The time there was a band

I grabbed Parallel from the super secret room at MGRB. I ended up reading it in one sitting and absolutely loving it. So, of course as soon as I saw that Lauren was going to be having her launch party in LA, I was going.

And I was beyond stoked to see that it was being held at The Last Bookstore. 

Now. 

The Last Bookstore was listed as one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world and ever since I looked at that list,  I've been dying to go. 

And it didn't disappoint...

 

There were exploding pages and flying typewriters....

 

 

.....and book arches and book walls.  There was even a room that looked like a bank vault.  The Last Bookstore is the type of store that will be different every time you go in.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to move in or turn off all of the lights and play hide and go seek.

 

Anyhoo.

 

After buying books, wandering and getting some Starbucks, we settled in to waiting for the event. One of the employees told me that Lauren didn't want chairs, so there was just an open area in front of a stage. 

 

 

At 7pm, the band started playing and people were mingling around. There were drinks and hors d'oeuvres and socializing. I am so awkward at meeting new people, so Hubs and I just sat off to the side and watched. While texting each other.

 

After about 20 minutes, we saw a girl hand Parallel to Lauren. They walked towards the back, so I followed. 

I had my books in my hand when Lauren came over. She introduced herself and I did the same. Somehow it came up that we drove from San Diego and Lauren thanked me. 

 

 

After she signed the books, she asked how long I had been reviewing. I explained how I review events and that I got an advanced copy because of MGRB. We talked about other ways people get their hands on early copies before she tried to persuade us to stay and eat. When I told her we were going to leave to fight traffic, she said to make sure I took some bookmarks, because she didn't know what else she could give me. 

We took a couple of pictures and then left. Lauren is adorable and so sweet. Haven't read Parallel? You should get on that right away. 

The time it was a friend

I've had the pleasure of knowing Brighton for a few years now.  I've even been lucky enough to read some of her early stories.  So, of course when I heard she was getting published, I begged asked if there was any way to help promote it.  She graciously agreed to do an interiew.

But before we get to my fangirling her answers, check out the info on Plus One.


Olivia hates the singles scene, so when her best guy friend, Ian, offers to be her plus one to a series of weddings she has to attend, she agrees. Although she doesn't want to complicate their lifelong friendship, she can't pass up the chance to have a steady date without the dating drama. What she doesn't expect is to now find Ian so incredibly sexy.


When Ian sees his old friend Olivia dolled up for wedding #1, the boyhood crush he once nurtured transforms into smoldering attraction. It doesn't take long for their no-strings arrangement to turn physical. But as Olivia's desire to stay "just friends" becomes clear, Ian's feelings are deepening. In the time they have together, how will Ian convince Olivia that one plus one can make for a lifelong pair?


Sounds good, right?

1. Where did the idea for Plus One come from?

It came from the prompt "secret crush". I actually wrote it with the intention to submit it to a call for submission from a small publisher. When my critique partner read it, she encouraged me to skip the call and submit to some larger e-publishers. Thank God she's smart and I listen to her.
 

2. Olivia and Ian are great characters. Both are full of excellent traits. How did they develop?

 

Thank you! Ian's character came to me first because his was the first line in the book I'd thought of. I've always loved the friends to more storyline, and the idea that it was the hero that fell for the heroine instead of the other way around attracted me to his story. From there, I was sort of like a witch at a cauldron, just throwing in every trait I'd love to read in a hero. And voila! err...abracadabra! Ian was born.

Olivia came to me in bits and pieces. The idea that she was stuck on a bad date popped into my head and then the cat urine guy materialized. And then I started thinking about what other awful, awful men she must've gone out with and what that would do to a person's outlook. After years and years of bad dates, I knew she'd be a little jaded, a little cynical, but overall, I didn't want her too anything. She had to be smart and strong and confident and funny because, to be honest, as a reader I don't like reading heroines who aren't any of those things, so as a writer I refuse to write them. When it came down to it, I wanted to create a heroine I'd be friends with.
 

3. I love when we get POV from both characters [I especially love boy POV]. Was Plus One always planned as a duel POV?

 

Yep, from the inception. When a story idea first takes root in my mind, it always comes to me as one person's story first. In this case, it was Olivia's voice I heard, but based on the secret crush angle, I knew I'd need Ian's POV as well. And, plus, I really love guy POVs, too.
 

4. Were there any scenes that you had to cut that you miss?

 

I didn't have to cut a single scene. I'm a fairly compact storyteller. I like to get in and out and get to the good stuff (insert that's what she said joke here) without unnecessary distractions or meandering. Of course, that means my editor asked me to expand a couple scenes and flesh out a few more details, but no scenes were cut. 
 

5. You're a genius when it comes to building the UST. Why do you love it so much?

 

A genius?! Well, I don't know about that, but I do love to be called a genius so I'm not going to argue with you. I love UST because, frankly, the reward is so much sweeter when you've had to wait just a while for it. Of course, there's such a thing as too much UST, but I like to write with realistic pacing. It's against my religion to write a meet, greet and fuck. I want to build the yearning between the characters so the readers feel it, too. So when that first sex scene comes, they aren't giving me their wtf faces while reading and wondering where that came from but instead maybe a little giddy (and by giddy I obviously mean flushed and excited) at the fact that it's finally happening.
 

6. And the sexah scenes... Are they easy for you to write?

 

Extremely. If I could write a book with sex, sex and only sex, I could whip out, like, 50 books a year. Alas, see opposition to my religion in the previous answer.
 

7. What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

 

Typically, in the beginning, I get a plot bunny and I let it ruminate for a few days or a week or two. Characters always, always, always come to me first and the plot is the last thing that gets filled in. I play around with personalities, life circumstances, hero and heroine obstacles, etc. Then I fill out a character outline--this varies and I don't think I've used the same one for any two stories, but it's all basically the same, only some are more detailed than others. Once characters are fleshed out, I start outlining scenes. Sometimes these come to me as random, ridiculous one-liners or maybe a piece of dialogue to jog my memory. Or sometimes I write 500 words outlining a scene because it's fresh in my mind and I don't want to lose it.

Even with all that detail, I'd call myself someone of a plotser, I guess, more so on the plot than the ser. I've worked using both methods, and I've found I'm a much more efficient writer when I have a clear guide as to what needs to happen next. That doesn't mean I follow it to a T and won't deviate from it (especially if my characters are trying to get each other naked 3 chapters before I originally thought it should happen), but if I don't have a scene at least a little fleshed out, I will sit and stare at my blank document on my laptop and watch all the different scene possibilities play out in my mind like a movie until I've sat there for three hours and written nothing.

8. You get the very first letter/email/call that Plus One is going to be published. Tell me what you did immediately after.

 

It was a phone call. I went up to my bedroom to take the call because my husband and (then) three year old were just getting lunch in the kitchen and they were being a little obnoxious (don't tell them I said that). So, got the call, got an offer, did a whole lot of listening while doing a fish impression, then hung up and just sort of stood there for a minute waiting for it to sink in. I was...I don't even know that I can explain it. Giddy and excited and on the verge of jumping out of my skin--sort of like what I'd imagine it'd feel like to hang out of an airplane right before you jump--but I just stood there. And I cried (of course). And then I got over that, ran downstairs, jumped around the kitchen, and told my husband, "HOLY SHIT, I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!" Except, you know, I sort of whispered shit because my kid was there eating his mac and cheese. And because I'm a lady.
 

9. What comes next for you?

 

Lots of amazing things, I hope. :) I've got a completed contemporary erotic romance novel I've just started querying to agents. That book is the first in a planned set of three companion series novels. I was also recently attacked with a wild and ferocious plot bunny, so book two that I'd been writing has been put on hold so I can flesh out a little of this New Adult plot idea. So, short answer: more writing.

Speed [ish] round:

1. What's your go to guilty pleasure thing to eat?
 

What's not my guilty pleasure thing to eat? I love food. But, for the sake of this, I'll say Salted Caramel Cake Pops from Starbucks.
 

2. What are you reading right now?

 

This will no doubt have changed five times over by the time this posts, but right now at this minute, I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio with my eight-year-old son, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (for the first time!), and Saved by the Bride by Fiona Lowe. 
 

3. Who are your favorite swoony boys?

 

Oh, man. This is a toughie. Okay. I'm not going to over-think this; just gonna say the first ones that pop in my head (and in absolutely no particular order):

Lucas
Brady
Brian
Tyler
Shadow
Adam
Etienne
Nev
Jase
Van
Jack

Well. Hmm. I maybe like swoony boys a little?

4. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?

 

I'm not much for fangirling, but I am pretty excited to meet Jill Shalvis at RWA this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Huge thanks to Brighton for taking the time!!

Brighton Walsh is a storyteller at heart. Whether through words or pictures, she's been weaving tales for as long as she can remember. After decades of cultivating her writing, she finally decided to give life to the voices in her head and set forth to write her first novella. Love is her first love, and writing about it is a dream come true. When she's not overwhelmed by the incessant chatter in her mind, you can generally find her with her nose buried in a steamy book or partaking in some retail therapy. The setting of her life story takes place in the Midwest, characters including her very own real life hero she found in her supportive and swoony husband, and her two energetic kids who (fortunately) know nothing about the naughty things she puts down on paper.
 

Want to stalk find Brighton? Here are her website, Twitter, and GoodReads pages.

 

Go buy Plus One today: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo. Want to win a copy? Check out Brighton's release day post and enter to win one of 3 giveaways!!

 

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!!**

 

 

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The time it was the longest event

I wasn't planning on recapping this event. I've seen these particular authors a zillion times and I figured it would be nice to actually just sit back and listen without having to take notes. And then I had a couple of people tell me that they couldn't wait to read my post on it.

Sooooo. Lets see what I come up with, shall we?

I got to Mysterious Galaxy early to meet Michelle for Starbucks. I was there first because traffic was horrible the day before when we met up, so I wanted to avoid it. That left me ample time to people watch. And get "Joanne" yelled at me multiple times.

We got into the store around 5:45 and there were already people sitting down. Thankfully, we were still able to get front row.

After securing our seats, Michelle and I ran over to Starbucks. On our way out, we ran into the authors who were going to interview with Ava. We said hi to everyone quickly and then went back to the store.

The event started promptly at 7pm.  The chair situation was bit odd, so they all decided to stand around the podium.  Veronica started by saying they would do an introduction of themselves and then a brief synopsis before just opening it up to a Q&A session.

When it came to Tahereh talking about her series, she said there was: "Lots of kissing for a girl who can't touch anyone."  I really loved that.

With the angst between Juliette and boy toys: will there be improvements in her situation?

Tahereh struggled to answer at first, the question was sort of worded oddly.  The girl who asked the question kept trying to reword it before she finally said:

Will we see anything about her sex life?

T: Can we get a mic drop? YES. There will be a big finish.

Ransom then commented about the teaser from book 3 that had been released.  Tahereh told a story about how Chapter 62 in Unravel Me made her editor sort of uncomfortable so they had made copies of the chapter and passed them around the publishing house.  Apparently, there is a part in book 3 that her editor is passing around again, but it's not public.

For Anna & Cynthia: both gave an exhale about the series being complete: glad to be done or what's next?

A: both? A bit of mourning. Is working on something new, but thinking about bonus material. Really digging into new book helps.

C: Goes through waves. Up and down due to having to come back to it.

 

Next projects?

C: Can't say anything because it hasn't sold yet

A: A duology, first book titled Blackbird. Mysterious thriller set in modern day LA.

R: Sequel to Miss Peregrine. Takes places during London blitz.

T: Working on book 3, waiting for revisions. Hopefully will work on a new project.

V: Almost done with 3rd book. Working on something every exciting but can't say anything.

What song best describes your writing process?

V: "Hotel California"

T: Listened to rainy mood.com, needs to be depressed while writing book 3.

At this, Tahereh decides to spoiler something from Ransom's second book.  The fact that he coined the phrase "softly crapping". Ransom's response was "there's a lot of birds in the book."

A: "I Can't Get No Satisfaction"

What is your theme song for you book?

R: "People Are Strange" by The Doors

A: "Howl" by Florence + the Machine

C: "Human" by Civil Twilight

T: "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event and "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

V: "Shine" by David Gray

For Ransom: In the second book, will there be scenes in Wales?

Some leaving of wales. Maybe some horses. Softly crapping.

For Veronica: Loved the romance between Roar and Liv.  Will the shocking event be changed? And will there be more novellas? [The second part of this question was something like that]

There will be more novella. Obsessed with secondary characters. Can't just write someone who walks across the room. As for the shocking event question, chooses to take a pass.

Most drastic thing you've done for a deadline?

R: push it by a year

V: A few all nighters. Check into a hotel, becomes gollum of writing. Been hungry and drank coffee creamer. Mixed sugar it's not so bad.

A: Saw a strawberry with a face, went to eat it and took a picture to share on twitter. Now it's out there. What sort of mind set would think that was okay to share?

C: Normally doesn't drink caffeine. Will have a whole tower of iced tea bottles. Writes in the Pepperdine library and is surrounded by other people constantly nodding her head and saying "okay".

T: Gets obsessive pockets of writing and shuts herself off. Survives on tea and whatever is around. Lived on pita bread for a week. Probably just a couple of days.

Are you willing to have your books turned into movies?

A: Be willing? If they begged me.

C: It's very common to sell the rights.

Do you ever find yourself restructuring the scene with a movie in mind?

R: Need to show, don't tell

Ransom then asked: Do you think about the geography of a scene?

A: Drew a map and layout of rooms. Need to be able to see the layout in minds eye to be able to write with clarity.

V: Fight scenes: likes to make sure it's very clear what's going on. Doesn't want to have readers confused with what is going on.

How much of yourself do you see in your characters?

C: Little pieces of herself in all of the characters. Sort of a beginning writer thing. Versions of themselves, but better.

A: To write well, you have to understand the motivation. Tends to put pieces of friends within the evil characters.

R: Not self aware enough to realize. Probably doing it, but not on purpose.

T: Echoing everything else. Inspired in part by everyone she's met. She has 4 older brothers. At Thanksgiving, one of her brothers had just finished reading her book.  Adam has a bird tattoo on his chest.  So does her brother.  He was supremely concerned. Kenji is an amalgam of all of her brothers and mom.

V: Doesn't try, but there's a limit to how well you can know yourself. Tries to create individuals. Doesn't base on people she's knows. Gets essence for what makes them tick: desire or insecurity. Never looked at family and thought: I'm going to make a character out of you.

For Tahereh: Did Warner always start out the same as how he ended up on the page?

T: No. Doesn't outline, finds out what happens when she's writing. At the end of the first book, she knew what was next.

What makes a good villain? Who is your favorite villain?

C: Needs to be more than 2D, vulnerable. Fun to write.  Loves Snape.

A: Darth Vader. Likes a villain you can understand. Real life is the greatest inspiration.

R: Depends on the story. With a horror story, it has to be what you can't understand. Not everything needs a villain. Likes really smart villains like Moriarty.

T: I should be taking notes. Mobsters who could be a family man. Think they can live a normal life, It's just the family business. So interesting that can be so loving and nurturing and then turn around and kill someone.

V:  Loves dark heroes. Loves when there's a real struggle.

R: No villain thinks they're a villain.

How did you come up with the plot?

C: It's all a mystery. Very intuitive.

A: Comes up with patches and outlines. Will revise if she finds that she's making her characters go somewhere that isn't organic for them.

R: Hard to have entire story in the head. Knows the beginning and the end. Makes balsa wood puppets to act out middle.

T: Intuitive. Trust yourself. Doesn't outline or plot. Likes the story to be fluid, lets character decide everything.

V: Process is similar. Combo of plotting but if characters go somewhere else, go off road. Editor will help in process. Wrote the ending of book 1 2 weeks before print.

There were a few more questions after that, but I just got tired of typing. The Q&A went on for over an hour When they concluded the talk, Michelle and I headed to the end of the line because I was getting a defaced copy for Jaime.

It took about 30 minutes or so for us to get to the front of the line.  For me, I only had Anna's book, but I had two for Tahereh and two for Veronica.  I said hi to Cynthia and chatted to her and Anna for a minute.  Then I handed Tahereh Jaime and Erin's copies of Unravel Me.

 

While Tahereh was working on Jaime's book, Michelle and I were chatting with Veronica.  We started talking about all of the places we had seen each other and all of the places I've traveled for book signings.  I said that I really wanted to fly out for Elizabeth Norris' launch party for Unbreakable, but that Hubs wasn't having it. 

And that started us on the conversation of books to read.  Michelle said Eleanor & Park and I said Unraveling and Unbreakable. Veronica told us that she had forgotten to grab a book and that she always needed to have one for down time.  I gushed about how fantastic Unraveling is and she said she was going to buy them!

After saying goodbye to everyone who was there, Michelle and I left.  It was a loooooong night, but so worth it. All of these authors are just so much fun.

Edit: As I read through this the next day, I realize that the charisma and humor these authors have doesn't even remotely come through. Let me assure you, they are amazing. Don't judge them by my shoddy notes and lazy fingers/editing.

The time it was all about inspiration

My love for Elizabeth Norris knows no bounds.  This is common knowledge.  So, when I was contacted to be a part of the blog tour for Unbreakable [I got an email from someone saying they heard I was a "big fan"], of course I agreed.

Yesterday, Unbreakable was released.  Today, I get to share some of Elizabeth's inspiration behind the amazing series.

 

First off, Janelle. 

And Ben. [Back off, he's mine]

And some of the songs from the official Unbreakable playlist: Save the World. Save the Boy.

"Sober" by Kelly Clarkson The chorus opens, "Three months and I'm still standing... Three months and I'm still remembering" and that really captures what Janelle is feeling at the beginning of the novel.  Not only has the world undergone drastic changes, but Ben is gone and she's trying to pick up the pieces of her life unsure if she really will ever see him again.

"Shallow Life" by Lacuna Coil Janelle is seventeen.  She should be sitting in class, thinking about things like her schedule, homecoming, and what colleges she's going to apply to, but with everything happening to her in Unbreakable, she's being forced into a different kind of life.

"No Light, No Light" by Florence + The Machine This song is perfect.  It encompasses so many of Janelle's feelings.  She can't stop thinking about Ben.  She loves him, but at the same time she can't help be a little mad that he left her, and she really wants to do something to make him stay with her.  Only she's becoming a different person -- everything she's been through is having an impact on her and she wonder if he'll still love who she is.

"Blackout" by Breathe Carolina This song made this chapter happen: 03:11:05:00.  I listened to it in order to get Janelle out of a really tight situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huge thanks to Elizabeth and her publicity team for asking me to be a part of this!

If you haven't read Elizabeth's books, you need to go get them now. Click the pictures of the books above to be taken to the GoodReads page for each.  If you want to learn more about Ben, read my interview with Elizabeth here.

Here are some other places you can stalk get ahold of her:

About the Author: Elizabeth Norris is the author of Unraveling and Unbreakable, and the e-novella Undone. Visit Liz on the web at ElizabethNorrisBooks.com and LizNorris.blogspot.com, as well as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads and Pinterest.

And don't forget to check out the other blogs on the Unbreakable Spring Blog Tour:

April 16th -- Fic Fare
April 17th -- The Readers Lines
April 18th -- Confessions of an Opinionated Book Geek
April 19th -- Good Choice Reading
April 22nd -- The Book Monsters
April 23rd -- Ruby's Reads
April 24th -- Adventures of a Book Junkie
April 25th -- The Noctural Library
April 26th -- Reading Teen
April 30th -- The Book Smugglers

The time it was a book blast

 

Welcome to my first book blast!!  Check below for information about Unbreakable, plus an awesome giveaway for signed books and swag!!

 

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

Elizabeth Norris briefly taught high school English and history before trading the southern California beaches and sunshine for Manhattan's recent snowpocalyptic winter.

She harbors dangerous addictions to guacamole, red velvet cupcakes, sushi, and Argo Tea, fortunately not all together.

Unbreakable is out now, so go get it!! Wanna support my local indie bookstore [and Elizabeth's favorite when she lived in SoCal]? Click here to order it from Mysterious Galaxy!

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The time we spent the day in the shade

We went to Festival of Books last year and it was pretty amazing. So I knew I would be going again, I just had to wait until the list of authors was released to decide how long I'd be there for.

I made my plans the day before. And while there were going to be several authors that I love seeing, I was really focused on seeing people that normally weren't in the LA area. There were only two for Saturday: Gennifer Albin and A.S. King.

I already had my copies of Crewel and Dear Bully, so I started the hunt for Ask the Passengers. Again, B&N disappointed me with the BS sob story about how they didn't have it. Surprise, surprise. Thankfully, the awesome people at Mrs. Nelson's had one copy in stock. They were willing to let me pay for it over the phone and agreed to bring it with them for my pick up at FoB.

We ended up getting up to the USC campus early and found excellent parking.

Picture taken from LA Times Festival of Books Twitter

We hunted down the Mysterious Galaxy booth [where I FINALLY met the amazing MaryElizabeth] and the Mrs. Nelson's booth. And then we found LiteraTea, a little campus cafe and killed some time waiting for the official start time.

As we were waiting to sync up with Colleen, we helped ourselves to chairs and sat across from the signing area at MG and people watched.

Marie Lu was signing and even though I haven't gotten a finished copy of Prodigy, it looked she was at the end of her signing time as she was only signing stock before heading over to another booth.

 

We headed back to Mrs. Nelson's to find Colleen. There were hugs and gifts exchanged . We hung out for a bit, catching up before she had to go back to work. So we headed back to MG after getting pictures with the minions from Despicable Me 2.

Robin Benway was at the MG signing table so I grabbed one of her other books and had it signed. I loved Also Known As so much that I'll pretty much read anything and everything she publishes.

 

We sat back and waited in our stolen chairs and just people watched. Gennifer Albin was scheduled to be at the MG booth at 12. Around 12:15, one of the employees told us that they didn't know where Gennifer was, that they were trying to find out if she went to a seller's booth on accident. We were told to stay in line, that they would make sure Gennifer signed all of our stuff.

Around 12:45, one if the MG booth employees came up to us and told us that Gennifer was lost. She had checked into the green room, but no one knew where she had gone.

In the meantime, Hubs had gone back to Mrs. Nelson's booth to pick up my copy of Ask the Passengers by AS King. In their rush to pack for the event, it was left on a desk at the store. They nicely sent someone back for it, so it took some time before it was actually at the booth.

I asked Hubs to stay in line in case Gennifer appeared and I ran over to an adjacent booth to get A.S. King.

She immediately commented on my chest tattoo [which is amazing] and then asked to see my Doctor Who tattoo. We then started talking about tattoos and how her dad told her she wouldn't be able to get a job if she were covered in tattoos.

She's signed my books and came out from behind the table to take a picture.

  

About 30 minutes later, I interrupted A.S. King [who was waiting to start her signing panel at MG] to deliver a message of love from Heather Brewer. I ended up chatting with her for a few minutes about different things and her winning the YA award the night before.

Before we went to our last event, I spotted Debra Driza in front of the signing table, so I stopped to say hi. I ended up chatting with 4 or 5 of the most hilarious girls [I wish I would have gotten names] along with Debra. We talked about tattoos [because they loved my River] and the clothing choices people made. After a few minutes, I excused myself from the group.

The last signing we had was Michelle Gagnon. She was on a panel with Tahereh Mafi and Kiersten White.

I talked to Tahereh briefly about getting Jaime a defaced copy. I may have also gushed about her eyelashes.

I then went over to Michelle. I had talked to her on twitter about where she was going to be signing. When she saw me, she commented on how I really came. And I said that I was an experienced stalker. See below for the best inscription.

We talked about Strangelets. I told her that I loved the book and she told me how she had to cut 20k words from it. And how there's an entirely different ending out there somewhere.

We also talked about Don't Look Back and how I was dying for it. She told me there were arcs out and that it was up on Edelweiss. GAH.

 

After that, we got to steal Colleen away for a few minutes. We went to a courtyard area to hang out and catch up on all of the things.

And when Colleen had to go back to the booth, we called it a day. And right after we drove out of our awesome parking spot, Gennifer Albin tweeted me about the signing and said she was told the signing was at 3pm. She also offered to meet me anywhere to sign my things. I was so bummed that I didn't get to see her, but I love that she offered.

Festival of Books is always worth the drive up.  The USC campus is gorgeous and everyone there is always so accommodating.  If you're in the area, I can't suggest a better way to spend a day outside.  With books.