I’ve mentioned before that New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, so I was very excited to spend Halloween weekend there. Hubby, doggie daughter, and I arrived Thursday night in the Big Easy after a long drive in from Florida. The French Quarter was showing off its holiday spirit by having spooky decorations along many of the balconies or in store windows, and it was refreshingly cooler than in Florida. That first night, we had a nice dinner with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, my niece, and her boyfriend, who also came up for the weekend. After that, I might have snuck in some beignets for dessert, but I’ll never tell ;-).
The next morning, hubby woke up with the beginnings of a cold that turned into bronchitis (I blame Bourbon Street because by then, I’d been over my bronchitis for a week). So that put a damper on our plans, but he was determined to do as much as possible because he loves New Orleans even more than I do. We went on a cemetery tour with the family in the afternoon, then had a good time at the Memnoch Resurrection Ball Friday night. I finally got to meet the lovely Suzie Q in person, and was green with envy over Teresa’s gorgeous gothic ball gown. Someone (Becci?) even showed up to the ball dressed as Cat! She looked great, too, with a red wig and high heeled boots. If you’re cursing me for not getting pictures, so am I, but by the time I saw both of them, we were already on the way out because hubby was starting to hack in earnest. Didn’t think anyone would appreciate being coughed all over.
Here are some pics from the ball. Click on them if you want to enlarge:
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Saturday morning was the Undead Con panel with fellow authors Karen Essex and Jude Stephens. We talked about our paths to publication, inspiration behind our stories, and pushing the limit in certain scenes when necessary. Our audience asked several great questions, too, and having them involved in the discussion is my favorite part of being on a panel. I didn’t bring my camera to the panel (damn my forgetfulness!) but here’s a picture that Trish snapped and kindly posted on my Facebook page:
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After the panel, we had a mini signing and I got the chance to chat a little more with people, plus with Karen, Suzi, Jude, and Teresa. Big thanks again to Teresa, who initially invited me to come to New Orleans, and to Suzi, who arranged for me to be on the panel. Hope to see everyone again in the future!
Hubby’s bronchitis really kicked in Saturday night, so we stayed in, which made our little dog very happy. I swear she has supernatural powers to make one of us sick every time we travel with her so she spends less time by herself in the hotel room. Don’t let her cuteness fool you – beneath that cuddly fur lies a manipulating heart and merciless ability to strike us with ailments so she can get more attention! :-).
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Halloween night, we had a nice dinner at Dicki Brennans Steakhouse and then curled up to watch the Saints spank the Steelers in football. The next morning, it was time to pack up the car and head back to FL. Farewell, New Orleans. Hope to visit you again in the future. While I was away, two cool things happened: ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice award for best vampire romance, and ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE came out in audio format. No, I haven’t listened to it yet, so I have no idea how Chapter 32 comes across spoken versus written, heh (and my apologies to the narrator, Tavia, who must have wanted to kill me when she read that scene, lol).
Now that I’m back and my inbox is (mostly) caught up, it’s time for me to knuckle down and finish writing Cat and Bones #6. I’m in the thirty day window from when the book is due, so online time will be scarce between now and when I type those magic words, “the end.” Hope everyone has a wonderful November! Happy Thanksgiving to all my US peeps, too. You may see an occasional Tweet or FB update from me, but if cobwebs start to form around my blog, don’t worry. I’ll brush them away come December when the book is done :).
Love your niece’s outfit! You and your husband looked dashing too .
So, did you see any ghosts? 🙂 And is your girl a shiba?
(Sorry, dog person question, never see any in my rings or classes)
Oh, I got audiobook 2 on the 28th:)
Hi Mudepoz!
Please do let us all know how Chapter 32 DOES sound! 😀
Haw…haw… tttt…*thud*
Warning. Do not listen, enthralled, while parked at a supermarket. With the windows open. Very, very, old folk will begin to walk passed you. They will stop. You will assume they will give you a piece of their minds.
They will cock their heads and listen, and smile. And not the sweet old man and old lady smiles:)
I am NOT a young person myself. Um. Then again, it gives me hope.
It is also not a good idea to listen on your Ipod where your grad students can over hear it…
Thanks for posting the picts. They’re great. How nice to have a hubby that will dress up. You all look fabulous!
I love Mike’s top hat 🙂
Love the costumes! I’ve been waiting for pics. What an awesome way to spend Halloween, tuba player notwithstanding. 🙂
Jeaniene it was a pleasure to have you and Matt. I’m just sorry he got sick. I do have pictures of the ball and Becci did take pictures so we can post some for you of panel and ball.
Becci is the President of Charlaine’s fanclub. Yes she is a Charlanten.lol So am I but we love us some Jeaniene Frost. I thought her ideal of being Cat was great. She’s a doll baby and we have so much fun at Halloween. She thought you would appreciate her as Cat.
I hope Matt is feeling much better. And I hope your little daughter stops putting the whammy on you when you travel. Will send you email later with more pictures. Thanks again for coming to NOLA. Teresa
Wish I could have been in New Orleans…sounds way fun…just read Nocturna story…LOVED IT!!!…I think Rageal may compete with Bones and Vlad for fav male character….would love to see him in his own series!..HINT HINT!
Love all the pictures. Your puppy is adorable!
Oh… i have a jealous… I’d so love to spend Halloween in New Orleans. maybe one of these years when ‘trick or treat’ isn’t at the top of the list for my monsters. O.o
Hi Jeaniene, just want to tell you that I am a huge fan, I live in Brazil, but got your books from some americam friends, and now I keep bothering them so they can get me all of them, please never stop writem…, And very nice be in New orleans in Haloween!!, surely I would be thrilled to do the same!!!
Looks like you had a terrific time, Jeaniene. I LOOOOOVE New Orleans and am determined to spend my next b-day there. Hubby gringed about being in N.O. at the end of August/beginning of September, but he’ll get over it. He loves N.O. almost as much as I do. LOL
Gotta check out the auto for One Foot in the Grave. I don’t often get a chance to listen to a book, but I’m curious to see how audio versus reading.
Looking forward to Cat&Bones No. 6.
Please drink an iced coffee for me. I flinlay got my vacation dates and I’m heading back home for the last two weeks of December. I have a feeling I’ll be crying the whole flight home…. that or smiling so hard that it hurts. I can’t say how happy I am for y’all and everyone else in the city.