The time I hit 500 again

You guys. 

Today I hit 500 followers on BlogLovin'.  It might not seem like a lot compared to some of the bigger blogs out there, but it's a lot to me.  And since I'm moving over to self-hosting soon, I'm going to lose all of the followers on GFC [so make the switch!].

I just want to thank you all for following along with me on this crazy ride.  Like I said in this post, I never thought I would continue this blog, let alone have anyone actually read my incessant rambling.

Again, I'm stunned.  Elated.  Speechless.  And another hot mess of flails.

So, let's celebrate with a giveaway, yes?  This is my second time around hitting 500 followers, so how about a giveaway for some of my favorite second books in a series?

Up for grabs:

 

Hardcover copies of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi.  Both books are signed! This contest is international.  I'm setting up two different Rafflecopters, so there will be two different winners. Additional rules are on the Rafflecopter widget.

I can't thank you guys enough for getting me to this number.  So, again, I say: stand there and let me hug you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The time I was an ambassador

We all know of my major love affair with Sarah J Maas, right?

Apparently, the people at Bloomsbury know about it as well.  Someone saw all of my flails over Sarah, Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight and they still invited me to be part of the group of bloggers who will be promoting Crown of Midnight. My head almost exploded when I got the email! I guess fangirling really does pay off!!

I am thrilled to say that I am a Throne of Glass Ambassador.  Starting today, I will be posting fun stuff every Monday through September.  There will be extra content, giveaways and all sorts of other Throne of Glass/Crown of Midnight goodies, so make sure you check back every week!

Today's post is more of an informative one.  So, while you wait for the awesome post next week, here are a few things you can right now.  You could take a look at my ridiculously flailing review of Throne of Glass.

Or watch the book trailer for Throne of Glass...

Perhaps you'd like to see the book trailer for Crown of Midnight instead...

 

You could go check out Sarah's website and find her on Twitter or Facebook.  And of course, there's always the option of hanging out and fangirling around with me for a bit because I have a feeling it's going to take some time getting used to the idea that I am part of this awesome thing.

 

 

Or, if you're completely normal, answer me this: Chaol or Dorian? Why?

 

Until next week.....

The time I had so many followers

You guys.

Today marks a pretty monumental day in my blogging adventure.  Today, I passed 500 followers on the blog via GFC and passed 1000 followers on Twitter. 

When I started this blog a year and a half ago, I never imagined that I would hit those numbers. I wasn't even sure that anyone would read this blog, let alone follow me here.  And today, I just watched the number of followers go up and up and up.

I'm stunned. Elated. Speechless. And a hot mess of flailing.

So.  In honor of this mega awesome achievement, not only do I want to jump through my laptop and hug each and every one of you, I'm going to have a giveaway of some of my favorite books by some of my favorite authors.

Up for grabs?

 

First up: a paperback copy of Unraveling and a hardcover copy of Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris.  I will also include the bonus content booklet. Both books are signed.

Also?

 

A paperback copy of Throne of Glass and an arc of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas.

This contest is international.  I'm setting up two different Rafflecopters, so there could be two different winners. Additional rules are on the Rafflecopter widget.

Now stand there and let me hug you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

The time I reviewed a book -- 2

Okay.  Another book has captured my brain and held it hostage. I know that I said I wouldn't do reviews all the time, but I refuse to take the blame for this.  I'm holding Susan Dennard completely responsible for creating such an phenomenal world and characters.  It's her fault that I can't get Something Strange and Deadly out of my head. 

First of all, look at that cover.  It's gorgeous.  The colors.  The model.  The gears behind her.  The font.  Everything about this cover makes me happy. 

I had heard the buzz about Something Strange and Deadly right from the beginning.  I put it on my "to buy" list and figured I'd buy it eventually.  And then I saw Susan tweet something about how it was going to be on sale at CC before it was officially released.  Annnnnd, I'm not one to skip that sort of opportunity.

But, let's get down to business.  Here are the reasons I'm horribly in love with this book.

1. Eleanor

I'm a sucker for a smart girl.  I love love love when authors write their heroines as witty and charming instead of needing to rely on a boy.  And my ideal heroine is one who delivers snarky retorts and proves how awesome she is without changing a damn thing about herself. 

Eleanor is all of those things.  And more.

She fights the Dead with a parasol.  She gets into the thick of things right from the beginning and never wants to leave. She's the younger sister to an older brother who can't come home for some reason.  The family is almost out of money and the responsibility to marry quickly falls on Eleanor's shoulders.  And does she falter? Nope.  Not at all.

2. Daniel

Daniel is swoony without even knowing it.  He's smart and gruff and so delicious in his not acting properly around a society lady.  Even better, he knows how he's supposed to act and does the exact opposite.  He calls Eleanor "Empress".  He buys her a parasol when she loses hers. 

At the same time, you can tell he doesn't know what to do with Eleanor. And it's absolutely amazing to watch it all unfold and see the interactions between them. 

3. The promise of more in Book 2

Eleanor. Daniel. Paris.  The end.

Something Strange and Deadly takes place in Philadelphia.  There are zombies.  Smart zombies who are being controlled by a necromancer.  And some pretty awesome steampunk-like science experiments that help destroy the zombies. 

Go buy it. 

As I said in my epic Comic-Con recap, I briefly met Susan.  She's adorable and charming and I absolutely want to meet her again so I can fangirl on her the way she properly deserves.

The time I reviewed a book -- 1

Okay. So we all know that this blog is about author events and the random shenanigans that seem to always happen to me. Well, I thought I'd shake it up a bit and every once in a while share a book that I loved so much that can't stop thinking about it.

It's certainly not going to be every book, I wouldn't do that to you. :D

So. With that being said, the first book I've been a flailing mess over is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas.

As I mentioned in my GoodReads review, this book was given to me by a friend. The lovely LeAnna [yes, the sole reason for the start of this blog] gave me an ARC of it the last time I was up at MGRB. She told me that if I liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone that I would like it. I read the back, it sounded interesting, so I took it.

And it sat in my TBR stack for a while.

I don't know what compelled me to finally pick it up, but once I did, I didn't want to put it down.

Without getting into a serious synopsis summary, here are my reasons for why I think you should read this book:

1. Celaena

She could be my favorite heroine out there. She's been trained to be an assassin since she was orphaned at 8 years old. At the start of the book, she's been a prisoner at a salt mine for the past year. She's only 18 and is the most well known assassin, yet she hasn't lost her femininity. She wants to be clean [who doesn't?] and likes the look of herself before she wasted away, but she isn't all, "I'm so amazingly gorgeous, check me out, yo!". She'd rather lure you in to kill you than kiss you and if she can do both while in a pretty dress, that's an added bonus.

Celaena is fierce. Like Beyonce fierce. She's smart and witty and charming and unlike every other girl that I've read. You can't help but fall in love with her and be rooting for her from the very beginning.

2. Chaol and Dorian

Let's get down to serious business now. There are TWO swoony boys to choose from. Yes, you read that correctly.  Two. Usually, I can pick a boy to root for within the first couple of pages of the characters interacting. With Chaol and Dorian, I was going back and forth until the very end.

Chaol is the captain of the guard for the King and is srs bsns all the time. He's in charge of training Celaena. He is gruff and hard headed and he definitely has his reasons as to why he's that way.

However, whenever Celaena is around, we see those defensive walls loosen up, just a bit. We get glittering eyes and shy smiles from him and it's all perfection [but he's not a hot mess about it, he comes across as unsure]. He seems to be the best pick for Celaena because he can relate to the warrior side of her and doesn't discount her ability because she's a girl.

Dorian is the crown prince. He's charming without being skeevy, always has a smile on his face, always looking for a fun time and always always always gets his way. Until Celaena. She makes him realize that he wants to be a better man. And it's fun to see him struggle with what that entails.

Chaol and Dorian are close, best friends if you will. Watching them both of them come apart individually is delightful, but each of their reactions to the other as they interact with Celaena could be some of the best scenes in the book.

3. The Plot

A wicked battle of champions? Check. Magic? Check. Insipid girls from court who want the Prince? Check. Macho boys who underestimate my girl? Check.  In other words, this book has it all, but not in an overwhelming way. Maas has a fluid way of writing and I found myself always wanting to go back to whatever scene I was just finished with.

Throne of Glass is the first book that I wanted to start over immediately after finishing it. It's the first book that I snuck away at work whenever I could to read a paragraph, a page, a chapter. It's the first book that is still on my mind one week and four books later.

I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy as soon as possible. When August 7th comes around, I'll be getting the hardcover and e-book version. Meanwhile, I'm going to pet the ARC that I have.