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Better Late Than Never

So it is the last day of May and I am just getting around to posting about my experience in March at Austin Book Fest 2015... 

It was so much fun! Not only did I get to meet my favorite authors, but  I spent the weekend with 'old' high school friends...the last time these girls and I spent any length of time together, excluding class reunions was in 1988! Had a blast with them & cannot wait to do it again!!!

 (Pictured top to bottom, left to right...Heather, Heather, Dallas, Tracy & Barbara)

So whether you are a certified stalker or not, I highly recommend attending one of these events because...

If you have never been to a gathering of authors in your preferred genre, I highly recommend doing it at least once.  I totally enjoyed it and I am definitely not a star struck kind of person...seriously, I could care less if you are considered the bomb...so what???  I am not the kind to stalk a famous person at a restaurant or follow them if I see them out and about (not that that happens in Texas very often, but I have seen a few famous people in my lifetime). I actually wonder about people who freak out when they see someone who is relatively famous...I mean, they are just people too!

I did not even really care about obtaining autographs, but I was a little 'starry-eyed' at meeting a few of my favorite authors...not in the weird stalker kind of way though. I was NOT enthralled with the authors because they hit the top of the New York Times Best Seller List, therefore I should be honored to meet & congratulate them, but rather I was interested in meeting them because of the fact they are apparently humble enough to take the time to meet their readers and allow them the opportunity to express the enjoyment they get from reading their books...I was excited to be able to express my admiration of their books and to encourage them to keep writing because although they are not solving world hunger or organizing world peace, they are satisfying a reader's hunger with their stories and bringing a sense of tranquility to a reader as they are able to relax, take a break from their daily chaos and get lost in a good book.

I will tell you, this event was PACKED...so if you take any advice from me at all, make an ordered 'Must See' list, use the event provided map to locate the author's tables and head straight for the line of the author at the top of the list, then so on & so on.

I was able to see all the author's at the top of my list...sure there were others I would have liked to have met, but I would have been really disappointed if I would have went to this event and missed out on my faves! 

My TOP 5 MUST SEE AUTHORS:   

1. Colleen Hoover...what list did not have this awesome, down to earth author at the top? Now I had the privilege of meeting Colleen Hoover at a different event so I chose not to stand in the 100+ people deep line during the book signing event, however, she was gracious enough to attend the evening Meet & Greet and mingle with readers! Gotta LOVE Colleen Hoover!!!

(Pictured left to right: Tracy, Heather, Colleen Hoover, Dallas, Heather & Barbara)

2. Amy Harmon...her books are like poetry.  I felt compelled to convey the fact that her writing was like didactic art...simply beautiful!!! She was so, so humble!

 (Amy Harmon & me)

3. K.A. Tucker...wow, I have loved all her books. I had to share with her that I was especially excited by the fact that Sebastian York was the narrator on several of her books.  Apparently, I am not the only one with a weird fascination for this particular narrator as K.A. Tucker revealed she had heard this from several other readers as well. I will have to blog about the amazing Mr. York another time...

(Me & K.A. Tucker)

4. A.L. Jackson...another author that I devour her books. And in my inexplicable urge to be honest, I did have to share my distress with the fact her most recent book, A Stone in the Sea, ended on a cliffhanger. Grrr! She seemed not to hold my candor against me! :-)

(A.L. Jackson & me)

5. Fisher Amalie...okay, this was not the longest line of the day with only 5 or so people in front of me, but good grief I waited over an hour because a particular self-centered group of 3 readers decided to be impolite and have a 45 minute pow-wow with her. Do NOT be that selfish person at an author event...be considerate of other readers. Amalie Fisher was gracious with the group, perhaps a little too much so as she did not tell them to move on, but I can certainly understand the difficult position she was in. She was, however, very apologetic about the situation and I must say so very sweet! And we were still all smiles in the end.

(Fisher Amalie & Me)

Absolutely!

*Squeal*

I got to meet my absolute favorite author...Colleen Hoover!!!

Too bad I completely forgot the English language and just smiled the whole time...

Remember When by T. Torrest

Do you remember when parachute pants, ZCavariccis, Guess denim & Jordache jeans were like so totally cool? Or perhaps you attended the theater for the debut of Sixteen Candles on the big screen. Well if you have some recollection of having an affinity for any or all of the above then you will most definitely find a connection to this book...heck, even if you never experienced teasing your hair & spraying it with Aqua Net within an inch of its life, you will still find this endearing tale of coming of age and first love appealing!

The premise of this story is different and that fascinated me from the first time I read the description as the generic formula starts to get old after a while. I was enthralled from page one not only because I found the storyline to be interesting, but also the author’s writing style is completely engaging! The characters were so REAL, so likable and so very relatable! In this intriguing story, Layla Warren recounts the important events and important people of her senior year of high school & the summer that follows. During which time, she falls head over hills for Trip Wilmington, a.k.a Trip Wiley, the now famous Hollywood heartthrob!

Layla & Trip both captured my heart and brought back a flood of memories…it had me laughing (out loud), tearing up, rolling my eyes and smiling like a fool! Yes, this is a trilogy and usually CLIFFHANGERS make me a bit moody, but the way book one ends is more like closing the chapter of Layla’s youth. So this books stands with 5 stars on its own, even if there was not a continuation of their story. But thanks God there is…of course, I downloaded book 2 immediately – gotta LOVE a Kindle! Book 3 does not have a specific date for release but the author, T. Torrest, stated on her blog that she is hoping for late summer/early fall. I highly recommend!

Freebie Alert

Significance by Shelly Crane
I have not read this one, but it comes highly recommended & currently scores almost 5 stars on Amazon. And always, since it is free, it is definitely worth the one-click download! ;-)

Left Drowning by Jessica Park...4 Stars

Left Drowning by Jessica Park is a vast departure from her debut novel, Flat Out Love. With that said, it is still a very well written story about two damaged souls, Blythe & Chris, whom are connected together by fate…both have experienced great tragedy for which they approach life with reckless abandon.

Since the tragic death of her parents, Blythe has isolated herself completely from any and all social/personal relationships. She is hyper-aware of her depressive state and self-destructive behaviors, but is too emotionally empty to care and is unable to pull herself out of the black hole in which she is submersed.

Chris on the other hand does not outwardly express his despair, but his experiences have shattered him in a different way, which also leaves him with an emotional void and a certain sense of melancholy.

An accidental encounter with Chris ignites a light in Blythe’s darkness and an unexplained feeling of hope surfaces. There is an undeniable emotional connection between them and a passionate and poignant friendship is developed. Blythe finally begins to reconcile the tragedy she experienced and attempts to rebuild her life. Unfortunately, as Blythe comes to terms with her loss and finds herself on solid ground, Chris is sinking deeper into his own abyss. He slowly begins to distance himself from her both physically and emotionally… Blythe provides him with the space he needs, but is determined to save him from himself as he saved her.

“We have been drowning in each other. In beautiful ways, yes. But I know there are other reasons for this intensity.”

Both Chris & Blythe are very well developed characters in this story. Jessica Park gives extremely descriptive background details providing immense insight into these two characters and who they are as individuals and why they ‘tick’ the way they do. Due to the contextual facet of the main characters, the story does get off to a really slow start, but definitely picks up…getting to know the characters though is a critical aspect to connecting with the story itself.

Unlike most other stories, the secondary characters in Left Drowning are vital to the plot as they play a critical role in Bythe’s healing process. These characters, primarily Chris’ siblings, are not as acutely written, but as the story unfolds, the reader begins to somewhat understand their personalities, temperaments and behaviors. In typical Jessica Park fashion, all the characters are likable and you cannot help but root for them all!

The story is mostly told from Blythe’s POV, with only a brief appearance of Chris’ perspective towards the very end of the story. I appreciated getting Chris’ perception of the girl on the dock as he recounts his heartbreaking experiences growing up with his dad. I would have liked to have had his POV regarding his first encounter with Blythe at Mathews College… I think it would have provided insight to his reaction to her…Blythe explained what initially pulled her to him, but what pulled him to her?