Last Tuesday the Mister and me attended the Breathless Reads stop in Greenville, South Carolina. We had a great time! We both took off work and just spent the day hanging out together.
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"Maybe this should be called the Death and Kissing Tour!"
~Fiona Paul~
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We got to the event location, Fiction Addiction, early; we got our VIP tickets and books. Hubs and I were very impressed with this great indie bookstore. Then we enjoyed Greenville a little bit before heading back to the store for the BIG event!
Our view from our front row VIP seats!
Left to right:
Fiona Paul--Venom,
Elizabeth Richards--Black City,
Fran Bullington (moderator),
Jessica Spotswood--Born Wicked,
Beth Revis--Across the Universe, A Million Suns, Shades of Earth;
Morgan Rhodes--Falling Kingdoms
Morgan Rhodes, author of Falling Kingdoms
Why YA?
(paraphrasing from my horrible shorthand notes from the event)
Elizabeth Richards--It's an interesting time in life, all the firsts such as love and kisses, etc. And it's great for drama.
Fiona Paul--First, write what you love to read. Second, anything can happen {in YA}.
Jessica Spotswood--Loves YA and how it can be a mix of genres.
Beth Revis--YA is the beating heart of literature. (*Alli's note: L.O.V.E. this!)
Morgan Rhodes--Writing YA for was not conscious, some stories just fit YA better. Also, adult fiction is so jaded.
Beth Revis, author of:
Across the Universe, A Million Suns, & Shades of Earth
What were the authors reading/writing as a teen?
Jessica Spotswood--Gone With the Wind, citing how awful and selfish Scarlett is but also pointing out she was smart and not valued because she was a woman.
Beth Revis--Hated Gone With the Wind! She did like Little Women, though she had only read the annotated children's version. Revis told us about the time she passionately disagreed with her professor over the ending.
Morgan Rhodes--recalled writing a book report on Lucky by Jackie Collins in ninth grade which got her into some trouble!
Fiona Paul--likes fun reads! She was into books like Sweet Valley High!
Elizabeth Richards--didn't read much when she was younger. She did write some bad romance where the geeky, Gothic girl who magically gets the guy. (*Alli's note: Love that!)
Jessica Spotswood--Born Wicked
Do's and don'ts: advice for aspiring writers.
Fiona Paul--Do read...everything! Find out what works and what doesn't work. Don't get discouraged by criticism. Some people just have bad taste! (Alli's note: Love that too!)
Elizabeth Richards--Get a good critical partner and accept the critique. Don't invite your agent/editor to a bachelor party by mistake. ;)
Jessica Spotswood--Write the book ONLY YOU can write! Don't RUSH to get published.
Beth Revis--Don't give up!
Morgan Rhodes--Write the book of your heart. Don't give up; it can be a hard road.
Elizabeth Richards--Black City
What are the author's odd writing habits?
Jessica Spotswood--Is a night owl; she writes very late. She also drinks tea while writing.
Beth Revis--Is also a night owl. She'll stay up all night and then sleep to noon.
Morgan Rhodes--Needs silence to get in the zone. She used to need ginger ale and chocolate. ;)
Fiona Paul--Had to employ a rewards system for herself. If she writes 500 words she can check Twitter. If she writes 500 more she can check her email. This is her way to self motivate.
Elizabeth Richards--Has to put her phone away. She stays caffeinated with a Pepsi Max and keeps a band on her wrist to "ping" herself when she gets off topic.
Fiona Paul--Venom
How do these Breathless authors deal with writers block?
Morgan Rhodes--Thinks writers block is a wrong step in the book. She is an outliner and that helps her avoid block. But sometimes she gets writers block just creatively drained.
Jessica Spotswood--Gets writers block when the "fear of suck" takes over. She just has to get out of her head at that point. She and Morgan both employ programs like "Write or Die" to help fight the block.
Beth Revis--Either kills, blows up or deletes all to unstuck.
Elizabeth Richards--Get your mind on something else. She often does this by, doing the dishes or taking a shower. (Beth said she has NEVER been stuck enough to do dishes! :)
Fiona Paul--Works on two stories at a time. So if one gives her trouble she switches to the other for a while.
Signing time!
Jessica getting a star "inked" on her arm by Beth!
Morgan Rhodes, me and Mister
Us with Fiona Paul and Elizabeth Richards
Us with Jessica Spotswood and Beth Revis
BOOK HAUL:
The paperback copy of Born Wicked, I had previously won from Ex Libris Kate. (Whoo hoo, thanks!)
The stack on the left are the ones we bought.
The stack on the right were the VIP prizes from Fiction Addition, including ARCs of Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards and Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood! Thanks Fiction Addition!
Also, one of the fun things about being a book lover is the community. Anytime you go to an event, you have an opportunity to make a bookish connection. I meet a couple bloggers at the Breathless event. So shout outs to my old friend, Kate from Froze8's Blog and new blogger buddy, Deitre from Once Upon a Twilight. Be sure to check out the official event blogger, Bending the Spine's post, complete with video interview! Plus Rebecca and husband, Richard, from Bending the Spine were super sweet in person!
Finally the Giveaways!
Breathless Tour poster signed by the East Coast authors!
And I have 2 of those to give away at this time!
I bought one paperback copy of Beth Revis' first book Across the Universe and had it signed by Beth to giveaway to one lucky Alli's World reader!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
US shipping only this time guys. Sorry.
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