A Twist in the Tail: Talking About Apollycon 2015!

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So you guys may know that Apollycon was last weekend! Apollycon was a super huge launch party to celebrate the launch of THE RETURN by Jennifer L. Armentrout. THE RETURN is the first book in a spin-off series (Titan) of Armentrout's best-selling Covenant series. I've previously reviewed HALF-BLOOD, PURE, DEITY, ELIXIR and APOLLYON.  (I never reviewed the final book SENTINEL because, well, it's a FINALE and there are mad spoilers!!!) 

I wasn't going to do a write-up because I didn't stay overnight or do cool things leading up to the event like so many other bloggers covering Apollycon because it was practically in my backyard and we made a day trip of it. I also don't have as many cool pictures as everyone else! (But I also don't take as many in general, so...)

Buuuuuut since I did so many Featured Author posts leading up to the event (I had time to introduce you to Jennifer L. Armentrout, Sarah J. Maas, Alexandra Bracken, Susan Dennard, Amalie Howard, and feature an Apollycon Cover Reveal with Mary Ting), and some of you have asked me how it went, I figured I would go ahead and do this anyway!

I decided to cross-post my wrap-up with this week's A Twist in the Tail feature because the series is heavily steeped in Greek Mythology. There is a powerful being known as the Apollyon that shakes things up, and THE RETURN is going to ramp up the mythology. I'm excited to finally dive in!

I've got to say that Jennifer Armentrout and her publisher Spencer Hill Press know how to throw a great launch party. This is the second one I've been to now, the first being when SENTINEL released 
(And you can read about the event and listen to a full audio of Jen talking here!).
Last time around, it was just Jen at her launch, but this time, she brought 30 amazing author friends with her:

I brought all of these to the signing:

I had signed up for VIR Tickets along with two co-workers, so we received a copy of THE RETURN at the event. I purchased WICKED, OCEANBORN, and TAKE ME ON (I'm pretty positive I bought this last year, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so.....I might have two copies now!). I owned everything else that I brought. I had met Amalie Howard and Jennifer Armentrout before, so I already had signed books I could leave at home. 

The line to get into Apollycon was CRAZY. We were lucky to have VIR bands, because we got in before the public signing. But when we left, we stopped to chat with some people we knew and I took a picture of the line ahead of them:

and behind them:

Craaaaaaaaaazy!!!!

So glad we got to skip that insanity!!!

When we went in for the signing, we were smart! We went to see Jennifer L. Armentrout FIRST, and it's a good thing we did because she had the biggest line. The poor dear was signing until 7 p.m.....and the event ended at 3 p.m.!

Jen was signing alongside Drew Leighty, the cover model portraying Seth for THE RETURN. Jen does that a lot at her signings, but it's the first time she did it around here. My friend and I thought he was overwhelmed with everything, but he was still very nice!

Next, I stopped to chat with Alexandra Bracken. I really loved meeting her and telling her how long I've been enjoying her books! (BRIGHTLY WOVEN was one of the first books I ever reviewed on my blog!) She shared a table with Sarah J. Maas (I decided to leave Sarah's books at home because she'll be signing locally in May when A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES comes out!), so of course I had to get a picture of the two of them together! 

Next, I stopped by to visit Amalie Howard, who shared a table with Susan Dennard. I didn't have anything for Susan because I'm not into zombie books, but I still wanted to chat with her a bit because I love talking to her online! I'm also really excited about her new series launching this spring with TRUTHWITCH because elemental magic? That is up my alley! I also loved chatting with Amalie again. She's always so sweet and lovely! A local blogger I know, Vi, had her adorable daughter help out as Amalie's assistant! It was precious! I've also met Vi and her girls before, and seeing how they grow every time I run into them is amazing! They're like little weeds! ^.~

Next, my friend and I went over to meet Katie McGarry. I've been a champion of Katie's books since PUSHING THE LIMITS came out. I had originally overlooked the book because it was contemporary YA, which I'm not a huge reader of, but it got so much buzz that I wanted to check it out! It remains my favorite of Katie's books so far, but I've also reviewed CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, and her novella CROSSING THE LINE. And...tying this post back to A Twist in the Tail, did you know that PUSHING THE LIMITS has mythology in it? I wrote a post on it when this feature was still called Mythological Mondays!

Finally, I stopped to visit the lovely Mary Lindsey to get my copy of ASHES ON THE WAVES signed. For those who don't know, that's a new version of Edgar Allen Poe's poem Annabel Lee...and it has selkies. I want a book just about selkies, please, Mary! ^.~ 

Mary was super, super sweet. I kept running into her on Saturday and we chatted every time! (She probably thought I was stalking her!)

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After the signing, we hung out for a bit, then went to Cherry Hill Mall to eat some food! We stopped at The Bistro at Cherry Hill Mall and it was DELICIOUS!

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We split a crab+portobello mushroom quesadilla as an appetizer, then I ordered a huuuuuuuuuuge chicken caesar wrap. I had so much trouble finishing, but everything was amazing! I wish Cherry Hill was a little closer because I would go back just to eat!!!

We returned to the hotel for the launch party. I didn't take any pictures because it was so dark and all of the decorations were crowded, buuuuut it looked so cool! There were Greek statues and a gazebo! A ton of people had dressed up. Kate Kaynak from Spencer Hill Press had the COOLEST Medusa headpiece that lit up and everything!

The party was cool because I got to catch up with some really awesome bloggers and people I've met at past events. I also got to hang out with the friends I'd come with in a less stressful atmosphere, and reunite with a friend who lives pretty far away that I've known for years! It was also cool to talk to some of the authors in such a casual atmosphere. We felt weird going up and chatting with the authors we'd fangirled at earlier during the signing, but it was cool when you were in conversation with a group and realized that, Hey, these are authors! I had never heard of Riley Edgewood or Elizabeth Briggs or Megan Erickson before, but I suddenly want to read books by them just because they're so gosh-darn-nice! Luckily, Riley and Liz both have free e-books available to try out to see what their style is like. They were so, so, so nice. Loved meeting them!

Finally, what party would be complete without swag? VIR tickets got an awesome swag bag full of goodies to take home!

Here's what was in mine:

Sorry for the unfortunate location! I took the picture really fast the other day to send my boss, never thinking I'd share it here! BUT I already loaned her SHADOW SCALE by Rachel Hartman, so I can't re-take the picture right now! She had tried so desperately to get an early copy of that book because she loved SERAPHINA so much, and had requested it months ago on Netgalley. They just told her a week ago that it was too close to publication to approve any more downloads, even though she'd been waiting for an answer for a while. Soooooo I gave it to her right away! But that's why the picture is like this. It was just a fast shot to send her, not staged or anything! I've never read the series before, so I don't mind waiting! In fact, last week or the week before, I bought SERAPHINA for $1.99 on my nook. I'd been waiting for the new book to come out before I read the duology because I heard the first book had a bad cliffhanger!

I was also excited to see a copy of FIREBLOOD by Trisha Wolfe in my bag! I've previously reviewed it and have it on my nook, but now I have a print copy! I was also excited to get a copy of TOUCH OF DEATH. I'm pretty sure that at the SENTINEL signing (Or maybe it was BEA...?), I received the second book in this series, but I never had the first book to begin reading. Now I do!!

I haven't heard of THERE WILL BE LIES by Nick Lake, which only came out this past January, or RECLAIMED by Sarah Guillory, so I'll be interested to see what those are about! There was also a TON of cool swag in the bag. I have it all lumped together in this picture, sorry!! It was also really awesome of Tor Teen to donate such sturdy bags for our swag!

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Overall, we had an AMAZING time. Damaris at Good Choice Reading put together a FANTASTIC event along with Jennifer L. Armentrout, Spencer Hill Press, and the help of many amazing bloggers and industry people. Thank you all for such an amazing time! It was a lot of hard work, but we had so much fun!!!!