All the Authors & Autographs

As a reader AND a writer, I have a special interest in talking to authors. I don’t just want to fangirl and tell them how much I loved their books; I want to say why. I want to tell them what specifically made it great. This scene, that line, this plot point, that character. These are things I think I pay more attention to than the average reader. Because of that, I want a conversation, an exchange of ideas, all in the hopes that I will become a better writer because of it.

This past weekend at Books by the Banks and yesterday at the Fort Thomas Branch of the Campbell County Library, I met eleven authors for the first time. I chatted so much with them, and four others that I had met before, that my friends ditched me at least three times. And I got fifteen books autographed. Yes. Fifteen. (I’ll list the authors and titles at the bottom of this post.)

From Books by the Banks:

 From the library:

 As much as I love the autographs (and believe me, I DO), it’s also about the conversations. Every author was not just willing, but also happy to talk to me. They wanted to hear my experiences, I wanted to hear theirs. An exchange of information, new friends made. I complimented their writing choices (the very end of CONVERSION, the who-dun-it in MY LAST KISS, the humor in THE VIGILANTE POETS OF SELWYN ACADEMY, the death of that one character in NOT A DROP TO DRINK, the intricate plot of MAID OF SECRETS). They told me about their agents and publishers, information I tucked away for the right day. 

Because someday, I want to be one of those authors. I don’t just want an agent and a published book. I want to sit behind a table, my book propped up in front of me, and talk to readers (teens or otherwise). I want to pay it forward, help new writers the way all these authors have helped me.

And I want to say thank you, a million thanks, hoping that they understand just how much I mean it.

Autographed books from Books by the Banks:

GIRL ON A WIRE by Gwenda Bond

THE VIGILANTE POETS OF SELWYN ACADEMY by Kate Hattemer

CONVERSION by Katherine Howe

HIDER SEEKER SECRET KEEPER by Elizabeth Kiem

OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord

WILD by Alex Mallory

NOT A DROP TO DRINK and IN A HANDFUL OF DUST by Mindy McGinnis

MAID OF SECRETS and MAID OF DECEPTION by Jennifer McGowan

THE LAST KISS by Bethany Neal

Autographed books from the library:

PRETTY GIRL 13 by Liz Coley

CAIN’S BLOOD and PROJECT CAIN by Geoffrey Girard

RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer