Sinners & Stardust: The Mobsters Love Mingling

Can you ever go wrong with a photo booth and a tequila soda? Hard to say, but last night at the Kingdom of Crime: Mobster and Mafia Wives Meet & Mingle — the answer would definitely have been a no.

Picture this, a room full of strangers greets you when you arrive and yet the atmosphere is still warm, the photo-ops are endless, and the conversations are buzzing. I don’t know if the same could ever be said for a party that was hosted by Mobsters and Mafia Wives, but what I will say is that the animals print stole the show last night just like it would have if were in the past. Whether you chose to mingle or simply people-watch, you would agree that there was something peaceful and easy about the evening that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

Opening up and meeting new people always feels so scary, but the opportunity to talk and interview new people stared me dead in the face and it was an opportunity to good to pass up! You would think after three years of attending this event in all different capacities — attendee, assistant, and now press that it would come smoother to me, but truly I’m just a low social battery, anxious girl, who loves her job. So, it’s best to catch me while you can and it’s safe to say, Nicole met me right as my Celsius peak was making its way into my bloodstream.

It’s her first time here at Sinners & Stardust and she couldn’t be more excited to see her favorite authors, among them — M.L. Burns. Did I know that stopping her for an interview would mean that I left with a book recommendation? Absolutely not, but now that “All Your Bloody Lies” is on my radar, I’m incredibly excited to add that to my TBR. Not only is she here for the event, but she is accompanied by her friends and they run deep! Between the whole group, they are splitting about 4 hotel rooms which is absolutely a convention dream. You’re telling me that they’ve got a minimum of 4 rooms to escape to when they need a breather and decompression session? I am so here for it. These ladies are definitely having the bookish sleepover of the century.

Not only did we meet the cutest dark contemporary romance lover, but we also got the inside scoop from an event influencer herself — Amoy. This is her second time attending Sinners & Stardust in Boston, but her first time as an Influencer. When asked about her thoughts on how the event is run — Amoy let us know that, “The Dark Collective knows how to run an event from top to bottom.” From what I’ve seen thus far, I’m inclined to agree. She even let us in on the inside scoop of what it was like to work with their cohort of influencers for this year’s event. She let us know that they run it as if it’s a family and that kind of leadership and example-setting trickles down into the work that the influencers output. That’s impactful in itself because they are the faces of the event for the year that they spend promoting it! This kind of environment also paves the way for influencers to get close with each other in a way that only their cohorts understand. Their love and energy for for indie authors in dark romance being the binding glue.

As Day 1 on the convention floor kicks into full-gear, it’s important for us to remember that it takes a lot to bring events of this caliber together. Mingling was just the tip of the iceberg for the weekend ahead of us. The best has yet-to-come and there’s truly an abundance of people working to make this event what it is for all of the attendees! Cheers to mingling and meeting new friends!