Hello my fine fanged friends! Two days after my return from the great city of New Orleans I am finally beginning to catch up on the hundreds of emails and other assorted sordid business affairs I found awaiting my attention after six days with limited cyber access. Between spotty cell reception in the haunted French Quarter and a problem being able to access the internet in my room at Hotel Monteleone, I decided it was a sign for me to simply step away from the computer and turn my full attention to the events at hand. And, my gods, were they magnificent events! I personally would like to express a massive wave of gratitude and love for those who made my trip to New Orleans a reality this year: Boutique du Vampyre, the Vampire Lestat Fan Club, Sabertooth Fangs and Heavy Red. The gracious and generous support of these marvelous entities is simply awe inspiring and a testament to just how rock and roll incredible my friends are around the world! To say I feel blessed is a massive understatement. Thank you! XOV””VOX

From the iconic Memnoch masquerade ball at The Republic of New Orleans to the overflowing den of decadence that is Endless Night at the House of Blues, my friends and I celebrated the Halloween season in style. This year marked the first of the new UnDead Con vampire literary convention, produced by vampire dynamo Sue Quiroz, also the lead producer of the Memnoch ball. I had the pleasure of participating in a very lengthy and rather well attended panel on my first day at the hotel which also featured the debonaire Mr. Dacre Stoker and New York Times best-selling author Heather Graham. I was particularly impressed by Dacre’s marvelously put together powerpoint presentation on the history of Bram Stoker and the research Dacre & his co-author Ian Holt did during the process of writing their sequel to Dracula, Dracula The Un-Dead. After the UnDeadCon panel we were treated to a spectacular absinthe tasting hosted by the one and only Jezabel DeLuna. Not only did I learn a great deal about that particular green liquor I have developed quite a taste for, but also the attendees of the tasting were all given bottles of absinthe and their very own silver absinthe spoon. How delightful!

After the absinthe tasting I made my way, along with my co-author on the Revenge novel Solomon Schneider, down to Boutique du Vampyre for my book signing. The store was overflowing with people throughout the afternoon with Father Sebastiaan and Maven both making fangs up front while I signed copies of Eternal Vigilance in the dark and mysterious library. It was a good thing I brought extra copies of the books on my trip because they had already sold out by the time I got there! Needless to say, I walked out empty handed as well, with every book I had in tow purchased! A successful event, all around!

The Memnoch Ball that evening at The Republic of New Orleans was magnificently attended! Not only did I have the chance to catch up with so many of my wonderful friends and fans, but Father Sebastiaan was gracious enough to make for me a custom pair of fangs, which I must say are spectacular! One of the many interesting turn of events included an interview with a group of independent documentary makers spotlighting the vampire community. It was a fantastic opportunity and they were a delightful crew so I am looking forward to seeing the completed piece. They are currently raising money for the documentary and are very close to achieving their goal. Below is a preview, featuring my lovely friends Maven & Jeezabel, among others. If you would like to donate to the project please click here for more information.

Vampyres Preview Clip 4 from austin smoak on Vimeo.

The following day I was invited to speak on a panel about women writers and the vampire genre at the Vampire Film Festival. The panel, and the festival, was held at the splendid new Shadowbox Theater just north of the French Quarter. The panel itself was quite dynamic, covering a wide range of topics and personal insights on writing and the vampire genre from the female perspective, both as authors and avid readers. It was such a delight to swap ideas with fellow authors Kristy Tallman, Sue Dent, Karen Essex, Heather Graham and the moderator of the panel, Professor Dr. June Pulliam. Asif, the producer of the festival, is definitely one of the most enthusiastic and genuine people I have meet lately and his pride and commitment to the event was evident through and through. I am definitely looking forward to participating again next year!

Overall this was a very successful, if at times intensely dramatic, New Orleans experience, as the best one usually tend to be. As always I am already looking forward to returning again to my home-away-from-home very soon. Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart for all of the love and support my friends and readers have shown me. You are vampire angels, every single one of you! I lift my glass of absinthe and toast you! Until we meet again… XOV””VOX

Tags: absinthe, book signing, conference, convention, documentary, Eternal Vigilance Events, Father Sebastiaan, french quarter, goth, Halloween, holiday, Horror, House of Blues, interview, New Orleans, Republic New Orleans, travel, undead, vampire, Vampire Lestat, vampires, Wine, wine tasting

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 at 1:11 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.