When Authors Tweet Me :)

Social media sure is great. Last night a few friends and I were discussing the awesomeness of one of our favorite authors on Twitter. The subject got brought up that we all had friends with conservative reading habits and so when we suggest a book we might warn of language or a particular scene.  AND GUESS WHAT!!! He totally joined in on the conversation!!!! Yes MARKUS ZUSAK, author of The Book Thief, and my favorite, I am the Messenger. YOU GUYS this made my day!

I first read his books when he came to Utah for a signing (almost two years ago). I've been a fan since!

Then, a few hours later GUESS WHAT!!! I got another tweet from the lovely Morgan Matson (Amy & Roger's Epic Detour)! Grated it was about our choices for delicious snacks on our Monday night movies but still! I love getting the chance to hear about the normal lives of some great people, and sometimes, if you're lucky, hear back from them!

Writing & Illustrating For Young Readers 2013

If you've been following me, you probably are aware how much I LOVE promoting authors and good books so it might not be much of a stretch that I want to tell you about WIFYR. 

WIFYR is a pretty incredible week-long conference that brings in nationally published authors, publishing house representation and amazing talent across the board from both authors and illustrators for young readers. There is a slew of great classes and workshops plus you get to mingle with others that share your interest and passion (and get to rub shoulders with the faculty).

Registration is NOW open!!

Writing & Illustrating For Young Readers

June 17-21 2013 in Sandy, Utah.

(Click to enlarge photo)

Check out their website, Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers for more information.

Also you can find them on Facebook & Twitter.

Book Club: Everneath (Special Guest Brodi Ashton)

For book club this month we hosted author Brodi Ashton for her book Everneath. I have been looking forward to having Brodi as the guest of honor at my book club for a while so I was thrilled when the night was finally here and I got to see how all of our plans came together! My friends have serious talent people. Let me highlight them for you. :)

Dinner was The Soup Kitchen (from scenes in the book) where we feasted on homemade soups, salads, bread sticks, artichoke dip and more.

The dining room was the Park City High, home of the Miners. These are home made lockers (made out of cardboard. How cool, right!? --Shauna I'm still in awe!) that are of course near the drinking fountain where Nikki ate lunch everyday while she knitted.

The party favors part 1 by Dano: Filled w/ seed packets so we could create our own 'evermore', crackled guitar pics, candy and cinnamon bears (Brodi's favorite treat). 

After dinner we played games. This was part of our 'purse game' where we had scenarios dealing with the book places/characters and had to get ourselves out of a sticky situation using only the items in your purse.

"Cole is screen printing at the park city TShirt company and has run out of supplies. AND his tools have all broken. He’s got a large order of custom shirts to fill in the next few days. Whats a guy to do?" 

(You may note that there is an actual screen--we were at Christie's house so we gave her some leeway with the props she used. Haha!)

This one was pretty hilarious.

Becks dad is running for Mayor. Make a catchy campaign poster using items you have.

Emily & Dano did a great job complete with an actual parade cheer around the room and noise makers. (And yes that is a sanitary napkin used as an adhesive.)

Or here's one more just for fun:

 Jacks brother Will is drunk again and needs to be occupied in the backseat so he doesn’t throw up while they try to get him home. How would you entertain him with items from your purse? 

Party favor part 2: Actual water bottles from THE Park City High School. Our own Fancy Nancy drove up and got us each our very own!

We also played a great game of Mad Libs Persephone -style created by Shauna. We went around the room naming the fill-in-the-blanks (it's best to go crazy and wild with this) and then read the story aloud for us all to laugh at. Brodi's posted it on her blog if you're interested. 

And of course the group shot with all the party folks! 

(Aka: the best book club in the world!) 

And if you look closely behind the row of those standing you will see our 

black curtain ala entrance into the "Everneath". 

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Happy day of official release to Brodi's book EVERNEATH! If you're at/near Utah be sure to come over to The Kings English tonight at 7pm for the launch party!


Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Genre: Young Adult
Release Date: January 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray ( Harper Collins )
ISBN: 0062071130
Pages: 370 pages hardcover


Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

Synopsis: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's.

More info on Author: Brodi's blog & facebook & twitter

Edited to add others now available; Neverfall & Everbound.

  

Meeting Cinder author Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: January 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
ISBN: 0312641893
Pages: Hardcover, 390 pgs


Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari

Synopsis: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future


About Author: read her blog, follow her on twitter and become like her facebook page.

Photo courtesy of Jenni Elyse.

Meeting the author:

I had the privilege of getting to participate in a book blogger interview with Marissa Meyer while she was in Utah for a few signings. These smaller intimate gatherings are AMAZING. I realize authors are real people too but there is just something about getting to sit down and visit with someone who has created this incredible masterpiece. It was a real pleasure. She even brought along her husband Jesse who was kind enough to let us ask him some questions too.


The great thing about finding a good book is when there are others that follow. There will be four books in this series. Scarlet (Red Riding Hood), Crest (Rapunzel) and Winter (Snow White) which will all follow the Lunar. All books will be released a year apart.

It seems that a lot of people associate music with writing so the question came up but Marissa said she'd prefer not to write to music. However when she's trying to brainstorm she'll lay on the floor and listen to classic or alternative rock.

After the blogger gathering Marissa Meyer then spoke to the crowd that had gathered for the signing. And told us more stories about her path to publication which included once writing over 150,000 words in a month to try to win a walk on roll to Star Trek. Ok back up. 150,000 in a month? Are we all aware that that is around 5000 words in a DAY! This woman amazes me.

One of my favorite stories she told us was the day of the release she drove over to a local bookstore to sign some stock but the owner could only find all the copies but one. Later, on her way out, she noticed a patron sitting in the chairs at the store reading her book, the missing one they couldn't find. On the day of it's release. At 8:30 in the morning!

Uncommon Criminals Signing (Heist Society Giveaway)

I think we're a little spoiled here were I am as we have an INCREDIBLE library with the ability to host huge/awesome events. This latest one was no exception. They brought in the fabulous Ally Carter author of the Gallagher Girls series (which I am on a waiting list for the first one at the library) and Heist Society (so fun!) and her most recent Uncommon Criminals (sequel to Heist Society).

Me & Jenni waiting in line to get in. Like I said the library is able to host a huge group, I think last I heard it was Ally's largest group at over 200+ people.

I love booky people! Friend, Me, Rachel, CA, Tawnya

Jenni (Jenni Elyse), Emily (Emily's Reading Room)

Ally's motto is to just leave out the boring stuff so she stood up to speak to us and just jumped right in with Q&A. It was SO fun to still get to hear all her stories and get almost an entire hour of fans questions.

Seriously she's adorable! Cute dress, cute accent, she just seems like we could be friends and go out to lunch. (I wish! Haha.)

A few videos for you to enjoy:

Ally tells us how she decided on Hale's name on her last visit to Utah.

(Sorry the end of the video is shaky, I was laughing and gasping, haha.)

Ally Carter on how she manages her time so she can write.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter to win a SIGNED copy of Ally Carter's Heist Society.

FYI I'll use random.org to pick a winner so please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Mandatory Entry:

Comment w/ your email address so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries (pick any or all):

+1 retweet this "I want to win a copy of @OfficiallyAlly Heist Society from @Cranberryfries http://bit.ly/msHbNH"

+1 friend me on Goodreads

+1 follow me on twitter @Cranberryfries

+1 follow @OfficiallyAlly on twitter

+1 follow my blog

+ 1 friend me on facebook Debbie Cranberryfries

+2 share this contest on facebook (include link)

+2 share this contest on your blog (include link)

Other info:

Open to US residents only.

Contest will end July 9th.

FYI Two other contests!!!

**You can also enter to win Ally's latest book Uncommon Criminals over on my friend Jenni's blog by July 9th.

**Enter to win an ARC of EVERNEATH from Brodi Ashton (ends June 30th).

Author Interview with BRODI ASHTON (ARC giveaway!!!)

A couple of weeks ago Harper Collins (Balzer Bray) contacted me (squee!!) and offfered me an interview with the hilarious Brodi Ashton, author of the upcoming Everneath (released Jan 2012). Of course I did a little happy dance and promptly wrote the nice gentleman, Michael, and told him I'd be thrilled and honored. So dear friends you're in for a treat!

ABOUT EVERNEATH:
EVERNEATH is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: a 17-year-old who's been banished to the underworld escapes to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in the real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever.

Add this one to your Goodreads | Shelfari

Preorder it now Amazon

ABOUT BRODI:
Lives in Utah with her husband and two young boys, who still have no idea why she's at the computer all the time.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

She blogs several times a week and always manages to make me laugh out loud. I have often been heard referring to her blog as my morning comic strip.

Q&A

-What was your favorite part about the journey of writing Everneath?

I loved exploring a different voice in the narrator Nikki. If you read my blog, you know I don't take things very seriously and I like to laugh, usually at myself. But Nikki's story would not have been well-served by that voice. I had to stretch myself as a writer. I couldn't think, "What would I do in this situation?" I had to put myself in Nikki's shoes. It made her come alive for me.

-Is there a particular scene that you loved writing or just gave you that feeling like, 'yes, this is why I love writing!'? Can you reference it enough without spoiling it so that we can know when we read it later?

Yes, I can reference my favorite scene! It was the first scene I wrote, in Chapter 1, where a girl returns to school after she's been in this horrible place. The rumor mill is going full swing, but she still chooses to go back to her school, and face the people she left behind. The tension in that scene was what drew me to the story, and despite several rounds of revisions, very little has changed in that scene.

-What's been one or two fun things you've gotten to do since/because of signing on with a publisher?

I got to go to New York and have lunch with my agent and editor! The whole time, I nodded and pretended I was listening to the conversation, but really I was thinking, I'm having lunch with my agent and my editor. This is the life.

Okay, I may have said it out loud a few times too. I was all, "This is my agent. And my editor." and the waiter was all, "Umm... I asked what you wanted to drink."

-What was your favorite book you read in the last year?

Oh man, that's a tough one. How about WHERE SHE WENT, DIVERGENT, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE... to name a few.

-You've got a pretty hilarious sense of humor. Have you always been funny? or To what do you credit it? (it's just how you grew up? your family? your friends? you found it during college)?

It was these strange "magic beans" I bought from a door to door salesman in 1997.
Okay, that's not very funny. People are going to read this, and be all, "Seriously? That's not funny. Say something funny, harpy! Make me laugh!"

-What would be better, eating lunch with Rafa or hitting the NYT bestsellers list? :)

Eating lunch with Rafa! And then getting a text that I hit the NYT list. Just kidding. I really can't think about stuff like that. It would make me crazy. So, definitely, lunch with Rafa. And perhaps some afternoon delight. Just kidding, Sam. I love you.

Thanks for the chat Brodi! I'm looking forward to this winter when I can get my hands on a copy of EVERNEATH!

EVERNEATH ARC GIVEAWAY!

Brodi has kindly offered up one of her coveted ARC's for Windy and I to giveaway so pay attention to the rules folks so you can make sure to enter.

Here's what to do in a nutshell:

**Get the part 1 tweet from me (below) and part 2 from windy and tweet it. Everything else is just extra pudding. :)

Mandatory entry:

Have a Twitter account? Good. No? Better get one, or else you're gonna miss a chance to win your very own Brodi Ashton-signed ARC of EVERNEATH! Here's all you've gotta do:

Take the first half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from below:

Part 1: "I can't wait to read @BrodiAshton's EVERNEATH in January, but"

Go get the second half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from Windy's blog.

Go ahead, I'll wait for you to collect both pieces.

Back? OK. Now, put them together and go TWEET IT!!

Easy-peasy right? Of course it is!

Extra entries:
Now, if you want some extra chances to win ... there's a few things you can do, and NO, you do NOT have to keep track of your points or come back to us with an email or anything like that. If you just do any of the following things, we'll take care of all that hard math, counting and adding and stuff for you!

+1 following either of our blogs (+2 if you follow both) - new and old followers, same number of points.
+1 commenting on either of our #everneathARC blog posts (+2 if you comment on both)
and the big one ...
once the cover is revealed and available on the PageTurners blog you can get
+5 for changing your Twitter avatar over to the EVERNEATH cover and leaving it up for the next week! (we'll be spot checking - no work necessary from you other than the switch over)

And don't think the ARC is all we've got up for grabs! If that's not enough for you, there's an awesome second prize as well containing oodles of EVERNEATH-y goodies! You won't be disappointed!

This contest is open to all US residents only (sorry international friends) through Thursday, June 30 and we'll be announcing the winners on our blogs Friday, July 1.


*For more EXCLUSIVE! (part 2) Q&A with Brodi check out Windy's blog.

*For the official cover launch stop by Page Turners blog (It's soooo pretty)!

Author Interview with Sheralyn Pratt

Ah this girl is SO awesome! Dear friends let me welcome the great Sheralyn Pratt. I first heard about her books from my friend Kristie who told me they were awesome and funny! Sure enough, I read them and was LAUGHING OUT LOUD so many times.

Sheralyn is just as fun in person as her characters are in her books. :) She kindly agreed to answer some of my questions so take a look and get to know this great gal!


• What was the best advice you got before you were published (or on your writing journey) ?

The best advice (which I rarely follow) was to wait two weeks before showing anyone anything you’ve written. Write it, let it marinate while go read other authors you love, come back, and re-read your work. If you still like it, then you can show it to someone else. Sound advice. I should follow it more often.

• If you could be one of your characters for a day who would you be and why?

As much as I love Rhea and as desperately as I need Kay’s tough love when it comes to what I put in my closet, I would have to hang out with a character no one’s met yet. Her name is Nev… and one day you will know why she’s at the top of my list. I’ll give you one reason for why I want to pick her brain, though: she’s been around for 1200 years.

• What’s been a fun perk of being published?

One perk has to be the instant street cred. Can’t lie about that. Also, being published can and does open doors. But one of the top perks has to be that I have one less “If only…” in my life. The flip side is the pressure of the business side of it all. That can be a kill joy if you let it.

• Looking forward to anything in the future? (signing events, new book coming out, conferences attending?)

I plan on this summer being fun—taking trips, doing out-of-state signings (if there’s an area you want me to visit, let me know), and working on three books, two fiction and one awesome nonfiction that I’m going to need help with from everyone within the sound of my voice. I’m making a little web page for it now, so stay tuned on that. I think it will be a hit!

• Any upcoming events I can tell my readers about?

Same as above. Things aren't concrete yet, but this summer is going to be a series of trips all over the country. Cities and dates coming soon, but it’s going to be great and I’ll be excited to meet people I’ve only known through the internet. It’ll be fun and productive—two words I like to combine as often as possible!

• Biggest/hardest change since being published? (in writing or life, etc.)

Probably the lifestyle change of sitting all the time. My body doesn't like it and I feel like I spend half the year with my siatic nerve pinched. The only way for me to fix it is to get out and exercise, and I haven't yet found the balance between my old ways and my new ways. Probably not the answer you were expecting, eh?

• What’s a good book you’ve read this year that you’d recommend to others?

I ALWAYS recommend Save the Cat to writers. Love that book! Research books I’ve been enjoying are the Tao Te Ching and the Apocrypha. In the fiction arena I like Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series and Rick Riordan.

People always get to ask Q&A’s when they go to author events. What’s the best question you’ve been asked? (What was your answer?)

I know somebody asked something brilliant once. I remember it stumping me. But like most brilliant things, I have since forgotten the question. Sorry. Some help I am!

• If your load was lightened what is a guilty pleasure you would partake in?

Adrenaline. I’m not sure when exactly I grew up, but man, adulthood can be mundane. I’m up for a few thrills, for sure! Either that, or long-term camping. I’m always up for that, too

• If you had to rewrite a nursery rhyme which one would you choose/why/how would you make it your own/fun to read?

I can honestly say I have never, ever thought about this in my life. But the first one that comes to mind is “There was an old lady who lived in a shoe…” Great. Thanks! Now I’m going to dream about that tonight…

• Have you gotten to travel anywhere fun/different because of your book(s)?

So far I’ve been tame in my travels, but trust me, before long I’ll be hitting places like Thailand, South Africa, Germany, Egypt, Machu Picchu, Ireland, and anywhere else where either nature or man is displaying something that makes me feel absolutely small and insignificant. Can’t wait!

Thanks so much for answering all of my crazy questions Sheralyn! It's been a pleasure having you stop by to say hi!

*May is Utah Author Month

Author Interview with Annette Lyon

Remember that chocolate cook book I'm giving away this week? You have just a couple of days left to enter. But while we wait to find out the winner let me introduce you to my friend Annette Lyon.

I first met Annette when I signed up to take her two-month-long writing workshop with my pals Susan and Olivia where I learned some of the ins and outs of the writing and publishing world and got all sorts of great tips & tricks to writing and got a lot of encouragement and writing exercise ideas. I've also gotten to see her around at several of the events I've gone to as she's very active in the local author community.

She was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions to share with all of you. Enjoy!

•Q: What was the best advice you got before you were published (or on your writing journey)?

A: Join a critique group. Mine is fantastic, and I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.

• Q: If you could be one of your characters for a day, who would you be and why?
A: Hard one. I put my characters through the wringer, so I don’t know that I’d want to be in their shoes! If pressed, I’d probably say either Tabitha (Tower of Strength) or Bethany (Spires of Stone). They have a level of strength and spunk that I don’t. Tabitha is more like me as far as personality and temperament goes.

• Q: If you could meet one of your characters for lunch who would it be and what would you talk to them about?
A: Probably Abe (House on the Hill). His story in that book grew a ton from the first draft to the end as I learned more about his past. I have a feeling there’s more I don’t know about. He’s my readers’ favorite hero, hands down. I'm not sure why--maybe because he’s so complex?--but he's one of my favorites too.

• Q: What’s been a fun perk of being published?
A: One big perk I didn’t anticipate is the opportunity to meet new people and attend events that wouldn’t have been open to me before. I’ve had the chance to rub shoulders with some pretty amazing people.

Also, it may sound odd after almost a decade, but I still get a bit of a thrill at seeing books on the shelf at a store with my name on them.

• Q: Looking forward to anything in the future? (signing events, new book coming out, conferences attending?)

A: May 7th I find out if I won a Whitney award for my last novel, Band of Sisters. It’s currently a finalist for Best General Novel. At the LDStorymakers conference prior to the award gala, I’ll be teaching three classes, moderating a panel, and running a publisher-attendee event.
Edited to add: CONGRATS to Annette who won the Whitney award for Best General Novel!!

I’m working on several projects right now, although I have no solid release dates for them. I will likely have a fourth book available on the Kindle in the next couple of months. My first two books (out of print elsewhere) are already there, as is my grammar guide. This next one will be a middle-grade fantasy.

•Q: Any upcoming events I can tell my readers about?
A: June will be the 3rd annual Teen Writers Conference, which has been a ball to be part of. I’ll be teaching there as well—and I have teens of my own to bring along, so it’s a mom-kid day!

• Q: Biggest/hardest change since being published? (in writing or life, etc)
A: One of the hardest things is the realization that getting a book contract is not even almost the end of the road. It’s the beginning of an entirely new journey, and if you don’t work just as hard (or even harder—the clock is now ticking with releases and readers waiting), you’ll fall behind and lose what you worked so hard for.

• Q: What’s a good book you’ve read this year that you’d recommend to others?
A: The Book Thief, by Markus Zuzak, was so great. (And it was the first book I bought for my shiny new Kindle!) Beautiful writing, great story, fascinating technique.

I also got to read Variant, by Robison Wells, which is a great YA. It was a pre-press version, so everyone else has to wait until this fall. (A perk to being in a great critique group!)

• Q: If your load was lightened, what is a guilty pleasure you would partake in?
A: Nap. Hire a housekeeper and/or cook. Travel. Get pedicures.

• Q: If you had to rewrite a nursery rhyme which one would you choose/why/how would you make it your own/fun to read?
A: “Old Mother Hubbard” might be fun to novelize. WHY was her cupboard bare? She must have known food had been there—she wouldn’t have checked otherwise. So what happened to it?

Oh gosh those were some great answers! Thanks so much Annette for letting me ask you some questions. Be sure to stop by Annette's blog and if you haven't yet enter to win her cookbook here on my blog!

*May is Utah Author Month

Clubbing at The Depot (The Lost Saint Party with Bree Desapin)

A few of you may know that I was on Bree Despain's street team for The Dark Divine so I got the opportunity to meet with Bree a few times and even had her come out to my book club last year.

Well I couldn't pass up the chance again when The Lost Saint came out.

My cute friends Shauna and Emily helped me out in planning this fun party! Here's a little taste of what we did.

(If you've read the book hopefully you'll get more of the details we threw in there.)

A group shot of us girls clubbing at The Depot.

You may notice a few extra folks. Nancy kindly brought a version of the Markham Street Monster (plus they fit in nicely with our Halloween theme in the other room) and the other boys in the picture were there volunteering in one of the booths you'll see later.

First things first. In order to get into The Depot we needed our card key to gain access. Nancy was up to her tricky ways again and brought us each one of these snazzy necklace key cards to wear!

We had the party divided into The Depot and the Halloween Carnival. Dinner included Halloween themed food and decorations. Complete with a Caramel Apples dipping station and an assortment of toppings. (I forgot to grab a photo of that.)

We had a few booths for our street fair carnival party. :) This one was palm reading.

Another booth. Trunk or Treat as mentioned in the book. A fun variation of Trick Or Treating.

I think this was my favorite. The Kissing Booth. We had a few Hollywood actor cutouts we had dressed to play Daniel and Talbot as guests in our kissing booth. And the treats were cool minty and hot cinnamon. :)

Our make and take booth was bedazzled stake bookmarks.

Here's our finished projects.

Did I mention that my name appears in the book?

Awesomesauce!

Meeting Markus Zusak

I've been to a lot of author events and had the chance to listen to a lot of great people speak.

So with that in mind, let me tell you just how much I LOVED getting to hear Markus Zusak speak last week. When I got a chance to talk to him I asked him if while he was in the states (he's from Australia) if he was able to visit any other places or having any other signings and he said Pennsylvania and Ohio (I think it was).

I'll be honest. I've heard A LOT about his more popular book The Book Thief, but I haven't read it. Yet. I own it. And I plan on reading it this year. I even started another one of his, I am the Messenger and I'm really enjoying it!

He was so engaging and funny and cute and that accent. I love accents.

He told this great story (some video below) of a childhood memory between him and his brother and at the end told us he used that story to make a point of how he writes. He said the details he included are important to writing and creating a story because it's what makes you own the story. It's also important because it's what makes it believable and real to the person listening /reading it.

I can not believe how long he stayed to sign books. He finished his talk around 7pm and I was in the first 75 people and we finally made it through in about 1.5 hours or so (and that was with everyone only getting to have 2 books signed). My friend Karen's son was there and was one of the last few people to get signed and left around 1am! He was so so nice though and wrote a few sentences (and even drew pictures) in everyones books.

Plus it was fun to go with a bunch of people I knew!

Pictured above (front row: me, Jenni, Rachel, Jamie back row: Becca, Amy, Esther, Olivia)

And just so you can enjoy his accent as much as I did I got you all some video to watch.

(If the videos are too big for my blog you can click on here for video 1 and here for video 2.)

Utah Book Blogger Social (Put it on your calendars!)

Semi-annual UTAH Book Blogger Party!

For: book bloggers, authors, aspiring authors, book sellers, or publishing type people in the Utah area.

Last year I went. And it was A LOT of fun! Here's the Summer Social and the Winter Social.

Check out Suey's post for some additional info (and more pictures of the past four events).

When: Saturday, March 5 at 6:00 p.m.

Where: Golden Corral (7200 S. and 655 E.) in Midvale.

Cost: Dinner is just under $10.00 plus drinks/tips.

What: We'll be doing a book exchange, so bring a used/loved book to share.

ALSO: If you haven't already joined the Utah Blogger group on the Ning, now is your chance. That's where they are trying to keep track of everyone and it makes for a good central location for all that's happening.

RSVP (to at least ONE of these great gals): Natasha at Maw Books Blog, , Becky at One Literature Nut or Suey at It's All About Books. You can also email them at utahbookbloggers AT gmail DOT com.

Breathless Reads in Salt Lake City

Last Saturday a bunch of my friends and I were at the Salt Lake City Library eagerly awaiting a handful of fabulous authors!

Rachel, Jamie, Jenni, Debbie, Malea, Olivia, Meagan, Heather

(and directly above us-even if they didnt know we were taking a picture, is a few more friends/authors: Sheralyn Pratt, Nichole Giles, Windy Aphayrath, Elana Johnson)

(And a special shout out to Catie (Book Bound for taking the picture!)

Then the wonderful Breathless Reads Tour Authors came out on stage!

Pictured Above:

Ally Condie (Matched), Beth Revis (Across The Universe), Andrea Cremer (Nightshade), Kirsten Miller (The Eternal Ones), Breanna Yavonoff (The Replacement)

And of course some other friends / awesome book bloggers

Emily from Emily's Reading Room, Cranberryfries, Heather from Fire and Ice

(thanks for the photo Heather!)

Here's a fun little video of a few of them answering the question, "Do you have any rituals or things you always do when you write?"

(If you can't see the video you can go directly to my YouTube page here to see it.)

I've read Matched, and loved it! And I picked up Across the Universe and Nightshade to read. I really wish (and seriously just should have) gotten them all!

Have you read any of these books yet?

What'd you think?