Susan Sizemore, Joey W Hill, Jennifer Armintrout, Judi Fennell, Rosemary Laurey, Bianca D'Arc, Leanna Renee Hieber, Caridad Pineiro, and some of the stars of the GLBT world Carol Lynne, Laura Baumbach, Kris Norris, Leigh Ellwood and many others!

Check out out website: http://aadromanceunlimited.com and get registered today! You know you do not wanna miss this amazing con! We will see you there!

AAD loves Bloggers!

I figured I would post about this here, as we have figured out what the bloggers are going to get. See Bloggers are the life's blood of the reviewing world because they dont do it for the job, they do it for the love of books. And because we love to write the books they LOVE to read, We wanna give back..

This year at AAD, Bloggers will be treated to some special goodies. Bloggers that attend will recieve a special welcome party with the authors Thursday night, a special blogger welcome back (in addition to the actual welcome bag) and it will have several ARC's, low number (meaning books we only have like 10 or less of) books, Special premium items, special goodies and the ability to set up one on one interviews for their blog, in person on video or transcribed. These ARC's wont be given to others on the whole and you can expect them from Cynthia Eden, Jacquelyn Frank, Kensington Books, Ballantine Books, and several other authors. To know the full list, you will have to attend as a blogger!

So what are you waiting for? Sign up HERE!

BTR show today about AAD! Tune in and sign up!

Today at 1pm EST We will be doing a Authors After Dark show on Blog Talk Radio. For those of you who attended the one in May, lots has happened since then and we have a lot to talk about. If your still on the fence about attending, please tune in, we have some amazing things to tell you guys that will push you over to the "I MUST BE THERE" category!

And as a special treat, Jacquelyn Frank will be calling in and talking about her hostess duties, and all the specialness she has planned for the event. And if your lucky, you'll get some of the other authors coming calling in to say hi!

So join Elizabeth Darvill and myself as we give you the skinny on the most affordable and innovative reader convention to date!

1pm today at http://blogtalkradio.com/booksbeyondtheboundaries (Chat room opens at 1230 est!) So bring yourself, your questions, and your comments! we are taking calls and questions in the chat room as well!

I love these pants

Yes I have said it before, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pants! They are black denim, and soft and just a little stretchy.Comfort doesn't even BEGIN to describe how great these are. I just like that you can wear them casual or have them dressed up in heels. And guess what? they were super cheap and you can get them at ChicStar.com

Now that I have shown off my new clothes, Lemme tell you all about What Im doing. With AAD coming quicker then I realized, I'm getting Promo done, design work done, costumes ordered for both myself and Audra, helping Jacki figure hers out, and oh yeah dealing with edits for our book To Collar and Keep. The book is the second in our satyr series, and will be available the week of AAD so im trying to deal with everything con wise and gets edits done. Its busy busy busy!

Also, ConTEXT is coming, and I have to get all set up for that, to hangout with the girls and our friends we see each year. I cant wait for it. So I'm busy, and I'm back to my edits. have a good week everyone!

Coming Soon: Astoroth!

Yes, very excited that Astoroth is coming June 15th. If you dont know, Audra and I write a series about fallen angels, and while most are taking them as angels and such... our s are really fallen. they hangout with Lucifer, who is a staple in the books, and influence mankind. Our thing with this series is that Lucifer and his crew have gotten a bad rep, cuz Heaven has some really good PR. Really Heaven and those on high don't give a fig about whats going on on earth, or with God's chosen, the Humans. They are so neglectful, that Lucifer and his crew not only love humanity, but are on the front lines of the war for souls. They love, they lose and they hope, like everyone, its just that their wings are a bit more sooty and tarnished.

So this story is about Astoroth, high duke of hell. When a woman at the end of her bucket list meets him in a bar in Las Vegas, he sees the possibility for some harmless fun with a human just at her expiration date... what he doesn't count on is deciding to keep her...

Its a shorty, because you will see Astor later in the series (which we are busily writing) and when you do you will know all about his relationship with the human... and guess what? its 99 cents! thats right, super cheap and super sexy... Astor is quite a hottie.

So June 15th is when you can grab your copy of his short and fall in love with the Duke...

Devyn Quinn has something cool for you!

Our buddy Devyn Quinn is soon to release her first in hew new Mermaid series from Signet! Siren's Call will be available soon and shes looking to get the word out about the book, and you get the goodies for helping!

So go HERE and read her blog posty and help get the word out about this different and awesome new series!

you could win a 100$ GC to BN just for your help!

So get your asses moving! :)

Stella

Winner for the Download Dante Party and info

Ok, I have been such a mess the past few days since the release, but Since its my birthday, Im deciding to do the winner of the AWESOMELY attended Download Dante Party on twitter and Several blogs. Everyone had to totally amazing time, and Im really excited that so many awesome bloggers were into rocking the release with us. Thank you All again, you guys were so awesome to do it.

Ok so without further adieu, the winner of the three backlist books is Lillie H. Congrats! I'll be in contact with you to see what books you want (e book only, sorry!)

So you wanna win something? Im giving away something on the TRS blog today... so go and check it out... See? my birthday and you get the presents!

So, I got my birthday present from Joe. He got me the Tiffany & Co. key I wanted. See I believe that at least once in every girls life, they should get the blue bag, and the little blue box with the white ribbon, and the little blue pouch with the jewelry in it from Tiffany & Co. My thing was, I'm not a big jewelry fan in general, because I'm not all about status. When I saw the keys, I wanted one right away, but not one of the insane ones with the diamonds. Nope. I wanted and got the midnight titanium one. It fits me better then some glittery sparkly thing. Its almost flat black, and perfect for my style. So now, as he said, I don't have to wear my octopus all the time, if ever. Bastard. I knew he had an agenda. HEH.

Seriously though, its been a pretty good birthday weekend. LOST last night, and a full Monday just for me. Not too bad. Lets hope 31 is an awesome year.

Movie post: the Covenant: Candy for women

Ok so who saw The Covenant? It was this flick that came out in 2006 and was in essence, a male version of The Craft with hotter guys. I mean this flick is all around high school man candy... if you believe that guys look like that IN high school, and that 5 super hot guys (its like the boy band of witches, something for everyone really) would all be bro's and friends.

Does anyone see this for the blatant money making machine it was supposed to be? The flick has no real story, and no continuity, hell it just seems like a vehicle to show off the guys in swimming speedo's (not that I'm complaining, they were quite fetching)
So who has seen this flick, and what was your take on it?

AAD: My convention baby. Your ass better be coming!

Registration is STILL OPEN for the Authors After Dark Romance Unlimited weekend!

Join your master of ceremonies, Jacquelyn Frank, along with the AAD bloggers and a Slew of award winning best selling authors for a weekend of amazing reads, free books and goodies galore. The AAD RU is the ONLY convention our there designed FOR readers, BY authors to not break your bank and give you that oh so precious face time with some of your favorite and new favorite authors.

Registration is $140 and INCLUDES 5 MEALS! That's right! no paying extra for meals OR ALCOHOL! You read right, this year we are offering FREE ALCOHOL (Wine and mixed Drinks) courtesy of participating authors, groups and publishers through the entire event! Can't find that at ANY other convention!

What can you expect at this con? Panels designed for reader participation, mini events chock full of goodies and insider info, parties filled with gifts and free books and two evening events sure to keep you smiling! This year we will have a Games night with everything from Romance Pictionary to The Mystical Mavens gypsy tent where you can get free fortune telling! Our Masquerade Ball this year will be a Theme of Literary Characters, and you could win a 50$ gift Certificate to BN or Borders for best costume!

You can expect panels for all sorts of subjects in romance INCLUDING the ONLY GLBT track for panels in mainstream romance cons! Progressive? No, but we open our doors to all!

And BOOKS! This year you can expect TONS of book giveaways from Kensington, Ballentine, Dorchester, Tease Publishing, Changeling Press, MLR Press, and many more! The publishers are being very generous this year, you do not wanna miss out!

Other goodies? Door prizes from some of the best in the business including Jacquelyn Frank, Joey W Hill, Susan Sizemore and more! How about parties galore and tons of premium promo giveaways!?

And Did we mention the BOOK SIGNING? 3 hours on Saturday where you can get your favorite books signed and pick up others from some of your new favorites! And guess what? there's a Wine and Sign snack party going on during as well!

For those authors and aspiring authors attending, we haven't forgotten about you either! We have a few panels on writing craft, AND will be offering Editor appointments Friday and Saturday, from editors from such houses as Kensington, Ballentine, Tease Publishing, Phaze, MLR Press, Samhain and several others. This is the perfect event to get yourself in front of editors looking for YOU!

See something for everyone? And best of all it WONT BREAK YOUR BANK T ATTEND!

Now, the details:

When: Sept. 16-19 2010, Harmon Meadow Holiday Inn, Secaucus NJ
Registration: $140 includes 5 meals
Rooms: $109 a night, double occupancy
FREE shuttle to and from Newark Airport AND Secaucus Junction Train station

Attending Authors:

• Allie Boniface
• Alexandra Ivy (Tentative)
  
• Anne Cain
• Barbara Sheridan
• Bronwyn Greene
• Bianca D'Arc
• Cara North
• Caridad Pineiro
• Carol Lynne
• Cat Johnson
• Cathy Clamp / Cat Adams
• Celia Kyle
• Diana Castilleja
• Diane Merlin
• Eliza Gayle
• Elizabeth Amber
• Elizabeth Darvill
• Jacquelyn Frank
• Jade Falconer
• Jennifer Armintrout
• Jessica Andersen
• Joey W. Hill
• JoLynne Valerie
• Judi Fennell
• K.A. Mitchell
• K.A.Laity/C. Margery Kempe
• Kayleigh Jamison
• Kris Norris
• K.T. Pinto
• Larissa Ione (tentative)
  
• Laura Baumbach
• Leanna Renee Hieber
• Leigh Ellwood
• MK Mancos
• Mechele Armstrong
• Mia Watts
• Rosemary Laurey
• Samantha Sommersby
• Selena Illyria
• Skyler Grey
• Stella and Audra Price
• Stephanie Julian
• Susan Sizemore
• Tilly Greene

*Spots still open for the Authors... but only until JUNE 28th 2010. Contact Stella Via the WEBSITE to be included on the author list!*

Editors attending:

• Alicia Condon, Kensington Books
• Kate Collins, Ballentine
• Tonya Nagle, Tease Publishing LLC
• Kat Lively, Phaze Books
• Kris Jacen, MLR Press

FULL LIST JULY 1st!

So what are you waiting for? Space is limited to 200 people this year (And if we hit that, then next year will be Bigger and longer!) so get your registration in today! To Register, simply visit our website: AAD Romance Unlimited and click on register. Any questions or if your a publisher that would like to work with us this year, contact Stella at blueflamesabove@yahoo.com

New release coming up!

So on Saturday, we have a new book coming out in E book. You Burn Me is our novella about side character Dante Barratt, and the sexy witch that sets his world on its ear. It is a cute and sexy tale, far different from anything else we have written and Im hoping you guys enjoy it.

Here is the blurb:

A priestess of The Morrigan, Xxieda Rolla is a woman who has known success in her business, fulfillment in her family life and is only missing one thing: the love of the man that would have her for always. Sent to Shadow Heights New York by her goddess to find him, she meets the ever tasty, ever surly Dante Barratt. Sparks fly, and so does Amaretto Latte.

Dante, a dealer of rare and illegal commodities, and a very tempestuous fire demon might want the woman who's brown eyes haunt him, but knows better then to get involved with someone who just screams purity. Shes hot, and successful in ways he never could be, and knows a man that just gave away his soul like he did didn't deserve a woman like that.

After a chance encounter on a dark street corner, and an earth shattering kiss, Both are powerless to deny the chemistry between them... until Xxieda tells him her secret: shes a virgin.

Caught between his head and his heart, can Dante accept the fact that Fate sometimes gives us exactly what we really need, not what we think we want?

So you wanna help us celebrate this release, hangout and maybe win some cool goodies? Im going to be doing a small twitter party on next monday, so stay tuned for the info! Ill be giving away tons of goodies, from books to promo. So stay tuned!

Winner

Ok well I have been super busy the past two days so Imma pull two names from the last post for winners...

So S7anna and Cathy M are my two winners. email me at stella@stellaandaudra.com with your snail mail addy and Ill send your stuff out this weekend.

back to the grind!

RT Recap: Friday! (with costumes!)

Yesterday's winner was Carol L. Email me at stella@stellaandaudra.com and Ill get your goodies out.

Friday was my busy day. I had a panel in the morning, Club RT party, expo after that and then the big party for the night. Friday was stella's steampunk day, and I wore my cute steampunk outfits (and YES, I wear these as normal clothing, I dont dress up for photo shoots and play poser, I just dont wear my goggles all the time.)

So this is my day clothes, and yes, I was SUPER comfortable.

This was my awesome evening outfit. Yes, the Skirt is from ChicStar, and it was the BEST BEST BEST thing to compliment the full outfit. I dont think I could find a better fitting and breatable skirt for this (cuz lets face it, DAMN I was trussed up!)

There are tons of pictures of me floating about from the Vamp ball, but heres a bunch of others from my freinds:




Cool right? We had a great time. Saturday is coming up... and it was the best day, the signing!

So todays question: What would you wear to the vamp ball if you didnt have to be a vamp?

RT Recap: Thursday.

Monday's winner is Sandy Jay. Email me at stella@stellaandaudra.com and I'll get your addy.

Thursday was a lot of fun. Since I didnt have anything major to do, I did a lot of walking around, had some lunch with Bianca D'Arc and Tilly Greene, and collected promo goodies.

Thursday night we had the Faerie Ball, and I was a faun. Infact I was videoed during the farie ball with my wicked horns on. Yes they were heavy, but damn did they look good. So heres some pictures:








From top: Stella (in the horns) Ash and Liz Darvill, some of the readers in their faerie garb, Liz darvill and Andrew Shaeffer, and Delilah Marvelle with Andrew Shaffer. Andrew was a Mr. Romance contestant but he wasn't the kinda Mr. Romance I detest. He is a writer, and his Non Fiction is coming out in Jan 2011 with Harper Perennial.

I had to take those horns off though mid party, and put on a set of smaller ones. But Damn were they awesome to wear.

So If you went to Faerie Ball, what would you dress up in? Remember this is for a book and some goodies, so have at it!

RT Recap and the beginning of the weeklong contest!

Well I'm somewhat more relaxed after the whirlwind that was RT this year. It was quite possibly the best one i have been to, by way of Hotel, parties and people. the Bookseller this year was only interested in getting the top three authors books, and the rest of us were fucked. Still, I sold out of Entwined by Fate, Hung out with some awesome people, got the word out about weresnakes and rocked all my cute clothes. So shall we get on with it?

So, today we will deal with wed. We got in really early, dropped off the gift baskets to the Bookseller room and the Club RT, then rocked to the airport to pick Liz up. It went quickly and then we were back at the hotel, Fondue getting everything up to the room and Liz and I rocking to registration. I had two panels on wed, the writing with a partner one (which was super fun, LOVE the ladies I did the panel with!) and then a promotional panel with Bianca, Flash and D. Renee Bagby. It was fun and I hope people learned a lot, we were spitting out info left and right.

We then got ready for the EC party. what an interesting time that was. I have to be honest, i could care less about the mens getting nekkid on stage, it was much more fun to grab swag and hangout with the people I knew laughing at the guys onstage. Cuz it was funny.

After that was the Mad Hatter's tea party. So much fun, a lot of goodness and goodies. I had a great time, though I hadn't slept since 530 AM the day before. Needless to say I went to my room and passed right out. It was a lot of fun. And a perfect beginning of the week for me.

So... About that contest. I'm giving away A book a day from Today to Friday, and some swag too. I didn't get a HUGE amount of books this year, but I did get some. To win one, just comment here.

Home from RT

And its hectic. Ill be posting tomorrow, once i get my brain all together, and figure out what goodies I got too. Im going to rock this week of goodies on the blog... and you guys will get to win fabulous prizes and books. So it all starts tomorrow.