Showing posts with label writers in new orleans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writers in new orleans. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

EPICon Conference in New Orleans March 2010

Welcome to eLiberation!

The annual conference for members of EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection, is the gathering place for authors, publishers and other industry professionals to celebrate the best of the best with the EPPIE Awards, to share newest information and ideas, to hone their writing skills and explore new markets. So put this wonderful event on your calendar next March 4-7th, 2010 at the beautiful Sheraton New Orleans in New Orleans, LA.

Workshops will address the business of writing for the electronic market, promotion strategies, existing and coming technology and related issues, and genre and publisher specific topics, among others. EPIC's annual Business Meeting and the Keynote Luncheon are Friday's highlights. On Saturday our luncheon will honor the finalists of the New Voices contest for young writers, and Saturday night is the Big Event—the EPIC Awards Banquet and Ceremony.

Want to know who's buying what in these tough economic times? Come to one of our Publisher and Promotion Panels. Want to network with friends, old and new? What to do in New Orleans? Arise to breakfast of Beignet and Café au lait, take a dip in the pool, then spend the afternoon shopping on Royal Street and the famous French Market. Would you like to test your luck at the casino? It's a mere two blocks to your right. Saint Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square is six blocks away. And the famous (or infamous?) Bourbon Street is just four blocks away. Or maybe you'd rather relax on the Creole Queen Paddlewheeler, Cajun Queen Riverboat, or the John James Audubon Riverboat waiting to take you to Audubon Zoo. And we can't forget St. Louis Cemetery #1. So many stories waiting to be told.

Not a member of EPIC? Interested only in certain topics? No problem. We're offering non-member rates, and single-day rates. Or join EPIC (if you're already working in the e-book industry) and get a bargain. Best of all, we're offering reduced rates for early registration. The EPICon 2010 hotel is the Sheraton New Orleans.The Sheraton New Orleans Hotel boasts a superb location, bordering the French Quarter and just steps away from the Mississippi River. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Warehouse Arts District, the Aquarium of the Americas, Bourbon Street and the Superdome are all nearby, as are major malls - including Riverwalk Marketplace and Canal Place.

e-Books are the wave of the future. So whether you're an e-author or e-publisher, EPICon 2010 will help you catch the wave and solidify your commitment to the e-book world as we forge ahead in this emerging industry. Join us in New Orleans, next March.

I'll be there....
Dawn Chartier
Not An Angel, Coming in 2010 from The Wild Rose Press

Friday, July 17, 2009

Stephen Moyer visits New Orleans (or shall I say Bill Compton) True Blood

'True Blood' season 2 film crew takes over Clinton, La., then heads for New Orleans

HBO'True Blood' stars Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin took a break from season 2 location shooting in Clinton, La., to visit New Orleans.
Clinton, La. --

Standing in for fictional downtown Bon Temps, La., the blocks surrounding the East Feliciana Parish Courthouse looked like they'd been hit by a lusty tornado over the weekend.
The steamy HBO drama "True Blood" came to Clinton for several days of location shooting, and the town's streets (and trees) were strategically strewn with trash but mostly clothing, for a saucy storyline to play out in a few weeks on the show's 10th episode of the current season.
Saturday, shooting started at about noon and concluded after 2 a.m. Sunday. Wilting heat and humidity prevailed, broken occasionally by light rain.

Series leads Stephen Moyer (who portrays vampire/heartthrob/173-year-old Confederate Army veteran Bill Compton), Academy Award winner Anna Paquin (who plays Sookie Stackhouse and is Moyer's love interest on and off screen) and Ryan Kwanten (Sookie's brother Jason) were on hand for scenes as several dozen curious locals watched on from an out-of-frame.

The Louisiana-set drama, based on a series of popular vampire novels by Charlaine Harris, is mostly shot on back lots and soundstages in the Los Angeles area. Some location work for its first season was done around the Shreveport area. Scenes for three upcoming season-two episodes were shot over the weekend.

And -- incredibly, amazingly, appropriately - an ailing Clinton bat owes its life to "True Blood's" visit.
The tiny animal fell from a tree near the courthouse as the production was preparing to shoot a scene.

Crew medic Holly O'Quin, whose day job is nurse at Ochsner Health Center, leapt into action.
O'Quin called her brother, Jeff Galpin, a New Orleans stunt coordinator and animal wrangler for film-and-TV productions, who recommended that the baby bat be nursed back to health by feeding it regular doses of evaporated milk and egg whites, which O'Quin administered by needle-less syringe. Paquin, among many others on set, took great interest in the bat's recovery. (O'Quin reported Monday that the bat had recovered enough to fly away at the end of the production day.)

Dave Walker/The Times-Picayune'True Blood' crew medic Holly O'Quin tends to an ailing bat on-set in Clinton.

Sunday, on a day off from shooting, Moyer, Paquin and several production officials made a tourist trip to New Orleans. The visit culminated with a large dinner party at Galatoire's. (Deborah Ann Woll, who plays vampire conscript Jessica Hamby on the show, joined the group there.)

A couple of days earlier, Moyer made the drive into the city from the production's Baton Rouge base to wander the streets of the French Quarter - by himself - shooting pictures.
Yes, Bill Compton walked among us, only occasionally recognized.

"I saw a coffeehouse in a courtyard, and I wandered in there," said Moyer, a native of England, about his first-ever trip to New Orleans. "The coffee looked great. And sitting at the table were two New Orleans mimes, dressed in silver, having a coffee break.

"They were talking (but) went into mime (poses) as I walked past."
Moyer got his coffee and came back to the table and offered a gratuity in exchange for photographing the scene.

"This is the only thing she said," said Moyer of one of the mimes, approximating her thick "True Blood"-homage accent. " 'Anything for you, Bill Compton.'"


Article by: Dave Walker - The Times Picayune

Don't you just love it!! I sure wish I was at that coffee house.....Darn!

Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com