Heartbeat Weekly (53): Kristen Simmons signing!

 

Books I got this week

From the signing:

• Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
• Three by Kristen Simmons

I made this awesome bracelet out of the Glass Arrow charms I won a couple months ago!

Made this to wear to the signing tonight!! #bookswag #glassarrow #kristensimmons #hemp #jewelry #handmade #charmbracelet   A photo posted by Jessi Larie (@novelheartbeat) on Feb 10, 2015 at 7:28am PST

 

Gifted/won:

• The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons, signed and personalized
• Signed & personalized Glass Arrow mini poster

When I won the Glass Arrow charms way back then, Kristen was awesome enough to throw in a copy of her book when it came out! YOU ROCK, KRISTEN!! I got a little bit misty when I read her little note in the book! *smushes Kristen*

Bought:

• Fairest by Marissa Meyer, signed & personalized

I missed the Lunar Ball event last weekend because I had to work, so I emailed Joseph Beth and asked that they hold a signed copy for me. I was really surprised to find that they got it personalized for me, too! Joseph Beth rocks!!

Borrowed:

• The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows

THANK YOU ALYSSA!! You rock my socks <3

For review:

• The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey (NetGalley)

Weekly Recap

Posts on the blog:

• [9 Feb] The 2nd Annual #LfBReadathon Kicks Off!
• [10 Feb] Don’t be Afraid to be Yourself in YOUR Reviews!
• [12 Feb] Life of a Blogger: Websites
• [13 Feb] The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel DNF
• [14 Feb] #LfBReadathon Mini Challenge: The Match Game!
• [15 Feb] Heartbeat Weekly (53): Kristen Simmons signing!

Blog news:

Today is the last day of the Love for Books Readathon! I’ve been tracking my progress in the kick off post. I’ve read over 1,000 pages! I’m not sure I’ll be able to meet my goal, though – I wanted to finish 4 books and I’m still in the middle of book 3. We shall see! You can look for the final wrap up on the blog tomorrow :)

Kristen Simmons signing

I left work early on Tuesday night to head down to Joseph Beth in Cincinnati to see Kristen Simmons! Ahhh!!! I was SO excited to see her, because it was kind of like meeting her for the first time! (I met her once last year, but it was before I’d read anything by her, and before I developed a friendship with her.) She recognized me by sight and gave me a hug! I had a special gift to give her: On the ARC tour of Glass Arrow, I asked that everyone who read it leave a personal note to her, as well as leave little notes throughout the book (favorite quotes, reactions, etc.). She loved it!

So @NovelHeartbeat just gave me an ARC of GLASS ARROW signed by bloggers who loved it and I am all ugly tears. Best. pic.twitter.com/oAqeNDqjEa — Kristen Simmons (@kris10writes) February 11, 2015

I really enjoyed the panel! Kristen read a few meaningful passages from the story and talked about her inspiration. She read her favorite quote – which made me squee, because it’s my favorite one too! She talked about what it is to be a woman in society and how that was a strong tone throughout the story. About how it shouldn’t matter what we wear or how we look – that we shouldn’t be just a number. We should be judged based on who we are.

A few things I learned during the panel:

• Kristen has history in social work and the mental health industry
• Brax was originally supposed to be named Jax – until she was watching SoA and realized she didn’t want him to have the same name as Charlie Hunnam’s character!
• Aya’s name means “bird”
• If she could pick her dream cast for Aya, it would be Santana from Glee (Naya Rivera)
• It took her ten years to get published! (I admire her for her perseverance!)
• She also briefly mentioned Metaltown, her upcoming book! CAN’T WAIT.
• I asked her if she cried while writing the ending (because I cried while reading it!) and she said, yes. Yes she did. It was ugly.

Kristen was gracious and adorable and it was awesome to see her in person! I waited in line until the very end because I had 6 books to get signed and most everyone else only had 1 or 2. (I had 4 copies of Glass Arrow for giveaways/gifts lol!) Oh, and there were these adorable Glass Arrow cookies!

Look at the adorable Glass Arrow themed cookies! #glassarrow #kristensimmons #booknerd

A photo posted by Jessi Larie (@novelheartbeat) on Feb 10, 2015 at 7:08pm PST

Mindee Arnett was there, too! I wish I’d have known that, since I don’t have The Nightmare Dilemma signed yet. I forgot that she is local to the area, and frequents JB! Oh well, there’s always next time ;)

 

What’s in your mailbox, loverlies? Link me up!

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