biancadarc.com Blog

Radio Show Today!

Sorry for the short notice but I’ll be calling in to the Authors After Dark Blog Talk Radio Show today, along with a few of the other authors who will be attending the conference in September. The show starts at 1pm Eastern time, but we’ll be chatting in the chat room on the site starting around 12:30 if you want to pop in.

Here’s the correct link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/booksbeyondtheboundaries

Hope to see you there!

Authors After Dark Conference Info

Just want to make you all aware of a great event coming in September… Here’s the Press Release:

Authors After Dark Is coming sooner then you think! Are you a blogger? or an aspiring author? a Reader with a voracious love of books? Well AAD is the con for you! Designed by authors FOR readers, AAD is the only con that doesn’t break your bank! Its the cheapest con around that FEEDS YOU 5 MEALS for no additional fee!

Attendees this year will be treated to over 2400 free books, over 125 door prizes, several parties, mini events, workshops, tons of swag (and the good kind too!) photo opps, and tons of surprises!

And Aspiring writers? Small press authors? How would YOU like to get in front of a NY editor without the hassle of a big con’s appointment schedule? This year we are lucky to have several editors from Ballantine, Kensington, and Harlequin, as well as some of the small presses like MLR Press, Torquere, Tease Publishing, Phaze, Total E Bound and more. A full list will be up on the AAD site soon and appointments will be taken starting August 15th. The Catch? You MUST be registered by August 1st to participate, and each editor is ONLY taking 10 appointments.

Bloggers – We have some fantastic goodies for you. Special goodie bags FILLED with books (ARC’s, signed copies and Ltd Edition US books!) as well as the ability to engage your favorite authors for interviews and Q and A!

Check out everything on our website (http://aadromanceunlimited.com) and we hope to see you with us this year. You are in for a fantastic weekend!

RT Report

I’m back from the RT convention and have to say it was a lot of fun. I got to see many of my writing friends and a lot of readers, which is always great, but more importantly, I got out of the house on my first big road trip since my Mom’s death. It was so hard to do! But with my Dad as co-pilot, we shared our grief in missing her and somehow found a way to do the trip and participate, as much as we each could, in the event. I bought Dad a “companion” ticket to the convention so he could come to the parties. He enjoyed the two dinners – the Fairy Ball and the Vampire Ball – a great deal. Anytime there’s food, he’s usually happy.

My Mom LOVED to travel. In recent  years, she often came with me to events, not so she could participate, but so she could go somewhere new and sightsee or shop with my Dad while I did whatever it was I’d gone there to do. That’s why I think it was hardest on him not to have her with him on this trip. While I was doing workshops, he was all alone. I think he did a lot of sitting around in the hotel lobby “people watching”, which makes me sad. I look for things for him to do, but it’s hard. He’s still very devestated by the loss of the love of his life. They were married 54 years and all of those years were happy ones. They never fought and they had what I consider the perfect marriage. So her loss is impossible for him to deal with. He’s a lot older than she was, so we just always assumed he’d go first. Now that it’s turned out the way it has, we’re all scrambling to figure out how to deal with the new circumstances. It’s just awful.

But more about RT… lots of people had lost a lot of weight, which is great! The three that come to mind first are Jacki Frank (who had bariatric surgery last year), Mandy Roth and J.C. Wilder. All three ladies have lost considerable amounts of weight and look really good! I’m so happy for them! Meanwhile, none of my clothes fit properly. LOL! I seriously need to work on it. Next  year, I want to be one of those people that has lost enough weight so that people notice how great they look.

I’ll try to write more later. Now I really must get to work on my next zombie novel. It’s due soon and I’m behind! Wish me luck.

Signing Report

I just got back from a great event at the North Haven, CT Barnes & Noble. Unfortunately, I was way late to the event because of a tractor trailer fire on I-95. It was awful. I had left my home on Long Island in plenty of time. My GPS gave me an ETA of 12:30 until I got about 7 miles away from the place. Then I sat and sat and sat in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and a half just to get to the next exit in order to get off and make my way through the tangle of back streets. Yikes!

Once I actually got there, I found the event already in progress with quite a large audience. I missed most of the Q&A portion of the discussion but I did manage to talk to many readers and a few old friends. I was happy to see Susan Hanniford Crowley again. And I had the pleasure of sitting next to Kathryn Smith and my old friend, Cat Johnson. Isabelle Santiago was a total sweetheart and had a lot of friends at the store, which was really great. Stella Price was on the other side of the table with Kristen Higgans, Jessica Anderson and Karen Olsen. I didn’t get to really talk to the last three ladies, unfortunately.

There was more traffic on the ride home but I finally made it back to my laptop. Whew! I want to thank the organizers of the event for a lovely afternoon and apologize again for being late. Darnit. Traffic in the Northeast really sthinks sometimes.

My Apologies

To those who expected to see me at the group author signing in CT yesterday. Due to family issues, I couldn’t go. I tried. Truly. Up ’til the last minute, I tried to convince certain parties that we had to get out of the house and deal with our shared grief over the death of my Mother a little over a month and a half ago, but it just didn’t work. Although I’m beginning to feel like I need to start living again, my father is so lost in his grief, he can barely sleep and doesn’t want to go anywhere or do anything unless I literally force him into it.

I thought I’d be able to drag him along with me to this signing. I thought it would be good for both of us. But he’s not ready. He adamantly refused to budge and I couldn’t leave him alone in the mental state he was in at the time. It’s just him and me now – no other family in the area - no friends left in the area either. So I’ve become his de facto companion. Not something I ever envisioned happening, but there it is. *sigh*

I truly think he would have been okay to go if we hadn’t just had news a few days ago of the passing of a dear family friend. This person had been a friend of my mother’s since before I was born. They’d worked together in the 1960′s – they were both teachers – and the families had become friends. We spent many a holiday with their family in the ’80′s and ’90′s, and to hear of his death brought back those awful first few days after my Mom’s death for us. My father can’t even bring himself to go to the funeral.

So I apologize to those I missed yesterday and I particularly apologize to Stella Price, who set up the whole thing. I know it was a huge success and I only wish I’d been able to go. At this point, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go anywhere in the next few months. I’m taking one day at a time as much as possible. Thank you all for understanding.

AAD Registration Extended

The organizers asked me to post this – great news!…

Due to a glitch with the hotel, we were able to reopen registrationfor the Authors After Dark Paranormal weekend ’til Sept. 20th! So many fantastic authors have signed up to come, give away goodies and sign books on Saturday.

Registration is $175 and includes 4 meals, 2 parties(a candy shoppe PJ party and a Masquerade ball), a cocktail hour, a slew of reader focused events, Author-lead mini events and tons of free books and goodies! And we are even doing a charity raffle to benefit the ACN and a local no kill shelter, Pets Alive! we have over 25 gift baskets too!

Your room is $99 a night, double occupancy, and can be booked through the info on the AAD website on the Registration page.

So who is going to be there? Well…

Jacquelyn Frank, Sunny, Joey W. Hill,Stella and Audra Price, Bianca D’Arc, Rosemary Laurey, Jennifer Armintrout, Madeline Oh, Georgia Evans, Mechele Armstrong, Samantha Sommersby, Cat Johnson, Cathy Clamp, Eliza Gayle, Diana Castilleja, Leigh Ellwood, Tilly Greene, Selena Illyria, Stephanie Julian, Judi Fennell, Kayleigh Jamison, Donna Grant, Robin T. Popp, Linda Mooney, Mima, Teresa Noelle Roberts, and JoLynne Valerie

The authors are fantastic, the goodies are fantastic, the books are beyond a doubt amazing. We got the Authors, and the books, and the amazing events. All we need is YOU!

To register, join us at http://www.authorsafterdark.net/register.html We are looking forward to having you hangout with us this year and hope to see you there!

Party in the Cafe Tonight

Join me an Mari Carr tonight from 8-10pm eastern time on the Samhain Cafe Yahoo group. We’ll be answering questions, posting excerpts and chatting about our new releases from Samhain Publishing.

Click here to get to the Cafe. Hope to see you there!

Live Chat Tonight at Romance Junkies!

I’ll be featured in the Romance Junkies chat room tonight at 9pm eastern time. Myself and 2 other Samhain authors will be sharing the spotlight, so chances are I’ll have about 20 minutes to take center stage. I hope you’ll join me! RJ chats are always a blast and I’ll be talking about my upcoming Samhain release, GRADY’S AWAKENING.

Here’s the direct link to the chatroom: http://www.romancejunkies.com/chat.html

Hope to see you there!

Bianca Gets Interviewed

It’s in this month’s Samhellion: http://thesamhellion.com/2009/july/index.htm

It should be good for a smile or two.

AAD Weekend 10/23-25 – Sign up Now!

The Authors After Dark Paranormal Weekend is filling up fast! Sign up by August 1^st to get the lowest membership rate of $160 for the weekend. (After August 1^st, the membership goes to $175.)The event is being held at the Suffern, NY Holiday Inn, located conveniently about 1 hour from New York City and most of the area’s major airports. Guest include:

Jacquelyn Frank
Bianca D’Arc
Sunny
Joey W. Hill
Stella and Audra Price
Rosemary Laurey/Madeline Oh
Jennifer Armintrout
Georgia Evans
Mechele Armstrong
Samantha Sommersby
Cat Johnson
Cathy Clamp
Eliza Gayle
Diana Castilleja
Leigh Ellwood
Tilly Greene
Selena Illyria
Adra Steia
Stephanie Julian
Judi Fennell
Kayleigh Jamison
Donna Grant
Robin T. Popp
Linda Mooney

Area attractions include the phenomenal shopping at Woodbury Common and the Forest of Fear, held on the site of the New York State Renaissance Faire at Sterling Forest.

The convention is limited to 200 attendees so your “face time” with your favorite authors is maximized. We’re having loads of panel discussions, parties and a fantabulous dealer’s room. We’ll also be holding a massive charity raffle to benefit the CAN and Pets Alive – a local no kill animal shelter.

Sign up now for the best rates! The conference registration is only $160 until August 1^st ($175 after August 1^st) and the hotel is $99 per night, double occupancy. Lots to do in the area will make this a weekend you will never forget!

Goto www.authorsafterdark.net for details!