The time I went to Berkeley

I convinced Hubs to take me to San Francisco for Tamara Ireland Stone's launch party for Time Between Us, so it only made sense [to me] that I would head back up there when Time After Time launched. He was unable to take the time off work, so I headed up alone. 

 

You think the drive to Vegas is boring? This is worse. The only good thing about it is that drivers on the 5 like to drive fast, so even though it was 2 lanes the majority of the way, I maintained a good speed. 

 

I got up to the bookstore just before 5pm and was lucky enough to find parking right next to the door. I am horrible at parallel parking, so I was a little anxious at the idea of there only being street parking available. 

I went into the store and found this delightful display for the event. Of course, after I walked right passed it and had to ask where the display was.... 

 

I completely ruined it by buying all of the books. I may or may not have knocked a few things over. As soon as I told the girls behind the counter that I drove up from San Diego, I got the blank stare. [When am I going to learn that people just don't do things like this normally?]

They set the event area up early so I would have somewhere to camp out. I [like always] had eleventy billion books to flap, so I settled into the front row, got organized and started to wait. 

 

Tamara got to the bookstore around 6:45. She saw me, hugged me, asked about my drive and introduced me again to her husband. I gave her the gift I had for her [Bri, she LOVED them!!] and we chatted for a minute or so before she started making the rounds. 

And there were cupcakes with the book titles on them!

 

I met Anna and Keiko [who also came up from San Diego] before the signing and it was so awesome to FINALLY meet them both!!

The event started just after 7 and it was kicked off with Gayle taking her shoes off because so many people wanted to see them. They both have duets [Gayle: I have a duet of duets] and talked about how they were going to read parts of their books.

 

G: I just finished Time After Time on the plane, did you know you were going to do that? You're juggling so many things and how did you do it?

T: And was it really hard? Yes. I wrote the first book hoping it would be a series. I was so invested in the characters I felt like I could write them forever. And by the time I got done with TBU, I was done with it. But I was so happy that they picked up a sequel. How about you?

G: With If I Stay, no. I didn't think it was going to be a viable book and definitely didn't think it was going to be a sequel. And then the characters started waking me up and I started feeling a responsibility to them. I didn't want to deal with the immediate future and as soon as I made that decision, Adam's story came out. 

For Just One Day, there was a week where there wasn't going to be a sequel. And FYI, I was going to end it exactly where it did. 

As I was writing Just One Day, I had to figure out a lot about Willem. I had to figure out a deep backstory. Why was that day so important? You have to plant the seeds in book one if there's going to be a book 2. 

T: I had a lot of fun with writing a new point of view, writing similar situations from another point of view. 

Tamara talked about Time Between Us and then read from it. She read a scene about Maggie's house first from Anna's POV and then from Bennett's. 

G: The shift of perpsective was fun. It changes everything. You see the entire year and you learn more about the characters and all of these moments where they could have passed each other. 

Gayle read a piece from Just One Day that dealt with the watch and then another piece from Just One Year that also dealt with the watch. 

 

They talked about both being pantsers. I missed most of this conversation because I was taking pictures....

G: Do you feel that each book has their own arc and then together tell a bigger story?

T: Yes. Absolutely. TBU is mostly Anna's story and how she started strong and got stronger. And Bennett's is the same way. His life is in no way miserable, he's not missing anything. It's how he is seen in her eyes. 

G: I called mine books Trojan horse romance. I've got the army in there and look they're in Paris and now they're kissing and now they're more than kissing and then bam!

[Then there was a topic about family.  I blame these two ladies for being so charismatic that I couldn't focus on anything but them talking.]

 

T: In all 4 books, there's a part of family. Bennett is attracted to Anna's normal stable family and Anna is attracted to Bennett's adventure and fly by the seat of your pants life. 

G: Maybe it's because I was a mother when I started writing. 

G: Do you get a lot of people asking about the third book?

T: All the time! Maybe it's because they're conditioned to trilogies. 

G: How many people want a third Mia and Adam book? [I raised my hand] It's so flattering, but let's look at what it would be. It's a book for the sake of being a book. Mia and Adam cook breakfast. Mia and Adam go for a walk. Mia and Adam kiss, but they've been together for a while, so it's not that hot. Or there's conflict.  Mia and Adam have a disease. Mia and Adam have a baby and it dies. Does anyone want that? If you do, there's something wrong with you. 

T: With Time After Time, I had all of the readers in my head. I had to figure out a way to get everyone out. [I missed most of her answer, surprise, surprise]

 

G: Why do you always write girls POV first?

T: It never occurred to me to write it from his POV. And it's his gift... I loved the idea of a reluctant hero. I though that would be more interesting to show from the POV from the girl who loves him POV. Think Spider-Man from Mary Jane's POV. 

And with the second one, it made sense. Once I got to know him so well, I thought it would be just fun to tell the story from his POV. 

Was it hard? Yes. I don't think I would have done it if my editor hadn't pushed me to do it. FYI I've never been a 17 year old boy. I can get in the mindset of a 16 year old girl in high school. My husband read all of my drafts and told me when a guy wouldn't say those things. I had a hard time with the general male to male interactions. [At this point, there was a comment from Gayle about Tamara scratching her balls in public or something like that.  Seriously, my notes are shiteous.]

T: How about you?

 

G: It never occurred to me to write a male POV. Adam was easy to access because he's most like me. Especially the mean Adam in the beginning. 

T: Let's talk settings. You have some great ones in your books, have you been to all of them?

G: Yes. India sort of sticks with you, but I made the entire family go to Mexico for Spring break. What about you?

T: Yes. We had to go to Paris for "research". I wrote 3 chapters and then told my editor to put them on hold. They were the last 3 chapters I worked on to make sure they were authentic.

G: I don't like reading travel books and it's important to me to have little details that make the location.  It's not an information dump like in a travel book.

And then the floor was opened up for Q&A.

 

What are you working on now?

 

T: I just told a book and it's awesome. I was feeling a little sad, missing Anna and Bennett, so it's been great working on that. And it'll be out Spring 2015. [Too. Far. Away. I also might have said that out loud.]

G: I worked on If I Stay for myself. It was saved under "why not". This is a book that I've cheated with, it feels amazing. I don't have a title, but I will tease by saying that it's the hottest guy I've ever written. 

Do you have some routine when writing?

 

T: I can write anywhere as long as I have headphones. I don't listen to music a lot, I can't get the words down if there are other words in my head. I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks. 

G: Get the kids out the door and coffee. Sometimes I will actually put on clothes and go to the cafe. It's not always productive, but it needs to be done. People always ask how do I find the time. It's like closet space, you work with what you have. 

Do you write a requisite amount of words?

G: No. I write until I feel like there's almost nothing left. And then the next day I go back through everything I've done.

T: I do the same.  Sometimes I just spend the day editing what I wrote the day before.

G: Yes, because it's all crap.

 

Fan cast for your books?

 G: I don't have one for If I Stay. And then when they did cast it, it was perfect. And the guy who is playing Adam? He's even hotter. Willem is the guy from the Lumineers, but not as pretty. 

T: I don't have an Anna. [Her son said Lorde and then Tamara said maybe because she has long curly hair]. Bennett is kind of Jeremy from TVD. I like the nice guys. Anna's father will definitely be George Clooney. 

What inspired you to be a writer?

 

T: I've always written for myself. It's cathartic. I wanted to write something that was for me, something that wasn't watching tv or going to the movies. Writing for young adults, I have to credit Judy Blume. In my dream of dreams, I want to create stories that people read over and over again. 

G: The romantic answer would be that the stories inspired me. The realistic answer is that poverty inspired me. I was a journalist and we had bought and apartment and then I had a baby. I had 3 pieces killed in one month. Someone told me that I should write and it was like a light bulb went off.

 

There were more questions, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of these two ladies. I do remember someone asking if Tamara was attached to Cyndi Lauper and that's where she got the title for Time After Time. Gayle and Tamara instead bust out into the song.

The signing started around 8:15. I got up to Tamara first and told her that I had to ration what I had for her, that's why there was only 3.

 

I gave Gayle her huge pile and she started working on them. She asked where I came from and when I said San Diego, she said that she saw my tweet about it. And also mentioned how I was a really good friend for getting all of the books for other people. I calked myself a pack mule [thank you, Kami Garcia] and Gayle started laughing. We talked about my necklace [hand stamped charm that says "Book Boys are Better" from Charmed by Books] and how much she liked it.  Meanwhile, I loaded up on swag...

  

And then Tamara asked if I was leaving right away.  I said yes.  She asked if I could wait a minute and sent her husband out to the car... When he came back, she showed me four different foreign editions of Time Between Us and told me to pick one.  I grabbed the pretty pretty oversized UK version.

 

While Tamara was signing it, she was telling Gayle that I'm her Kevin Bacon.  She can connect around 100 readers of Time Between Us back to me.  This woman....she slays me in the best way ever.

After another round of hugs, I made my way through the store, saying goodbye to everyone I had met.  And I didn't get pictures with anyone. *face palm*

Tamara and Gayle are magical together.  This ridiculous recap and lack of good note taking is mostly my fault and partially theirs.  If they weren't so damn entertaining, perhaps I would have been able to do better.

Now. Go pick up all of their books.  You won't be disappointed.

The time it was quick and dirty

That title sounds...interesting, doesn't it? 

Anyhoo. 

As you may know, I have the ability to go into the super secret back room at Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo Beach and pick through the arc shelves.  Most of the time, I come out with two huge bags filled with books. 

Well, I was up there this past Saturday for book club [which, if you're in the area, you should totally attend] and I walked out with a couple of arcs for you guys.

 

Up for grabs, just because:

The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.




They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you...until you are dead.

Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.

After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.

Sounds good, right?

Rules for giveaway are on the "terms & conditions" on the Rafflecopter widget.

**Good luck!!**

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The time it was a full day of crazy

It might not be a well known fact that I am a Twilight fan.  Yes, I did midnight shows for all of the movies [and the marathon for the BD2].  Yes, I have multiple copies of the books [paperback, hardcover, movie tie in, UK paperback]. Yes, we did one of the Hot Topic tours with the cast [unfortunately, not the one with Rob]. No, I didn't see them in Hall H.

Either way, it goes without saying that as soon as I saw that Stephenie Meyer was going to be signing at The Grove, I was going to get up there.  Honestly, I did go back and forth with it because I knew thought it would be a nightmare.  As soon as Michelle said she was interested in going, it was a done deal. 

The alarm went off at 4:15. I woke up to a text from Michelle saying that she wouldn't be able to go, since Ollie wasn't feeling good. We gassed up the Honda and set off.

We got to The Grove just before 7am. And of course there was already a line in front of the store. There were two lines, actually. Apparently, some people lined up at midnight and security told them to line up around the corner. Hubs ended up seeing Lita out front and she said the major line up WAS the line up.

Around 7:45, Lita came by and merged the two lines. She also said that all of the people in line would be in the preferred group and get a special The Host t-shirt.  We also got a list of guidelines.

We got into the store around 9:30 and we played another round of "hurry up and wait".

But then we got up to the counter and bought our books. Our wristbands were still in group A and the t-shirts were still available.

We got out of the store just before 10am and went on a hunt for some food. On the way to the car [to grab my Twilight books], we decided to head into B&N to see if they had the event section set up. Hubs stopped a woman who had just gotten out of line at the register and asked what letter she was. Her answer? J

We got up to the events area and they had the corral up and tape on the floor indicating where the lines would start.

 

There was a girl who was already laying down to the left of the start of the line. She said that she had been there for over 90 minutes and no one had said anything to her about it. She ended up having priority wristbands and said I could have her spot.

So I waited in line without being in line.

Around 12:00, a girl from the studio said that she was going to clear the events area out to set up the lines. Meanwhile, security and booksellers from the main cashier section were telling people they were allowed to line up on the taped letters. I quickly became the head of the official unofficial line.

And then we were told that group A was actually going to be lining up on the letter C and everyone merged over to that aisle.

They pushed us back a few times while they were setting up the barriers. After about 35 minutes, we were happily lined up in the official line as the first group of the A's. [We met Allison and Morgan in line and they hung out with us as it was their first book signing]

Stephenie and the cast showed up right after 2pm. They posed for paparazzi pictures and then moved to their separate areas. Stephenie was at the main table alone and Max Irons, Jake Abel and Diane Kruger were at a side table signing posters. Saoirse Ronan was supposed to also be there, but she missed her plane and they expected her later.

Once we got up to the holding section, we were told that all cameras had to be down. You handed your books to a handler, who handed them to Stephenie.

Once I got up to her, we both said hi and then I thanked her for coming. I had the UK version of Twilight as my extra copy and she commented on how she loved the UK versions, that they were so special. She then said that she was waiting for her white copies for her personal collection, that she still didn't have any.

Hubs and I weren't allowed to walk up together, so I only slightly overheard Stephenie comment on what a great helper he was.

 

We then walked over to the cast table. Diane was first, she signed my book and then asked if we still wanted posters. We said yes, so she signed and starting passing it down.

Max and Jake had tweeted earlier about throwing ping ping balls at Stephenie. As we were in line, someone was passing them out. Someone threw one at Jake and I laughed saying that I forgot all about the ball. He asked if I still had it and if so, we were going throw them at Stephenie at the same time. When I said no, because I didn't want to get thrown out, he laughed again and said he would "huck them both" himself.

Security sort of got mad that we were still there, so they ushered us away. On the way out, they cut off the wristbands am told us if Saoirse showed up, we could use the wristband to get back in line for her.

 

It was just before 3pm when we headed up to Thousand Oaks for the second signing.

We got up to that B&N around 4:30. And right when you opened the door, they had a table display and sign promoting the event.

I had to get a couple of books and was rung up by THE NICEST employee I've ever met. Ever. Anywhere. From there, we scoped out the event area and asked when it would be set up. Grabbed some dinner, then went back to the store to wait and steal electricity.

Chairs were set up just before 6pm and I quickly grabbed front row.

The authors got there at 7pm, but the events person said they don't normally start on time, to give people extra time to get there. Once the event started, each of the ladies did a brief introduction to their books and then opened it up to questions.

For each person who asked a question, they were given a prize. Jodi gave knitted flowers, Cynthia gave out patches and Brodi had gum.

Where do you get your ideas?

C: likes Kiersten White's answer of getting them from a back alley on the streets of LA. Actually, they come from a lot of random places.

J: Time traveled to year one in Japan and fought a ninja, broke into a sealed vault, stole a magic dagger, time traveled to year one million, found a unicorn and some of the dust that may or may not have come from the unicorn horn got into her brain.

B: Got the idea from girl from school, in pottery class [C: "no good comes from pottery class"] coming back after a long absence, looking completely different. There were a lot of rumors and it prompted the idea of telling the story of where she went while gone.

What's the hardest part of being a writer?

B: Writing. She thinks it'll get easier but it doesn't, has come to the conclusion she can't write.

J: Waiting. For responses. For phone calls from the editor. For edits being returned. For everything. Publishing moves so slow. Incarnate sold in 2010, released 2012.

C: The 48 hours right after she gets her first revision letter from the editor are the hardest. Spends that time feeling bad and thinking she's a bad writer. Time management is hard, making time for the important things.

  

Best advice for someone wanting to be in the exact genre? Maybe the hardest lesson they learned.

B: Read a lot and finish your book. Don't chase trends.

C: Takes about 17 months before its on the shelf after selling it, so something that is a trend now won't be when it's released. Write the story you want, that's in your heart. Prove to yourself that you can finish.

J: Start with a change. Kill everyone if you want. In fiction.

How many manuscripts?

B: One. Got an agent with it and the second was published.

J: 16 full books, most about 100k words.

C: Unearthly was the first book she finished. Wrote short stories, got rejections there. Had an agent already through a short story in a literary journal. Didn't try to publish until she was pretty practiced as an author.

Should you wait and polish your craft until trying to publish?

Novels are a marathon, short stories are a sprint. Why she loved being on tour, everyone had different experience. Short stories worked for her specifically.

What made you pick this genre?

C: It picked me. Didn't know Unearthly was YA. Wrote fanfiction in high school and literary fiction in college. Read 70 YA novels in one year and fell in love with it.

J: Same. Tried writing seriously and her friends were telling her it was YA. Her response was, "No. I'm an adult. I'm 23." Years later, she loved the YA covers and wanted to read those. She just had a man on the airplane tell her she should write about Argentina. He said, "Come to Argentina you can stay in my apartment". She said no and put on her headphones.

There were a couple other questions, but I didn't pay attention. Then before the signing started, Jodi had a giveaway for some mitts she made. The question was the full name for Sam's pony. I knew the short name and another girl said if I said the short name, she's remember the full name. She gave the full name and won the mitts, I said I should get one for the assist and Jodi gave me a knitted rose.

The signing started and I walked right up to Jodi, since I had already seen Cynthia and Brodi. Cynthia said hi and that it was nice to see me again. She asked where we lived and I ended up telling her about SM and being up since 4am.

Since Michelle couldn't go, I ended up getting books for her and Caitlin. Jodi asked if I was Caitlin's emissary. I laughed and said yes. And then when she saw Michelle's book, I explained how she couldn't make it since the baby was sick.

 

After all of the books were signed, I thanked them for coming, hugged the wife and started the long drive home to get some sleep.

Even though it was an insanely crazy day, it was all worth it.

The time we flew to Chicago

I feel like it's no secret how much I love The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Noah Shaw and [obviously] Michelle Hodkin. I missed her in SF when she toured for UoMD and after reading it, I was determined to get to her.

When ALA in Anaheim came around, The Evolution of Mara Dyer was the only arc I wanted. I would have give up everything else to have gotten that one book. Alas, they weren't giving them out. Flash forward to September and Kristin had tweeted a picture of the arc she had won and she was happy to share it with me.

After I had all of the flails from the ending of Evolution, I went into serious stalking mode. I made a few mentions of Y'ALLfest in South Carolina to Hubs and when he didn't laugh in my face, I figured it was a go. Turns out, Michelle was only going to be signing on Friday, we would have been leaving Thursday night. YALLfest was a no.

I looked into her other tour dates and asked her if she was planning a trip to the west coast. She said not that she knew of. I briefly thought about going to the Texas Book Festival, but quickly squashed that. And then I wondered about Chicago...

We have family there, so that means a place to stay. The original plan was that we were going to power through the 30 hour drive, but for $50 more than the estimation of gas, we could fly and have a mini vacation.

Hubs called the bookstore first to see if we could buy an event ticket [I'm ticket #1!!!] and book. He told the lady we were coming from San Diego and were met with stunned silence.

I seem to get that reaction a lot...

So. When I tweeted about the blogiversary giveaway, Michelle saw it and said this:

After airfare was purchased, it was official and the serious fangirling was set on high.

We got into Chicago on the Friday before the event. After we settled in a bit, we decided to go find the bookstore and pick up the books and ticket.

There was a bit of a mix up when I asked to pick up my stuff. No one could locate the binder with event preorders. It took some searching and some wandering around the store, but I noticed some books pulled behind the counter and voila! I had my book and ticket #1.

We spent the next day during the tourist stuff.  We all went down to Navy Pier and got on one of those double decker buses where we sat outside in the 36 degree weather and froze our asses off.

On the day of the event, we got to Naperville early. Painfully early. I may or may not have been overly excited. The event was being held at Two Doors East, a little boutique two doors away [not just a clever name] from
Anderson's.

We wandered around. Went into Anderson's. Bought Starbucks. Talked to some awesome guy named Tony about Apple TV. Went back into Anderson's. And finally just decided to wait outside the store until they unlocked the door.

They let us in around 6:15. The lady remembered talking to me on the phone and announced to the few girls who were there that I flew from San Diego for this. And then the girls starting asking about the trip. One girl even said she thought her drive of an hour was excessive.

It quickly started filling up and Michelle got there right at 7pm.

She started out with the origin story to UoMD.  Michelle was lawyer before she was a writer.  She worked in civil anti-terrorism litigation, even working on some of the 9/11 cases when she was 24. 

Once while in New York, she met a woman whose daughter was in a building collapse and her friends did not survive.  The woman wanted to sue the building's owner for mental anguish.  Michelle exchanged information with the mother and said she would try to put her in touch with someone. 

Unfortunately, Michelle didn't think about the mother or daughter [who Michelle said you could definitely see there was something more and haunting about] until she was in New York again a year later.  She found the number and called, only to find that it had been disconnected.  Upon googling the family name, Michelle found that it never existed. 

She started writing that night. 

Somehow, the topic of the last names were brought up, so I asked if MaraAmitraDyerNoahElliotSimonShaw [MADNESS] was on purpose. Originally, Dyer was Noah's last name as an homage to Reality Bites character Troy Dyer.  It wasn't working and Mara quickly adopted it.  And then Shaw was quickly picked for Noah and the middle names fell into place.  It wasn't "planned" per se, just worked out that way. [And I fucking love it].

And as for the language that is in Michelle's books? She says that she needs to be able to write the story that she needs to write and it's up to the parents to control what their kids read. But while 8 and 10 year olds know the bad words, she's not particularly concerned with language.

The only other notes that I have [be thankful I took this many] is that Retribution is in it's first draft.  Which means there's no punctuation.  And that readers have all of the puzzle pieces to the entire story, we were given them in Unbecoming.

After about an hour of talking and Q&A [at some point, Michelle did point right at me and ask if I was me *squee*], she started signing.  It did go in numerical order, so after I unpacked my pile of books, I apologized to the line of people behind me as well as Michelle for having so many. 

Michelle said I didn't need to apologize.  I told her the story about the book boy fight and asked if she would please please please sign Noah over to me. Michelle said that since I came from San Diego [insert gasps from the crowd], I deserved him.  She also said that she loved my blog [how I remained standing and coherent, I'll never know] and that we were friends.

I had a hardcover copy that I ordered signed [when I missed SF] and asked her to personalize it.  Which she did.  And then resigned.

How I felt all night

I got some of the awesome swag: buttons and stickers and tattoos and bookplates and bookmarks. I'm far too lazy to go drag it out of my packed books to take photos of it.  Just know that it's awesome. And it's all mine.

 

Michelle is perfection.  Online she is friendly and funny and just so mother fucking awesome.  In person? She is better.  It was beyond exciting to finally meet someone who I adore online, devour their books and then find out that in real life, they're just...gah. 

 

 

She absolutely made the trip to Chicago worth everything.  I can't recommend her enough.  Go go go go see her.  Now.  But don't ask for Noah because I'm not giving him up.  EVER.

 

Want a signed copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer? Click here.