I’m home from the whirlwind that was Authors After Dark Philly 2011. For those who didn’t know I was away, the fact there were barely any tweets, facebook posts or blog updates is usually an indication I’ve ventured out into the world–or I’m on deadline and actually working instead of procrastinating. The entire month of August to date I’ve been both, away (twice) and on deadline. But now I’m back and bringing you a quickie AAD Philly in a nutshell.

The Wonderful-

* My UNRIDDEN won Best Western Romance of the Year in AAD’s first annual Bookie Awards!!!

* In addition to reconnecting with old friends, I got to meet (and sometimes even hug) in person readers, reviewers, bloggers and authors I’ve only met online. One had even handmade a belt of tiny book covers and came over to show me one of the book covers was mine! My Red, Hot & Blue story, TREY, will live forever as a belt link. So cool! My friend took a picture. My cover is in the bottom row, 4th from the left.

The Memorable (and sometimes surreal) –

* Being asked by one of the hotel guests if we were with the “corset convention”. It was of course a romance convention however romance writers like to dress up, day and night and corsets are a wardrobe staple. No I didn’t wear one (unless you count the denim bustier–mentioned below).

* Being out on the sidewalk in front of the hotel on Broad Street in Philly near midnight in my PJs. Why was I out and about in PJs? Because we’d gone to bed and were reading the tweets from downstairs about the incredibly freaky Carnival Sideshow act (whips, contortionist, bed of nails, walking on broken glass, nails in the nose, fish hooks in the eyes, etc) performing for the Steampunk Ball. We had to go down and see. I didn’t bother changing… It made sense at the time.

* The costumes!! All the attendees were amazing and creative and yes I’ll admit costumes are kind of fun to wear. I put on the fake eye lashes with elf ears and wings for my faery costume one night, and my gunbelt and denim bustier with my bustled skirt for the Steampunk night.

* The on-site tattoo artists who worked probably 18 hours a day they were so busy. So fun watching my fellow author get her first one and looking for all the attendees sporting their new ink. I was briefly tempted to get my second but he was booked solid.

* Ah, and let’s not forget the great Philly Cheesesteak debate–Provolone vs Cheese Whiz. What’s your choice? We learned you do NOT ask a true Philadelphian that question or you get a long, animated lecture.

That’s about it. There were lots of panels–my two (Military Men and Menage and More) both went really well. There was definitely not enough sleep, but that’s the price of fun, I guess! Next year–AAD NOLA! The French Quarter in New Orleans? Hell yeah! I’ll see you there.