Smart Chicks Kick It Tour Stop Recap

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend the final leg (and perhaps final stop ever?) of the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour.  Our tour stop featured authors Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Rachel Caine, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Melissa de la Cruz, Kami Garcia, and Sarah Rees Brennan.

I have to admit, I'd never read any of these authors before.  I have read authors from previous tour stops (Ally Condie, Kimberly Derting, Beth Revis, and Veronica Roth) and wish a couple of them could have been in PA as well because I own books from all of these women.



These were just too cute to resist,
especially at a mere $1.99 a pop!

I wavered over going because it's been a hard week for me and I feel weird doing anything "fun," but I'd promised my mom I'd go to the event with her because she's a huge Melissa Marr fan.  She thinks she's one with the fairies because her maiden name is Ferri.  She was upset to miss her the last time she came around because she'd been sick.  I didn't want to let her down.  Besides, I wanted to stop at Target for my Target-exclusive deluxe editions of new CDs from The Killers and P!NK, as well as grab a bottle of ORLY nail polish in "Smolder" at ULTA before my coupon expires on the 22nd, so I kept my plans. (And while at ULTA, I found these great coffin-shaped nail polishes from Wet n Wild's Fantasy Makers line for only $1.99 each and they were so cute that I had to buy three of the four colors remaining.... and yes, I know I have a problem...)

The event itself was great.  All of the authors mentioned a little bit about themselves, then did a pop quiz and gave away fun prizes.  They answered a lot of questions and also did a lightning round, opening up the floor to anything and everything, even if it was embarrassing.  For me, there were two stand-out questions and responses.

One asked the authors what it was like to co-write a book.  It was interesting to hear about a middle-grade Norse mythology series that Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr are co-writing.  Um, I want to read it right now.  You know how much I love mythology!  It was so interesting to hear about the way Melissa Marr sleeps during the day, spends time with her children in the evening, and writes overnight.  When she goes to bed, Kelley Armstrong starts writing her part and they swap back and forth.  Melissa de la Cruz talked a little bit about co-writing with her husband, and Kami Garcia touched upon the way she writes with Margaret Stohl, to the point that there are sentences with words from both of them or ones that no one knows which author created.



I loved hearing the story behind this
super-gorgeous cover!  And in person,
Sarah Rees Brennan = sooooo hilarious!

I also (obviously) liked a question asked about how much input the authors have over their cover designs (No, I wasn't the one who asked it!).  Melissa Marr has a shocking amount of control, and has since her first novel WICKED LOVELY released, which I think is incredible.  She picks out so much, even the flowers and models.  With her new novel CARNIVAL OF SOULS, she got to look at 30 mock-ups and disliked them all, then Harper turned to masks.  She found the mask she liked and it was lit on fire.  Super cool.  Sarah Rees Brennan mentioned that she doesn't have much control, but that her new novel, UNSPOKEN, was created from paper pieces when the silhouette of it was created. (And if you haven't seen the cover for UNSPOKEN, it's utterly gorgeous).

A lot of the authors are currently reading books from one another, though two of them mentioned having just purchased THE DIVINERS by Libba Bray, which released yesterday.  I was really happy when Rachel Caine brought up author Kevin Hearne in the same breath as Jim Butcher because I've heard the two compared to one another before and have mentioned Hearne to Butcher fans looking for a new read.  It also made me feel guilty because I still have three Kevin Hearne books sitting on my shelf waiting patiently for me to pick them up and read them, though I have read two Jim Butcher novels now, so there is that...

Sarah Rees Brennan and Rosemary Clement-Moore
share a funny story.

While each author was interesting to listen to, Sarah Rees Brennan really took the cake.  She's crazy over the top (in the best possible way) and acted out skits from scenes she enjoyed in new releases from Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr, and always had fun stories to tell when answering questions.  She was also hysterical to talk to in person, and Jena from Shortie Says mentioned that UNSPOKEN is fantastic.  She's written a gushing review worth checking out!  It was also fun to just listen to her Irish accent!  Seeing her in person and talking to her made me wish I had read something of hers before.

Kami Garcia, Kelley Armstrong, and Melissa Marr
sign some books while chatting with fans.

While I didn't buy a lot of new books tonight because most of the books were too paranormal (lots of vampires, for one...) for my personal tastes, I did have a copy of the ENTHRALLED Anthology (Edited by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr.  Five of the seven authors in attendance last night were in the anthology, so I got to meet them and get them to sign it.  I felt bad I didn't have more than that for most of them.  When Melissa Marr signed the page where her personal story began, I thought it was such a genius idea.  I hadn't thought of that, so the first couple of signatures are in the Table of Contents.  Sarah Rees Brennan asked me if I'd read her short story, and I honestly didn't remember.  When I got the anthology last year, I read authors I knew first, then started reading stories by authors I'd heard of.  I still haven't read anything in there and off the top of my head, I only remember two of the stories.  I'll  need to go in and check everything out now, though!

Kami Garcia checks her phone and finds out that the
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES trailer will air Thursday
while Kelley Armstrong signs a stack of books.

I also managed to dig up my copy of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl for the signing.  I bought it last year, but never got around to reading it. ^^;; I had off today, and while I'd been planning to finish re-reading THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson (Which I reviewed last year here) and start my long-awaited, shiny new copy of THE CROWN OF EMBERS (released yesterday!!), I decided to crack open BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and see what I thought.  I'm only 144 pages in, but Casters have just been mentioned and Jena from Shortie Says told me there weren't vampires (despite the fact that it's blurbed for fans of TWILIGHT and TRUE BLOOD on the back...), so I decided to take a chance and bought the next two in the series for the event. 

Speaking of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, it was announced at the event that the trailer for the movie is going live today at 4:30 p.m PT/7:30 ESTon Extra and iTunes.  Check it out!  The movie releases on February 13, 2013 and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, and Emmy Rossum.  Are you excited/anxious after seeing it?

Rachel Caine and Melissa de la Cruz hand out swag
and sign books for fans.

And speaking of film rights, Melissa de la Cruz mentioned that WITCHES OF EAST END is being turned into a pilot for Lifetime.  It will star Julia Ormond as the matriarch, according to Dread Central.  The article, published yesterday, mentioned that Jenna Dewan is now on board to play one of the daughters.  At the event, Melissa de la Cruz mentioned that yesterday, it was announced that Patrick Heusinger from Gossip Girl is now onboard as well (confirmedby Deadline).

Overall, the evening was a lot of fun, and I'm ultimately happy that I attended, though it still felt weird.  Despite the fact that we had torrential rain and a tornado warning, it didn't keep everyone away and there was still a huge crowd that turned out to support the authors.  I don't even want to think about how crammed it would have been if the weather had been clear!