Book Signing - Sophie Jordan

BOOK SIGNING

SOPHIE JORDAN

I love book signings! It’s fun to meet authors online, but it is WAY better to meet them in person. When I heard Sophie Jordan was coming back to town, I knew that I had to be there. I met Sophie last year, when Firelight had first come out. This time, she is promoting the sequel, Vanish. If you haven’t heard about these books, they are about Draki, which are like a super special kind of dragon powered beings. This series is AMAZING!

So, this was a very strange signing. There was no presentation, and there were about eight authors. But get this, they were all authors of romance novels! Apparently Sophie writes romance novels too. So, I diverted my eyes from all those steamy adult covers and concentrated on Sophie’s table.

It’s not a book signing without a group of bloggers is it? Let’s see who was there enjoying the Vanish awesomeness with me. Oh, and you can see my newly shorter hairstyle. Do you like it? A very hot Texas summer will make any girl with super long hair consider trying something new.

HD from Young Bloggers Unite with Me

Look at our metal mouth braces!

Then everyone decided to try to be closer to my size.   Ahem.

HD with Me again

He's stooped down and I'm on my toes!

Me with Stacy from Girls in the Stacks

We FINALLY met!  FINALLY!

Kari from A Good Addiction with Me

We were both laughing!

All four of us together

Everyone plus Sophie and Chelsea from Vampire Book Club

Thank you to Kari for planning things and to Sophie for hanging out with us before the event started. I appreciate you spending extra time with us.

Head over to Young Bloggers Unite, where we are giving away a signed copy of Vanish! Sharing our Draki love with y’all.

Book Signing - Chills and Thrills Teen Book Tour

BOOK SIGNING

CHILLS and THRILLS TEEN BOOK TOUR

While seemingly everyone else was jetting off to New York for BEA, I had my own mini-BEA here in Texas.  Jennifer Archer, Tracy Deebs, and Tera Lynn Childs visited a local bookstore as part of the Chills and Thrills Teen Book Tour.  I was beyond excited!

Jennifer, Tracy, and Tera

As usual, I arrived early.  Since I am pretty short, I like to be in the front row so I can see everything that is going on.  This time, I came with my dad.  He prefers nerdy math and science books to young adult novels, but he was a good sport sitting right there with me. 

A few of my blogging friends showed up too.  There as Kari from A Good Addiction and Arena from The Nerd’s Wife.  Arena just announced that she is expecting a baby nerdling, so I was glad I got to congratulate her in person. 

Before the event started, Jennifer came over and talked with me and my dad.  She was so nice and we talked a lot about writing, her book, and blogging too.  I came home with a signed copy of Through Her Eyes to give away on Reading Vacation.

Me and Jennifer

Tracy was the ring-leader of this group.  She told the funniest story.  She had a title all picked out for one of her books, and then the publisher gave the title to another author.  How crazy is that?  I got a copy of Tempest Rising personalized by Tracy.  Oh, and some pretty nail polishes just in time for Summer.

Me and Tracy

I have read all of Tera’s books and it was great to finally meet her in person.  She told some funny stories about the cover of Oh.My. Gods.  At first, the statue had its arms cut off, but they ended up putting them back on.  Oh, and there is one bookseller that insisted on a different cover because the statue was too naked.  Tera was so sweet and she signed all of my books.

Tera and Me

During question and answer time, things got a little interesting.  I asked one question, and my dad asked THREE!  I wouldn’t be surprised if I caught him sneaking one of the books off my shelf to read for himself.

Thank you to a Real Bookstore for hosting this awesome event. 

Book Signing - Scott Westerfeld - aka Scott meets my dad

BOOK SIGNING

SCOTT WESTERFELD

aka Scott meets my dad

Since I read The Uglies series, I knew that I loved Scott Westerfeld’s work.  His writing is something else.  When I heard he was visiting a local library to celebrate his new book, Behemoth, I was thinking “I’m so there!”

So, I visited his web site and learned that Scott and I have a few VERY important things in common.  We are both Native Texans!  If you are from Texas, you will understand how HUGE this is.  And, neither one of us wears jeans – EVER.  He’s my kind of guy.

There was one problem.  Scott’s presentation and signing were scheduled for a Thursday evening.  A school night!  No-o-o-o!  After thinking it through, we decided that I would stay home and my dad would go in my place.  How sweet is he?  I was sad to miss out on the presentation, but happy to get my books signed.  My dad, well, he wasn’t thrilled about it.  He was sure it was going to be b-o-r-i-n-g since he hadn’t read any of the books and he wasn’t exactly the target audience.

I was already asleep when my dad got home from Scott’s presentation, but I got to hear all about it this morning before school.  My dad said the room fit around fifty people.  Aside from maybe three other men, Scott and my dad were the only guys there.  My dad was in the second row, sitting alone, with a camera, surrounded by teenage and young adult girls.  He was sure that Scott thought he was some sort of creepy stalkerish guy. 

Anyhow, my dad LOVED the presentation!  Scott explained the history of illustrations in novels.  Have you seen Behemoth?  If you haven’t, you REALLY need to get a copy.  This book has the most amazing drawings.  Seriously.  The color drawings inside the front and back covers are unbelievable.  My dad said Scott was a great speaker, very funny, and not the least bit boring. 

When it was time for the signing, my dad took up my copy of The Uglies to be personalized for me and a copy of Behemoth to be signed for a giveaway (for YOU).  He asked Scott to smile for a picture and he explained “this is for my daughter.”  RIGHT Mr. Creepy Stalkerish Guy.  Luckily, The Uglies was personalized so at least it seemed like he was telling the truth.

I’m sorry I missed the presentation and meeting Scott in person.  But, it was totally worth it to hear my dad’s account of what went down and how he ended up being a Scott Westerfeld fan too.  Oh, and Scott, that wasn’t a creepy stalkerish guy, it was just my dad helping out his little girl.  = )

 

Book Signing - Sophie Jordan and Kiersten White

BOOK SIGNING

SOPHIE JORDAN

KIERSTEN WHITE

This was the kind of Friday evening I could get used to.  I was so excited to meet these ladies.  Taking a quick moment here to thank my mom for taking me.  We had Travis with us for a bit, but my dad stopped by after work to take him home.  They got a paper airplane book.  As I predicted, the house was like a paper airplane airport by the time we got home.
 

I have wanted to read Firelight forever, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to get a copy.  I also had a chance to thank Sophie in person for her great guest post about how scary movies have influenced her writing.  You can see it here.  Sophie is very sweet in person and she’s a Texan too.

I just finished reading Paranormalcy last week, so it was especially cool to meet Kiersten.  She was throwing chocolates to anyone who asked a question during the question and answer session.  You know me, I'm not shy, so I asked a question about the covers.  Sophie had some input regarding the pupil on the eye of her cover and Kiersten had no say at all for hers.  I earned my chocolate!

But wait, there’s more.

I got to meet some of my book blogging friends in real life.  There really are REAL LIVE people behind these blogs and twitter accounts.

Texas book blogger pride y'all.

Arena from The Nerd’s Wife, me,

Michelle from Window-Pane Memories, and Kari from A Good Addiction.

Talking books.

You know how I roll….there’s always time to read.

Sophie and me.

Kiersten and me.

My First Book Signing

MY FIRST BOOK SIGNING

Holly Black

Sarah Rees Brennan

Ally Carter (surprise guest!)

Wow!  What a fun afternoon.  I went to what was supposed to be a book signing by Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan.  I didn’t know there was going to be a little surprise.

My mother and I arrived at the local bookstore about an hour early and we passed our time chatting with a group of teen girls.  They were pretty funny.  Man, teen girls talk A LOT!

About ten minutes before the event was going to begin, I noticed the bookstore was adding some Ally Carter books to the display.  It turns out that Ally was also in town and she decided to stop by since she was friends with Holly and Sarah.  How cool is that?

Holly and Sarah are hilarious.  They told the funniest stories, did a con artist skit with a stuffed octopus, read from their books, and took questions.  I even asked a question – How did you become friends?  No surprise, they even had a funny story to explain how they met.

I came home with signed copies of White Cat, The Demon’s Covenant, and I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You.

Keeping with the spirit, stay tuned for a contest to win the signed White Cat.

Here’s Holly

 

Here’s Sarah

Me and Ally