I have two small confessions to make. I only discovered J.R. Wards Black Dagger Brotherhood series about a year or so ago when Lover Mine was getting ready to be released. I made the mistake of telling my friends that I hadn't read her before, were her books any good? I swear I could hear the gasps of disbelief that I hadn't read her. I caved into peer pressure and bought the first five books that came in a box set-evil amazon had a great deal on them. I figured if I didn't like them I could give them away in a giveaway or something.
I read the first two, and waited a bit before I read book 3 because I had some review books to read first. I thought the series was good, but didn't understand the lovefest people had for the series. That was until Z's book. After I read his story in book 3 I couldn't stop reading them. I really like how she's not afraid to take risks with her characters. I mean who turns a heroine into a ghost?! My favorite is Lover Mine which tells John Matthew's story~probably because that's the book when I realized I was in this series for the long haul and would read them all no matter what. They are so book crack-and who doesn't love that?!
My second confession is this: Would you believe that until I went to Lori Fosters Reader/Author Get Together in Cincinnati in May I hadn't been to an author signing before. (I can hear the gasps of disbelief from here!) I could say that it's because there aren't a lot of authors who travel south from Columbus and North of Cincy to where I'm at,which is true, but not a very good excuse when I live an hour and a half away from two major cities that have lots of authors come to them each year. When I found out from a friend on twitter that J.R. Ward was coming to Cincinnati I knew I had no choice but to go. I love her Black Dagger Brotherhood Series that I finally broke down and read last year. For some reason I was really nervous to drive down to Cincinnati for the signing (even though I've driven cross country) but Liza and Nicole and a few others were like: "You are going C. You can't miss this." They were totally right. I'd have hated missing the signing and talk. She is such a dynamic incredible speaker.
The picture below is who I went to the signing with. We were waiting for the line to form. There were 200 tickets and I've been told that is a small number for one of her signings. I'm glad I went to one for Envy and not the BDB for my first signing.
So close to getting my book signed! I was told that the guys dress like this at every signing. Not sure why unless they are supposed to be the brothers? There were a few more other then this guy, and the crowd loved em'.
This is me getting my books signed. I was in awe of her and afraid to get too close. WE have this look because my cell phone camera took forever to load. We had a good laugh about it then I started to get worried that I'd be sent along without a picture because the thing was taking so long. I am just glad my coffee stains I managed to spill all over me aren't showing in this picture!
This is the talk..my camera doesn't have a zoom lens and unlike some of the women at the talk, I did not have a professional camera with a lens about a mile long to get a picture of her. Seriously, there was a girl on the floor by me and I thought she was a photographer for Barnes and Noble. She wasn't and I felt bad I didn't offer the only empty chair that was next to me. But she could've asked to sit there, right? I still should've offered though. (Karma got me back in the way of a little boy sitting not to far from me on the floor who was out of control and whose mom didn't seem to care.) Can you see the Coke bottle in her free hand? I was told that she has one at every talk she goes to. I knew I liked her! I liked her even more when she said that the first book she wrote was a Harlequin Presents type book because that was what she read at the time. What made me really like her is that she was direct in her answers-she didn't hold back. My friend Bells from Hanging with Bells dared one of us to ask the question about if her pearls led to her creativity, (or something to that effect) but I wasn't brave enough to do it. Maybe next time!
I didn't take notes at the talk (I'm such a newbie) but my friend Liza did, and I highly recommend that you go check them out. There are some spoilers in her post, so beware! I can see why The Warden (as she is called) has so many people who follow her to every signing. Going to this one made me a fan for life. Seriously!
Lessons that I learned from this signing:
1.Bring a cute shirt and shoes to change into.
2. I need more bookish shirts or bags that say I love vampires or other cute book sayings.
3. I need to be more into fan art. Some of the women had really cool shirts they hand made with the brothers name on them.
4. I need a better camera.
5. I need to bring a notebook to take notes with because my memory sucks.
I had lots of fun, and am so thankful that Liza told me about the signing. I see more signings in my future! I can't thank Liza and Nicole enough~we have to do this again!
