1. TwilightMOMs, Eve's Fan Garden, and the Page Turners blog have teamed up to host a THE DARK DIVINE chat party Tuesday night (2/16) at 9 pm EST/ 7 pm MST. Everyone is invited to join in on the chat. Come ask me your questions about TDD, or writing in general. They will also be giving away prize packs during the chat, so you don't want to miss out. For more information, CLICK HERE.
2.Local Utahn, Michelle Witte is attempting to open an indie bookstore in Centerville, Utah that will host writing classes for teens and others in the community. She's hosting an auction to raise funds, and there are some great prizes to bid on (like a full manuscript critique by the Sara Zarr!!) Check out the auction HERE.
Okay, so I know this post is a day late but I was having a few technical difficulties, so let's just pretend it's still Valentine's Day for the sake of this post. :)
Anyway, I've had 3 signings in the last week, all in honor of Valentine's day. The first was an Authorpalooza with 30+ other authors at the Sandy, Utah Barnes and Noble. It was so much fun seeing some of my favorite author friends, and also getting to meet a few local authors that were new faces to me. I shared a table with the very entertaining G.G. Vandergriff, and also sat near authors Linda Chadwick, Wendy Paul, Heather Justesen, and Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen.
And of course, I picked up a few of their books to giveaway to you all . . . but we'll get to that in a minute.
Besides getting to meet some sweet authors, and talk to readers who came out to get a signed book, the best part of the the Authorpalooza was that my old college BFF (whom I hadn't seen in over 8 years) came by to see me. I was so shocked when I saw Ginna in my line, I almost cried. Seriously, this girl was my Maid of Honor at my wedding (!!!) but then we'd lost touch over the years. She just happened to be in town from Rhode Island and heard about my signing, so she brought her husband and 6 year old son (whom I'd never met) over to see me. I can't tell you how happy I am that she came!
(Me and Ginna)
The next signing was at a brand new little indie bookstore in Eagle Mountain, Utah called DRAGONS & FAIRY TALES. The signing was fun, and I got to know author Jessica Day George a lot better. (Whenever I see her, she's dressed in pink, but she claims 75% of her closet is full of black and army green clothes. I'll believe that when I see it.) And I have to give huge kudos the owner for opening a new bookstore in this economy, and I wish her tons of luck with the venture.
(That's Jessica Day George in the pink next to me)
My third signing was at the Barnes & Noble in Orem, Utah on Saturday. The best part about this signing is that the Literati girls (a group of teens and their awesome English teachers) came out to see me.
(Me and the Literati!)
They even brought me packages of cinnamon bears and dark chocolate (to help my writing process) and a collection of twisted valentines they wrote during English class. I got the biggest kick out of these and I told them I would definitely share them on my blog.
This one is my favorite (A poem from Edward Cullen to Grace Divine):
(Click on it to see it in a bigger format.)You can also read valentine's letters from Jude to me, Jacob to Daniel, Edward to Grace, and Bella to Grace by clicking HERE.
Seriously, don't you wish you'd had high school English teachers cool enough to let you do this kind of activity in class? Also, their teacher Emily gets a special prize for bringing the girls all the way to see me while IN LABOR!!!! She said that if this little adventure didn't progress her labor further, then she was going to "pull an Eward Cullen and take matters into her own hands," or I guess . . .um . . . teeth.
Okay, so on to my V-day contest.
I'm giving away:
1. The cookbook: 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes by Heather Paul (Cuz who DOESN"T want 101 cupcakes)
2. The Ball's In Her Court (signed) by Heather Justesen
3. Missing (signed) by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
4. And a TDD Keychain
5. Signed TDD bookmarks and a couple of stickers.
6. Bottle of TDD nail polish
All you have to do to enter is either tell me what you did for Valentine's Day, or tell me which fictional characters you think should exchange Valentine's cards. (Extra point to anyone who takes a crack at writing one.)