Howdy folks!
I’m back in Greensburg, believe it or not! I came home to a dusty, but intact, apartment. Yay! Then I had TWO FULL DAYS of meetings for the day job. It was intense! But great seeing my colleagues again, all of whom are awesome.
But that’s not what you want to hear about. You want to hear about Authors After Dark! And see all the pictures I took, right?
Wellllllllllll….imma tell you about my photography skillz.
I have none.
So I took all these wonky-assed, out of focus, ridiculously far away photos of stuff that amused me at the time, but now I a) can’t think why and b) am not really sure what they are.
Which is why there will be my USUAL DEARTH OF PHOTOGRAPHS on this blog post. Because I suck.
AAD, on the other hand, DID NOT SUCK. It was, in fact, SO MUCH FUN! So fun I have to use all caps AND exclamation marks. There was just such a great vibe at the con: everyone was super enthusiastic, eager to be there and meet each other and the authors, and generally just be happy and enthusiastic. I had a blast meeting everyone, and hanging out with people, and I don’t know what else to say except it was GOOD.
There was much laughter, quite a bit of food consumed, some raunchy readings, many panels, I put the slap down as a moderator on occasion, and incited some pinnings of pensises on our poor founding fathers. To top it all off, there was also a film crew, filming a documentary about the romance community. So all in all it was a surreal, but fabulous, experience.
I will definitely be rocking out AAD 2012 in NOLA, my fave city. That said, it’s gonna be hotter than the hubs of hell, but you’re supposed to sweat in NOLA. If you ain’t sweatin’, you ain’t doin’ it right. 
So that’s all she wrote about AAD. It’s not that I don’t have more to say, but it’s already been AGES, and everyone else and their mother has done AWESOME blog posts on everything that happened (with pictures! That don’t suck!). So if you’re intrigued, just follow the #aad2011 hashtag on twitter and it’ll lead you to many blog posts.
But it DID rock, and if you’re on the fence about coming next year, don’t be. Get off that fence and get to New Orleans!
Now, because I don’t have any of my OWN GODDAMNED PICTURES BECAUSE I SUCK, I’m going to share with you what has to be my favorite piece of fan art yet. I know, I say every new piece is my favorite, but that’s because it is!
I bet you readers will know exactly where this scene comes from, no?
This was made by Regan Johnson (blog and website) and I adore it! It’s now my wallpaper on my laptop.
I totally get a kick out of stuff like this, so whenever you’ve made anything Jane related, lemme know! I’ll pimp it on the blog. Because one of the things AAD and RomCon reminded me of is that I have the coolest fans ever. They’re people I like hanging out with, people who inevitably get me since they get my books, and people whom I’m lucky to have in my corner.
So VIVA LA FANS! In honor of you all, I’m going to do a contest. Just comment here about anything you like that authors do. Do you like when we blog? Do book groups? Do you like newsletters? Tweets? What? Let me know, as I’m always trying to figure out new ways to reach out to you and get you the information you desire.
So comment below, and on Monday, August 22, at 8:00 AM ET, I’ll randomly pick THREE winners (lucky number three!) who can pick ANY MASS MARKET PAPERBACK (the kind that are $7.99 or under) on Amazon and I’ll have it shipped directly to your door. Sound good? That’s ANY mass market paperback: it doesn’t have to be mine, or UF, or whatever. I can also ship it to your kindle if that’s how you roll.
I heart you guys! GROUP HUG!!! *slobbers*
