Book Signing: Meet Kate DiCamillo & K.G. Campbell

Kate DiCamillo showing the illustrations while K.G. narrated.

My middle son (10 y.o.) and I had the pleasure of meeting author Kate DiCamillo and illustrator K.G. Campbell this past Sunday during their Flora and Ulysses book tour. We had to do a lot of maneuvering with people and schedules, but we made it, and it was great. Kate was funny and engaging and K.G. was easy-going and insightful. They shared about their newest work as well as about writing and illustrating in general. They were a delight to listen to and engage with, and we had a great time.
 

K.G. Campbell, my middle son, & Kate DiCamillo

My middle son is also my reluctant reader. My eldest son is the one who frequents book and author events with me. But he was out of town, so I asked my middle guy if he wanted to go, and he not only agreed to come, but was excited about it. It's not that he hasn't attended signings before, he just usually isn't very excited about it. But he's growing. We not only got to bond over books, but also got some great one-on-one time together, which isn't always easy with two other brothers always around. He also told me he'd like to go to more of these events with me, which is huge for him. So thank you to Kate and K.G. for giving my son such a great experience. And parents, don't give up on your reluctant readers.
 

The stack of books we got signed.
Check out K.G.'s cute illustration :)

Kate DiCamillo's newest book is called Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. It has wonderful illustrations by K.G. Campbell, and looks like a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the rest of Kate DiCamillo's work, take a gander at some of her amazing books:

   

 

   

 
About Author Kate DiCamillo:
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Clermont, Florida, and currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I write for both children and adults and I like to think of myself as a storyteller.

Here are a few more facts about me: I am short. And loud. I hate to cook and love to eat. I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children (Luke, Roxanne, and Max) and one not so lovely dog (Henry).

 

I think of myself as an enormously lucky person: I get to tell stories for a living.

 

Kate's Website: http://www.katedicamillo.com/

 
About Author-Illustrator K.G. Campbell:
K. G. Campbell is the author-illustrator of Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters. He was born in Kenya, raised in Scotland, and now lives in southern California.

K.G.'s Website: http://kgcampbell.com/

Book Signing Fun: Jonathan Maberry

 
My big boys and I took a little three hour drive (six hours round trip) to meet Jonathan Maberry on September 18th, and it was completely worth it. If you haven't read my reviews yet, I recently finished and loved the Benny Imura series. That was my first exposure to Mr. Maberry's writing, and I'm looking forward to reading his other series. And once I finished the Benny Imura series, I approved it for my boys to read. My ten-year-old has started listening to the audiobooks. He loved Rot and Ruin, and is in the middle of Dust and Decay. They are superior audiobooks and I highly recommend them. Word is they are in the midst of working on the third book for audio.
 

Oooh, the pretty signed books!

Mr. Maberry not only entertained us about his books, but was a wealth of information on writing, creating, and organizing. I was inspired not just by his works of fiction, but by his personality and work ethic as well. I'm hoping my children were paying good attention :)

 

And zombie cards!!

In good news, Mr. Maberry said he'll hopefully be publishing a fifth Benny Imura book, perhaps in the next year and a half or so, as well as an adult book that details First Night. I'm thrilled by the prospect of both of these and hope they come to fruition.

My Reviews:

 
If you've not explored the world of Benny Imura, you can find my review for the Benny Imura Series here, and my review of the final book (so far), Fire and Ash, here.
 

Here is a list of the first books of Jonathan Maberry's series:



Benny Imura Series
Book 1: Rot and Ruin
Blurb: In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Joe Ledger Series
Book 1: Patient Zero
Blurb: When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills... and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills.  And that's both a good, and a bad thing.  It's good because he's a Baltimore detective that has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new taskforce created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can't handle. This rapid response group is called the Department of Military Sciences or the DMS for short. It's bad because his first mission is to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a dreadful bio-weapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies. The fate of the world hangs in the balance....

Pine Deep Series
Book 1: Ghost Road Blues
Blurb: From a new master of horror comes an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural town and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn . . .

Evil Doesn't Die
The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America."

It Just Grows Stronger
But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic.

Dead of Night Series
Book 1: Dead of Night
Blurb: A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave.  But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects.  Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up.  Hungry.  Infected.  Contagious.  This is the way the world ends.  Not with a bang…but a bite.

 

Book Signing: Indie Authors!!

LOS ANGELES AUTHOR EVENT!

 
I'm a bit of a book signing junkie, so I was super excited that such a great group of authors was visiting Los Angeles. Standing in line for three hours to meet them was completely worth it. I loved meeting these thirteen fabulous authors: Steph Campbell, Cora Carmack, Jillian Dodd, Rebecca Donovan, Abbi Glines, Colleen Hoover, Molly McAdams, Liz Reinhardt, Michele Scott, Jessica Sorensen, SC Stephens, Jenn Sterling, and Nicole Williams.
 
Not only did I get to chat with these lovely ladies about their books and about them and their trip, but I also got to take pics with some of them as well. And, seriously, they were all super sweet. It was a real treat to meet them (especially some of my favs!!).
 

Colleen Hoover!

Abbi Glines!

Rebecca Donovan!

Jenn Sterling!

Jessica Sorensen!

Cora Carmack!

I not only got to chat with thirteen lovely authors, but I got all these awesome books signed by them.  

 

And since I didn't have physical books for all the authors with me (as some were on my kindle), they were kind enough to sign this book bag for me. I'm still deciding on the label I'm going to put on the bag, but I love all the signatures.
 

Colleen Hoover, Michele Scott, Abbi Glines, Rebecca Donnovan, Nicole Williams, Jessica Sorensen

 

SC Stephens, Jenn Sterling, Cora Carmack, Molly McAdams, Jillian Dodd, Liz Reinhardt, Steph Campbell

Book Signing: Stephenie Meyer

On March 15th, my eldest son and I attended a Stephenie Meyer book signing in Los Angeles to celebrate the release of The Host movie, which was also attended by the actors Max Irons, Jake Abel, and Diane Kruger. We were there for hours, but it was totally worth it.

There were tons of people there, and they had lots of time constrictions and photo restrictions, but we were still able to speak with Stephenie and meet the cast members. Stephenie was super personable and we bonded over both having three sons. My son and I got to chat with her for a minute until the organizer moved us along in the line. But I can honestly say she was very sweet and it was a pleasure to meet her.

My son meeting Stephenie!

The cast members were also great, and though we only spoke for a second, they were all smiles, kindness, and professionalism. And in case you're wondering, Max and Jake are even better looking in person :) Saoirse Ronan couldn't make it (delayed plane?), so that was the only bummer. But I'm not complaining. It was a great time!

 

There was a limit on how much they would sign, so we got four books signed by Stephenie. Then we got The Host Movie Companion signed by the actors, so that was a bonus treat.

Book Signing Fun!!

I love book signings. There's just something special about meeting authors and hearing their thoughts and stories, whatever they want to share. I've learned about their insight into their books and characters, their journeys to writing, their inspirations, their hang-ups, their advice, their jokes, and so much more. My eldest son loves attending with me, even though he hasn't read most of the books of the authors we meet. He's my book signing buddy and has already met lots of authors. My younger two sons usually only attend children's author events.

The last two weeks provided us with the opportunity to attend three book signings, with a total of nine authors. Here's a little glimpse at our fun. I realize I'm fortunate to live near a large metropolis with many opportunities, but if you get a chance to attend a signing and meet some authors, I highly recommend it. And bring your kids along, too.

Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Tahereh Mafi, & Veronica Rossi.
Both Tahereh & Veronica remembered me from a year ago, and Veronica remembered my son. They were so nice and friendly.

Tahereh Mafi - She is just stunning.



Andrea Cremer, Marie Lu, Brenna Yovanoff, & Jessica Khoury.
We learned that Brenna & Jessica were homeschooled, which is of particular interest to me, since I homeschool my kids. All these ladies were very entertaining.



Ally Carter with my son. She was so sweet to him. And she had wonderful audience interaction.

Book Signing: Laini Taylor

My eldest son and I had a great time at Laini Taylor's book signing last night. Laini is a great speaker and is super friendly. We also enjoyed hearing about her writing process and how she comes up with her ideas. It inspired not only appreciation for what she has accomplished with her books, but also motivation for personal writing. My son and I had a nice talk about it afterward.

 

I'm almost finished with Daughter of Smoke & Bone right now, and I'm loving not only Laini's writing style, but her amazing characters and unique story as well. I'm looking forward to finishing so I can start Days of Blood & Starlight. My reviews on both these books will be coming soon.

Book Signing: Brandon Mull

My kids, hubbie and I had a great time at the Brandon Mull book signing tonight. Hubbie was a "book signing virgin," so luckily Brandon was very entertaining and hubbie enjoyed himself. Brandon was an entertaining speaker to both the kids and the adults in the audience. I admit that we haven't read any of Brandon's books...yet. But I've been collecting them for my kids and now that my eldest son has met him, he looks forward to starting the Fablehaven series once he's done with the series he's currently reading.

Brandon Mull has quite a few books out there, including:

       

 

Fablehaven (a 5 book series)
Beyonders (2 books so far, the 3rd/last will be out in 2013)
The Candy Shop Wars (2 books so far, most recent was out this year)
Pingo and Pingo and the Playground Bully (illustrated children's books, not pictured)

My boys with Brandon Mull. They had a great time meeting him and he was very kind.

Aren't signed books a beautiful thing?

Book Signing: Beautiful Redemption

It's release day for Beautiful Redemption! I had the pleasure of attending their book signing tonight (along with my kids who behaved beautifully, thank goodness). The fabulous authors, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, were there, and entertaining as always. We were also treated with two of the actors from the upcoming Beautiful Creatures movie: Alden Ehrenreich who plays Ethan Wate and Rachel Brosnahan who plays Genevieve Duchannes.

Kami, Rachel, Margaret, and Alden

This is the last book of the Caster Chronicles, so it is bittersweet. But I am also very excited to see how it all ends. I've read the first two books and really liked them. I am also a sucker for a good male POV, and Ethan is terrific. I had been holding out on reading the third book until Beautiful Redemption came out. But now I really just want to reread the first two and then read the whole series straight through, fully engrossing myself in the Caster world and the South. So that is my plan before the movie comes out.


The movie comes out on February 13, 2013. Yay!!!!

Speaking of the movie...I was already excited about the movie, but listening to Kami and Margie speak and then to hear the actors and their zeal...well, I am super-duper excited now. Pictures on the internet don't always translate to what someone is like in person. But seeing and listening to Alden makes me happy about their choice for him as Ethan. He's a cutie and I'm very excited for his role as Ethan. My 12 year old son, who loves book signings, asked if he could read Beautiful Creatures. He's used to listening to a lot of female authors at most of our signings. So when he heard Alden talking about his role as Ethan and his take on the book and movie, my son was all onboard for reading the book (and then, of course, he wants to see the movie).

Run out and grab your copy of Beautiful Redemption and get ready for the Beautiful Creatures movie!

Book Signing: James Dashner

My boys and I with James Dashner!

My boys and I had a great time at James Dashner's book signing. He is part of a new series by Scholastic that just came out called The Infinity Ring. It'll be seven books, and he's writing the first and last. The first book, A Mutiny in Time, is already on bookshelves. The series sounds pretty cool, and I think my boys and I will enjoy it.

 



And don't forget the amazing The Maze Runner series that Mr. Dashner wrote. I haven't read The Kill Order yet, but I loved the other books and hope to read the prequel soon. My review for The Scorch Trials is here. My review for The Death Cure is here.

I loved attending book signings, especially with my eldest son, so you can look forward to more of these posts in the future.