Authors After Dark Savannah - 2013 (Friday).

I love the ribbon scavenger hunt that occurs at AAD.  Several authors have ribbons printed out with fun slogans pertaining to their books.  The object is to try to collect them all.  Here is one attendee who was quite successful.

Friday morning the first panel I attended was Witches (Joey Hill, Heather Long, Rebecca Zanetti, Sasha White.)

Is there a market for witches? Publishers are thinking a few years ahead.  What is popular now, may not be in a few years.  The panelists advised to market yourself and your name.  (If you're a writer that is.) Independent publishers are more flexible.  Sasha said that she writes what she wants to presently write.  Heather added that people want to read good books.  Whether it's vampires, witches, etc.  The market is a good story.

The authors then talked about why they wrote about witches.  Heather stated that a female witch is empowered.  Rebecca writes what she wants to read.  Witches are fun and she wanted to explore on the fringe of what's possible.  Joey uses knowledge from her Wiccan training.  Her witches are instructional, down to earth.  Her character is a teacher. Heather is also Wiccan and grew up watching Bewitched.  She found a book called, The Changeover by Margaret Mahy and wanted to write *that* book.   When Sasha was a kid, she wanted to be psychic.  However, if she wasn't she could create someone who was.

For all the fun in magic however, Steph stated that magic has to have a cost or it's hard to believe.  Rebecca's magic obeys the law of physics.  For example in her world, you can't change a person into a frog, it doesn't make sense, they're not the same size.  Also, their witches don't always win a fight.  In some of their worlds, the more you rely on your magic, the more it corrupts.

So do the authors believe in magic?  Joey said absolutely.  "Wicca is my Faith.  It's prayer and energy.  Magic is a science not yet explained."  Rebecca also believes in magic and reminded us that we only use about 12% of our brain and pointed out that there is a lot out there we don't see and understand.  Heather also said yes and told us the beautiful memory of the first moments of holding her daughter.  It was so touching and difficult to dispute that it indeed was magic.

Laura from Little Read Riding Hood talks to the authors.

Next I went to Kick Ass, Take Names (Amanda Carlson, Dianna Love, Kendall Grey, Kait Ballenger,  Jeri Smith-Ready, moderated by Amanda Bonilla.)

How do these authors craft a good fight? Jeri's heroine Ciara from her WVMP Series fights more with her brain.  However, in the last book she picks up a weapon.  Jeri does research and puts herself in the shoes of the character. She takes it moment by moment and uses all the senses in her writing.  Kendall's heroine is a biologist, so she uses her brain as well.  Kait states that the key to fight scenes is tension.  She is concise and doesn't use a lot of description.  She also relies on her martial arts background.  Amanda loves writing action scenes and told us that they play out in her mind.  Amanda B. can write a fight scene in a matter of minutes.  "YouTube is my best friend.  I pay a lot of attention to movement."

"Being kick ass doesn't always mean a punch in the face."

Jeri further discussed Ciara, who is a former con artist and understands how to manipulate people.  Her way of kicking ass is to come up with schemes to save lives.  Kendall's character's strength comes from her heart.  She is a regular person and doesn't have to have magic to do that.  Kait's female characters struggle with how physically strong they are and how mentally strong they are.  Amanda's heroine is new to her powers and her strength is how she's figuring it out.  Diana's character is always tested and that is how she grows emotionally.

Similar to the Villains panel the question of whether there is a threshold was asked.  Do the authors draw a line?  Cait's books havent had a violence threshold.  They are pretty violent.  Amanda C. told us that her books are not dark.  "I like happy."  Dianna writes dark.  Her action scenes switch as to who gets the upper hand.  It's part of the plot.  However, her torture scenes happen off the page.  Jeri has a  different threshold when writing YA.  But in her adult books she delves into the repercussions.  One thing with violence is to show the effects.  Kendall doesn't have a threshold but her editor does.

Jen (Twimom) from That's What I'm Talking About brought up the topic of torture off scene vs. active participation and the differences in writing torture vs. fight scenes.

"Action propels the story.  Torture lends itself to emotional growth."

Jeri treats torture very seriously.  She explained there is a lot of forms of torture.  She talked about how isolation can be a form of torture and that is why solitary confinement is considered such a severe punishment.  Kendall hasn't written a lot of physical torture, but does use emotional torture.  Kait thinks a torture scene is harder to write than a fight scene.  It's difficult when a character is incapable of standing up for themself.  In her Romance books, Dianna only uses torture off scene, but in her UF she utilizes it a bit more.

How much do they pay attention to societal tropes?  Dianna explained that when you're writing a strong woman, you need to make her believable and relatable.  Strong women are not necessarily ballbusters.  Amanda doesn't pay attention, she just writes the character as does Kendall.  Amanda B. says that women are more judgemental.  She has to ask herself why the character is behaving this way?  She writes bitchy females, but there is a reason.  Jeri feels that any character that is not a straight white male is judged on how they represent their group.  Characters who are female or a minority are not judged by as a person but as a group.

Other panels I attended were Spontaneously Paranormal, Post Apocalyptic and You and The Unlikely Hero.   After the panels there was a Blogger Gathering and a Steampunk Tea.  (I went back and forth to both rooms.)

Steampunk  Tea

Annie from Booked and Loaded.

Leanna Renee Hieber.

The Vampire Ball was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.  I loved seeing everyone's costumes and creativity.

Joey Hill.

Winner of the costume contest. 

Someone's cool purse.  I wants it!

I didn't sign up for an author table, but I ended up sitting with Kat Mancos.  She had an awesome gift basket for one lucky winner seated with us and she also had other prizes for everyone at the table.  

Chelsea from Vampire Book Club & Laura from Little Read Riding Hood.  

Jess Haines, (unknown), Lia Haber, Kristen Painter. 

I was sorry not to have gotten more pictures of the awesome bloggers I met.  Things were so busy! I had to leave Saturday morning so I missed the author signing and the party. However, I was able to pack in a lot of activities and fun during the time I was there.  If anyone reading this is wondering whether Authors After Dark is worth it, I can tell you that it is!  Especially if you are a fan of even one or two of the authors who attend, enjoy interesting panels, fun events and meeting great people.

Don't forget to sign up for the 2014 Authors After Dark Challenge hosted by me and Bookswagger!

Authors After Dark Savannah - 2013 (Thursday.)

I'm a terrible, horrible, lazy, naughty blogger.  The blogger police won't have to come after me because I am just going to turn myself in to them.  Yes, finally, after months of procrastinating and avoiding questions of where my pictures are, here is my recap of Authors After Dark Savannah.

The event took place at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront.  The hotel was right next to the Savannah River and the back patio looked out on the water and the riverfront, with shops, stores and tour companies was within walking distance.

The first panel I went to on Thursday Morning was Tying Up Loose Ends (Jeri Smith-Ready, Pip Ballantine, Lynn Rush, Kate Douglas, Bianca D'Arc, Rebecca Zanetti), which was a discussion of completing a story or series without leaving the readers (or the authors) frustrated from unanswered questions.  An attendee stated that she gets upset when there is a book one and two and then no book three.  The panelists explained that it's not always the author's fault, since sometimes the publishers don't buy or publish a third book.

One way that authors can combat this and stay in their created world is to write spin offs or self publish. "A spin off is a way to stay in the world.  I worked on this world and I didn't want to give it up." Kate Douglas told us.

Zanetti stated that readers may be comfortable with a familiar world so it's important to include something new in spinoff.  She personally likes to turn it on it's head and surprise readers so they don't get too comfortable.

One attendee asked if any of the authors are influenced by readers.  Do they see if they're ready for a certain kind of ending.  The authors do look at feedback and newsletters that asked what questions did you want answered.  Sometimes it can be a lighbulb moment.

Rebecca revealed that she already knows how the story will be resolved but sometimes you have to be careful so you don't write yourself in a corner.

The authors also pointed out that as a writer it is good to have a re-bound book right after a series, maybe a stand-alone.

The next panel I attended was Gothic Romance (Clare Ashgrove, Erin Quinn, Erin Kellison.) A Gothic tale usually includes a ghostly element, they are dark and moody and hinge on horror. They also almost always include secrets.

The heroine in a Gothic tale is usually a virginal kind of maiden and are not like an Urban Fantasy heroine, who is usually a bad-ass.  Setting is also important, but if you are writing a modern story, it's more of a feeling.  Gothic stories have moddy elements that hinge on horror and evocative descriptions and emotions.

The authors discussed their books and what makes their works Gothic in nature.  Clare writes about Azazel, a demon, as the main guy in her books.  Erin Kellison's Shadow Kissed series sounds very interesting.  Magic is slowly creeping back into this world. It's a new Dark Age, not be confused with the Dark Ages.  She stated that there are no monsters, but it is dark and creepy.

The weirdest thing they've ever done for research?  Clare Ashgrove called a male friend at 2 a.m. to ask him to explain what sex felt like from a male point of view.  Clare also said she spent three months with a fire department.  Erin sat in a gas chamber at a penitentiary. (Yipes!)

Of course, I had to attend Vamps (Joey Hill, CJ Ellison, Jess Haines, Rebecca Zanetti, Mary Janice Davidson) and as the panel title reveals the authors discussed how they utilize vampires in their novels.

Joey discussed that in her books there is a vampire/servant relationship and she compared it to the same dynamic as in the movie Fright Night and went on to gush about the dance scene in that movie.  (Which is awesome by the way.)  Jess Haines writes Urban Fantasy and ever since she saw Blade (which we all know is awesome), she needed a vampire hunter of her own.  Her main character, however, is phobic of vamps.  Jess told us that people get annoyed with her heroine, but Shiarra makes her laugh.  Mary Janice Davidson also mentioned Fright Night, specifically the love song from the movie.  (Which is awesome by the way.)  She wrote her book because she kept running into the same vampire in the bookstores.  She couldn't relate to the rich, young hot vampires.  She wondered where the secretary vampires were.  That's how Betsy was born.

The panel discussed the blood drinking habits of their particular characters and questions were raised, such as "If vampires never truly die, do they lose their soul?"  Hmmm.

Rebecca sat down to write a romantic suspense and her hero kept wanting to bite.  Her vampires  are born, not made and her witches use Quantum Physics. She feels that magic is science we haven't been able to explain...yet.

Why vampires?  Joey Hill repeated she was inspired by Fright Night (Remember when I said it was awesome?), and Anita Blake.  Her publisher wanted something supernatural so Joey came up with her Vampire Queen series.

CJ loved reading about vampires, but got tired of the tropes and the angst and wanted to read about a real couple.  She feels that you can make the vampire legend anything you want, as long as you stick to some tradition.  She also likes vampires because they have more flexibility. 

Jess had been writing a "bad trilogy" and wasn't having fun.  Then she started writing for herself and Hunted by Others was born.

How long did it take for their worlds to come into being?  Mary Janice said that sometimes as she's writing she thinks of a better ending or villain.  She also didn't plan for 13 books.  Jessica doesn't outline and because of that can sometimes write herself into a corner. She admitted she is very OCD and uses spreadsheets that she doesn't deviate too much from.

Joey hates the world building.  She just wants to focus on the relationships.  Sometimes she'll ask her fans because they are like a search engine.  CJ keeps a notebook by her bed.  Jess uses the notes app on her phone and has been known to write on things with eyeliner.  Rebecca uses sticky notes and sometimes asks her husband at inappropriate times what he is feeling at that exact moment.

Next up was Horror in Romance

(CJ Ellison, Saranna De Wylde, Isabella Drake).  Horror is my favorite genre, but Romance is kind of far down on my list, so I was very interested in this panel. The authors started with a discussion of why they wrote Horror.

CJ simply loved the dark aspects of books.  From violence to themes of how characters were portrayed.  She didn't know she was writing Horror. Her main character, Viv, is a dark creature.  Her husband pulls her back from the edge. CJ enjoys writing the scarier scenes, but she feels readers need to connect with the characters and their human side.  Isabelle is not sure why her writing went this way, but her books are quite dark and not the kind of thing she thought she would write.  Saranna uses horror as a transformative tool.  Her character is a serial killer.  Isabella described her books as a Faustian bargain.

I thought Saranna's reason for writing Horror was interesting.  She saw The Exorcist and wanted to make people "feel this."  She also expressed that love just doesn't solve everything.  Although the movies and television and many books give us this message, it's not necessarily true in real life.  I haven't been able to read Saranna's books yet, but I'm interested in how this view translates to her stories.

The last panel I attended was The Big Bad Villains (Jennifer Estep, Claire Ashgrove, Dianna Love Jean Joachim, Kristen Painter). This was a very spirited session. Maybe because it was the end of the day or maybe it was just the fun subject matter.

The panelists discussed what kind of villains they liked to write.  Jennifer Estep prefers to write a typical villain, the moustache twirling kind.  But she likes them to be as appealing as her heroes.  Clare prefers her villains to be morally ambiguous.  She doesn't want her readers to like them.  Dianna likes her villains to be evil, but human so that the reader can connect to them.  Because, she clarified, that is scary. Jean feels villains need to have a backstory so readers understand them.  Kristen told us that the big bad in her House of Commare series gives her great joy.  "She is a crazy, fun chick to write." Painter says.  She feels that women have a deviousness that lends itself to good villainy.

The topic then progressed to Male vs. Female villains. Kristen feels that female villains are more dimensional.   She explained, "I guess you don't expect a female to be that bad."  Jean has two female villains and explained she uses whatever fits the stories.  Jennifer goes back and forth.  She feels that  female villains have a different dynamic.  They are more devious as well as fun to write.  She likes to alternate but if it's over a series, more tend to write a female.

A great question came up:  Have you ever fallen in love with a villain and let them live? Clare said no, because they have a role they must fill.  Dianna stated that if her villains cross a line they must pay.  You're going to want them get their come-uppance.  However, Jean's answer was yes!  And, she named Gunther Quill.  As he went on in her stories he became more than what was in her mind.  He charmed her (the FMC) and he charmed me."

Since Kristen is not a plotter, a lot of things are a surprise to her.  "I write to see what is going to happen next." (How cool is that?).  She explained that a character can get redeemed because of what you show in their past.  She likes to give them a glimpse of humanity to make reader's question. 

A discussion followed of whether they have their villains cross "that line."  Kristen stated that she is willing to cross it, but the character has to pay.  Dianna also said her villains will cross a line.  She also warned that your hero has to be as big as your villain.  Clare said there is a line but she writes dark so the line is pretty far and there's no coming back.  Jennifer's villains are already over the line.  So then, there's no eddying up to the line.  The important element is that it's not really about the villain, it's how the hero/heroine reacts to the villain.

Favorite villains?  Estep said that Batman has great villains and she especially likes the Joker because he is chaos.  "Someone real." Clare said.  She went on to explain that she meant the kind of people who didn't mean to screw up your life, but they did and they don't regret it.  Dianna's favorite villain: Hannibal Lechter.  They screw with your mind. Jean named Catherine du Bourg (Pride and Prejudice) or the father from Persuasion because they try to hurt the heroine and they are very real.  They are the people who are supposed to love you, but belittle you bit by bit.

To keep their villains from being cliched, Kristen says that they need to show motivation and background.  Jean expanded on that idea by stating you have to understand where the villain is coming from.  You may not agree, but you understand.  Sometimes people are driven to actions by circumstances.   Dianne keeps her villains real by giving him or her goals, motivations and by surprising the reader.  Clare gives her villains a strong goal and also gives them a characteristic people can identify with.

Then there was an audience discussion of whether readers want to see the villains get it in the end.  There were mixed reactions.  Jennifer stated that death is sometimes too easy.  She is always surprised to see who readers like or don't like.

That evening there was a carnival in the hotel with authors holding booths to win prizes. The Erotic ring toss was popular (I took pictures, but I won't post for fear Blogger will banish my blog) and there was also a slide, roulette, face painting, temporary tattoos, and cotton candy (yum).

Later that night, I did a Savannah Ghost Tour and was regaled by awesome cool ghost tales including, yep, you guessed it, the famous fountain from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Don't forget to sign up for the 2014 Authors After Dark Challenge hosted by me and Bookswagger!

Authors After Dark 2014 Reading Challenge.

Welcome to the Authors After Dark 2014 Reading Challenge and Sign up Page.

Hosted by Midnyte Reader and Bookswagger.

The goal of this challenge is to let readers, whether you are going to AAD 2014 in Charlotte, NC, or not, get better acquainted with some of the authors who will be attending this event.

Sometimes I go to conferences that feature authors who I am unfamiliar with. Then, when I read their books later I want to kick myself for not reading their work sooner, so I could have talked to them about their stories, gotten a book signed or just gushed properly.

Stella Price, the organizer of Authors After Dark was kind enough to give me the green light to host the challenge again this year and Robin from RLD Design, the AAD website designer provided the button.  Thank you Stella and Robin!

To find out more about Authors After Dark 2014 visit their website!

To sign up for the Challenge please read the following carefully:

GUIDELINES:

•You can sign up here at Midnyte Reader or at Bookswagger.

•This Challenge will run from September 1, 2013  through August 10, 2014, the last day of the AAD 2014 Conference.

•You can join at anytime during the year.

•Anyone can participate (not just book bloggers). If you don't have a blog: You can link to Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, etc.  The easiest way may be to make a separate shelf for this Challenge or a post.  Links back to the Challenge are appreciated and will help others if they would like more information.

•If you are using Facebook for this challenge, please write a post (you can just use a few sentences) about the Challenge.  Links back to the Challenge are appreciated and will help others if they would like more information.  When you review a book or short story, please do not write a sentence or two.  Please write a full review, even if it is just a few few paragraphs.  

TO SIGN UP:

•Write a post about this challenge on your blog with a link back to this post or the sign up post at Bookswagger.

•Include a list of the AAD 2014 books you hope to read in anticipation of the Charlotte conference. You can check out the authors on the AAD 2014 website HERE. Please note that your list is not written in stone! You can change it at anytime.

•Grab the button and add it to your post or sidebar.

<a href="http://www.midnytereader.com/2013/09/authors-after-dark-2014-reading.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://s1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/ReadingChallenge-4.jpg"></a>

•Sign up on Mr. Linky below. Please make sure your sign up link goes to your 2014 AAD Reading Challenge post, or your list on Goodreads, Facebook, etc.  Please do not just link to your blog.  (If you link to your main blog page, unfortunately it will be deleted.) 

  
My Book Goals for this Challenge:
~As Lie the Dead by Kelly Meding
~Another Kind of Dead by Kelling Meding
~Wrong Side of Dead by Kelly Meding
~Requiem for the Dead by Kelly Meding

~Darkest Edge of Dawn, The by Kelly Gay
~Hour of Dust and Ashes, The by Kelly Gay
~Shadows Before The Sun by Kelly Gay

~Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter
~Bad Blood by Kristen Painter
~Out for Blood by Kristen Painter
~Last Blood by Kristen Painter


Sign up for the Challenge below!

To post a review for the Challenge click HERE. 

Please note that I am simply attending AAD 2014 and am not affiliated with the event, nor am I receiving any compensation for hosting this challenge.

Authors After Dark 2013 Reading Challenge

Welcome to the Authors After Dark 2013 Reading Challenge and Sign up Page.

The goal of this challenge is to let readers, whether you are going to AAD 2013 in Savannah or not, get better acquainted with some of the authors who will be attending this event.

Sometimes I go to conferences that feature authors who I am unfamiliar with. Then, when I read their books later I want to kick myself for not reading their work sooner, so I could have talked to them about their stories, gotten a book signed or just gushed properly.

Stella Price, the organizer of Authors After Dark was kind enough to give me the green light to host the challenge again this year and Robin from RLD Design, the AAD website designer provided the button.  Thank you Stella and Robin!

To find out more about Authors After Dark 2013 visit their website!

To sign up for the Challenge please read the following carefully:

GUIDELINES:

•This Challenge will run from now, November 1, 2012 through August 18, 2013, the last day of the AAD 2013 Conference.

•Furthermore, if you have read any books since the end of AAD 2012 NOLA (August 13, 2012), they will count retroactively and you can add them to the 2013 Challenge.

•You can join at anytime during the year.

•Anyone can participate (not just book bloggers). If you don't have a blog: You can link to Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, etc. Added 12/6/12: The easiest way may be to make a seperate shelf for this Challenge or a post.  Links back to the Challenge are appreciated and will help others if they would like more information.

•If you are using Facebook for this challenge, please write a post (you can just use a few sentences) about the Challenge. Added 12/6/2012: Links back to the Challenge are appreciated and will help others if they would like more information.  When you review a book or short story, please do not write a sentence or two.  Please write a full review, even if it is just a few few paragraphs.  

TO SIGN UP:

•Write a post about this challenge on your blog with a link back to this post.

•Include a list of the AAD 2013 books you hope to read in anticipation of the Savannah Conference. You can check out the authors on the AAD 2013 website HERE. Please note that your list is not written in stone! You can change it at anytime.

•Grab the button and add it to your post or sidebar.

 


<a href="http://www.midnytereader.com/2012/11/authors-after-dark-2013-reading.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://s1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/ReadingChallenge-3.jpg"></a>

•Sign up on Mr. Linky below. Please make sure your sign up link goes to your 2013 AAD Reading Challenge post, or your list on Goodreads, Facebook, etc.  Please do not just link to your blog.  (If you link to your main blog page, unfortunately it will be deleted.) 

  
My Book Goals for this Challenge:
~Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber
~Darkest Edge of Dawn, The by Kelly Gay
~Deadtown by Nancy Holzner
~Hour of Dust and Ashes, The by Kelly Gay
~Shadows Before The Sun by Kelly Gay
~Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep
~Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge
~Undead And Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson


Sign up for the Challenge below!

To post a review for the Challenge click HERE. 

Check out the Authors After Dark 2013 Mini-Challenges page. 

Please note that I am simply attending AAD 2013 and am not affiliated with the event, nor am I receiving any compensation for hosting this challenge.