Fierce Reads Tour - Miami Stop

A few weeks ago - ok, fine, several weeks ago...this post is severely overdue - I attended the FIERCE READS TOUR at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL.

The FIERCE READS panel included:

 Emmy Laybourne - Author of the Monument 14 Series

Anna Banks - Author of the Of Poseidon Series

Leigh Bardugo - Author of the Grisha Series

Gennifer Albin - Author of the Crewel World Series

Jessica Brody - Author of the Unremembered Series

This was such a great tour!  These ladies, aside from being insanely talented, are absolutely hilarious.  They are witty, clever, snarky (which we LOVE) and were just an all-around good time!

Our Miami readers were on point, too!  We threw some pretty deep & probing questions at them like: 

• If you were being chased by zombies, which character (from any of the books on the panel) would you want to have your back? (Asked by local bookworm and associate blogger, Andy)
  
  and
• If you could trade lives with ANY book character, in literary history, who would you want to be? (Asked by yours truly ;)

For me, though, the highlight of the night was the signing portion.  It's our chance to get to speak to the authors one-on-one, goof off with them, take pictures, and persuade them to return with promises of Cuban pastries and coffee!

THIS night was a little different than most.  Every author we've met has been kind enough to take pictures with us but Emmy Laybourne took it up a notch. She took some nice classic pics with the fans, but she also decided to have some fun with us and take crazy, goofy pictures.

Now most of you probably know that I am very "petite" and Emmy wanted to do something a little different so I now present to you...THIS!

This was definitely a first...for both of us and I am STILL laughing about it!

Well, here we are weeks later and one of my local book pals found a video on the Fierce Reads YouTube channel where the authors talk about their favorite moments from the tour.

Well, you 'lljust have to watch ;)

I can't get over the coolness of this moment! This was such a surprise! Thank you to Emmy for sharing this, and for pronouncing my name correctly (lol) and thank you to my pal Ursula for finding this!

Just another prime example of why AUTHORS ARE OUR ROCKSTARS!

Author Event: Scarlet Party with Marissa Meyer

My computer decided to take a little hiatus recently so this post is going up a little later than planned, but here it is :)

Jen (formerly from Not Now...I'm Reading!) was my date for the Marissa Meyer Scarlet Launch Party at Books & Books.  Sadly, Vanessa was supposed to go but couldn't make it because she had a bit of a family emergency.  Luckily, all is well now and I got her a little pressie to make it up to her ;)

Important Links

Marissa on Facebook and Twitter 
Check out Marissa's CALENDAR to see if she'll be visiting a town near you :)

Pitch Dark: Dark Days 2012

Last Friday, 3/9/12 was the Miami stop for the Dark Days 2012 Book Tour. Claudia Gray (Balthazar), Dan Wells (Partials), and Lauren Oliver (Delirium & Pandemonium) were all at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL chatting with us, answering questions, signing LOTS of books, taking pics and just being their awesome selves!

I got to meet them all and hang out with some of my favorite book-loving chicas!

 

The very cool Dark Days Trio being introduced.

The funny and animated Claudia Gray telling us about why vampires on the Titanic wouldn't work.

Dan Wells tell us about why "science is awesome!" and why his expertise in hand lotion and shampoo makes him a good science fiction writer.

Lauren Oliver the allure of writing about love and death and why she still believes in love...sort of! lol

Fielding questions from the audience :)

Me and Dan Wells

 Mom getting her copy of Delirum signed by Lauren Oliver!
Yep, my mom is COOL like dat!

Me and Lauren Oliver

BTW, Lauren's message to me inside of Pandemonium reads, "To Isalys- Please don't hate me for the end - - "    Uh, Lauren...this concerns me!!

Group photo courtesy of JJ...cuz it was on her phone ;)

Some of the chica bloggers of South Florida:
J.J. from JJ iReads, Jen from Not Now...I'm Reading, me and
Nely from All About {n}.
Vanessa, Smash, Yani and Yami couldn't be there in person but where there in spirit, lol.

Author Event: Lauren Kate (Passion Tour)

Last week, I got together with most (sans Vanessa *boo*) of my favorite MIA book crew to attend the Passion Release Tour with Lauren Kate, author of Fallen, Torment and Passion at the Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL.
Lauren really was as cute as she could be!  She was soft-spoken but genuinely witty and sweet...oh, and was rockin' the most fabulous red shoes!  Shoe Sista Power!

   

She started off the evening with a reading from Passion which sounds to be one of the most intensely romantic and moving books of the series.

She then had a Q&A session with us.  She was probably one of the most patient authors we've met and answered a whole lotta questions :)

She briefly touched upon the release and grand finale of The Fallen series with the final installment, "Rapture" to be released in 2012. 


She really was incredibly patient with her signing.  After such a crazy travel schedule and an event that started at 8 pm, by the time my crew made it to the front of the line it was past 10 pm and she was still going strong!  We even got some nice nail polish as swag :) Woot!  Last but never least, the MIA Book Crew
(Left to right) Cynthia, Flo from Book Nerds Across America, Me, Jen from Not Now...I'm Reading, *Lauren*, Ash from Smash Attack Reads!, Nely from All About {n}, Yami, and Yani from Secret Life of an Avid Reader. 
 *phew*
I lurveeeee these ladies and can't wait for our next event in July!

Author Event: Carrie Ryan

This week, I got to meet Carrie Ryan, author of the Forest of Hands & Teeth trilogy! I, for some inexplicable reason, have not yet read these books but that was not going to stop me from attending the first stop on her tour for her latest and final installment in her Forest series, The Dark and Hollow Places.

We actually had a nice, intimate little group which was great because Carrie was able to talk at length about her ten-year plan, why she chose zombies and what it was like to become a "New York Times Best Selling Author!"  Hopefully her husband has recovered his hearing by now, lol. She also read an excerpt from her "The Dark and Hollow Places" before we got started with the signing.

Yay for Carrie signing her first two books for me (I'll have to add book 3 to my library later - I've put myself on a book buying ban but that's a conversation for later, lol). 

She also gave us some swag and really, who doesn't love swag?!

Carrie is a DOLL!! She was so nice, fun and bubbly and I really had a great time!  Yes sir, I'm rocking my new Forest of Hands & Teeth pin :)

Love my new autographed babies that I know my Billy shelf will take good care of!

On a sad note:  Ash from Smash Attack and my BFF and book soulmate Vanessa weren't able to make it to the signing.  Books & Books changed the location to Ft. Lauderdale and with work and traffic, it wasn't possible for them to make it in time.  They're both HUGE fan-girls of Carrie so I know they would have loved every minute...but they were there in spirit!  Besides, just because you're not there...doesn't mean you're left empty handed ;-)

Dark Days of Winter Tour: Miami

So unless you've been living under a rock, you should know that you can save 15% by switching to Geico {sorry bad joke at expense of annoying commercial} AND that the Dark Days of Winter Tour is happening now!!

 Can we just tell you how crazy excited we are about this tour?  1) We have 3 super great authors coming to Miami
Courtney Allison MoultonKimberly DertingClaudia Gray 2) We also hope to meet and hang out with some equally great local bloggers  Ash from Smash Attack Reads!Jami from YA AddictJen from Not Now...I'm Reading!  {Hopefully!  If her sprained ankle feels better in time!}
And of course, the third member of our Blogateers trioNely from All About {n} It'll be an author event / Floridian Bloggers Reunion :DHow awesome is that?! So if any of you are in the S. FL area and plan on attending, please let us know.  We'd love to meet you too :) Here are the deets: Books & Books265 Aragon AveCoral Gables, FL 33134Date: Saturday, 3/19/11 Time: Starts at 7:00 pm
For more info, visit Books & Books.  T-minus 3 days and counting!