Author Event Recap & Giveaway: 2013 Summer Lovin' Tour

 

Hello readers! Last night I attended the Summer Lovin' Tour at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Bookshop in La Verne, CA.  I know I'm incredibly lucky to live in the Los Angeles area, because of the awesome authors that come through our city.  With that said, this event has to be one of the extreme examples of just how lucky I truly am!! Six amazing authors all in one spot.  I seriously needed smelling salts to keep me from collapsing on the floor!! I laughed hysterically while being pelted with snack size Skittles, and chocolate that the authors would throw at us (yes, I'm serious).  That was our reward for correctly answering which book a quote came from. 

There is a reward at the end of this post.  I'm giving away a SIGNED hardcover copy of The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler and a SIGNED hardcover copy of Golden by Jessi Kirby, so make sure you scroll down and fill out the rafflecopter!

Suzanne Young, Kimberly Derting, Sarah Ockler

Jessi Kirby & Shannon Messenger

Kicking off the night, we played a game where each author told us two truths and one lie. We had to guess the lie. Let's go with some truths: Shannon Messenger had to make conversation with a shirtless Rob Lowe!! (that poor, poor girl!); Sarah Ockler wore PJ's to school everyday in high school, for one WHOLE year; Jessi Kirby never ditched a day of school in her life (she was much like the protagonist in Golden); Morgan Matson could get in touch with Justin Bieber if she wanted to, and Kimberly Derting hung out for one week with the Olympic Swim Team from Bahrain.

Sarah Ockler minus the "blue bandana"

The authors introduced the books they're on tour for (see above for books).  I read and really enjoyed The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler (my review), and she was a thrill to meet!  Underneath that conservative looking exterior is a wild gangster-rap loving woman!  She embraced that persona in high school by wearing purple baggy jeans, and a blue bandana to complete her look.  We were all giggles as she was relating which rap groups were "authentic".  Back to books: in addition to her newest release, The Book of Broken Hearts, she's currently working on Love & Other Internet Disasters about a girl with a mad crush on her best friend's boyfriend, a forbidden kiss, and how social-media-gone-bad figures in.  It sounded amazing, and is coming to us Spring/Summer 2014. 

Kimberly Derting is the author of The Body Finder series, which I love, and The Pledge series.  She was out promoting the second in The Pledge series which is a dystopian world separated by languages.  Each language is in it's own caste and it's illegal for anyone to speak a language other than their own.  The series centers on a girl who can speak and understand all languages. Kimberly is currently working on the third in the series as well as a new series coming out in 2014.  The new series is called The Taking and is about a girl who vanishes from the car while her father is driving and is missing for five years. She reappears to find everything about her life changed yet she is still the same sixteen year old with no recollection of where she was.  It's expected publication is summer 2014.

Morgan Matson &Jessi Kirby

Jessi Kirby's was out to promote her latest: Golden and so far it's been receiving raving reviews. (Tune in Monday for Jasprit's review!) Golden is about Parker who lives in a world of expectations until she finds the journal of a girl from her school that was part of the "golden" couple that disappeared ten years ago. Exploring the past and the mystery behind this couples disappearance, spurs Parker to find her own identity and direction.  Jessi told us about the book she's currently working on and I was blown away by the description! A girl loses her boyfriend in an accident, and his organs are donated.  Trying to work through her grief she writes to each recipient, and all but one writes back.  Guess which organ?  Well she tracks down the owner (illegally, there are strict rules that govern identities in organ donation) of that organ, and he is instantly drawn to her, putting her in an awkward situation because he has no idea who she is! Sounds incredible, right?!! 

Shannon Messenger

Shannon Messenger is currently in "threequel purgatory," working on the third book of both her series': Let the Sky Fall, her YA fantasy/romance trilogy, and the third in her middle grade series: Keeper of the Lost Cities. 

Morgan Matson is working on another contemporary romance about a girl named Emily who's best friend leaves without warning and sends a list to Emily with thirteen things to do, like go skinny dipping, kiss a stranger, break something, and has no idea what all these things mean but thinks if she does them it will give her a clue to her best friend's whereabouts. There's also a boy, and kissing, of course!  This is due to come out May 2014. Morgan also informed us that she did indeed take the road trip in Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, sadly, there was no "Roger". 

 Suzanne Young is the writer of The Program and A Need So

Beautiful series working on the second and final book to The Program series.  She's also working on something with Cat Patrick, Just Like Fate which shows two distinct paths a girl's life could go on based on her decision made one night.  This will be out in August 2013. 

As part of this author recap I'm giving away a SIGNED copy of Golden by Jessi Kirby and a SIGNED copy of The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler. The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL, just fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win! 

   

a Rafflecopter giveaway