***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: hpb

On Wednesday night, I was lucky enough to attend the Maggie Stiefvater signing and Q&A session at the flagship Half Price Books here in Dallas. For the last few releases of her books, I've pre-ordered Maggie-doodled copies from Fountain Bookstore, and the release of The Dream Thieves was no different. I own all of Maggie's books, though -- with the exception of the anthologies that her work appears in -- so I had quite a collection that wasn't signed. And, well, we can't have that.

This was my first time to ever meet Maggie, so I was a lot excited and a little nervous. But I had no reason to fret. Maggie is just as personable and approachable in person as she is online. She's this little ball of energy that just won't quit, and it's no wonder she writes some of the craziest, most unique books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Oh, AND she recognized the name of my blog! Squeeeeee!!! :D

Maggie read a scene from The Dream Thieves, with some help from the audience, and it made me want to read the book all over again. I've just about determined that it's my new favorite Maggie book, barely squeaking past The Scorpio Races on its way to the top.

In addition to the signing and reading, Maggie also took questions, and here are some things that were mentioned:

Every character she writes starts from a blank human mold and then she changes it as she writes. In fact, she and Ronan share some DNA...she based Ronan's character on herself at that age. Except he has reasons for the way he is and she really didn't at that age. =)
Kavinsky's character in The Dream Thieves was a challenge for her to write because she always tends to write her villains bad "but with a heart of gold" and he had to be all evil.
Maggie writes by scene count, not by word count. If she sets out to write a certain scene for the day and it only takes her twenty minutes, she's done for the day. Conversely, she'll still be pecking away at the keyboard until the wee hours of the morning until said scene is finished.
She had just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife for the second time when she decided that that's the type of book she wanted to write. One that left you ugly crying no matter how many times you read it. And soon after, Shiver was written. Maggie is diabolical.
Her favorite scene to write in The Raven Boys was the one where "Adam gets the shit kicked out of him by his father." She said it had "action and cars...what's not to love?"
She actually started writing The Raven Cycle when she was nineteen, and at the time, Ronan was the main character.
The Scorpio Races was the book she wanted to read as a teen. Maggie says to write the book YOU want to read.
When asked if she'd ever write a sequel to The Scorpio Races, she responded that the characters got to the end of their story arcs so she has no plans to, but maybe in fifty years or so she'll revisit them if the whim hits her.
The Scorpio Races used to be Maggie's favorite book that she'd written, but that changed with The Dream Thieves. (Seriously, it's that good. If you haven't read it yet, well, you'll get your chance below. :P)

Hope you learned something new about one of my favorite authors! :) It was rough rearranging schedules and such so both Mendy and I could attend, so I want to give M a big shout-out for coming with. [She also wants Emily to know that she totally owes her for pretending to be her and getting her books signed so I didn't look like a total ass with like 20 books to get signed. =)]

So, I was totally thinking of you guys while I was there, and I picked up an extra signed copy of The Dream Thieves to give away to one lucky reader!

Rules:

This giveaway is US only. Sorry, international peeps, but I do have another giveaway open that's international.
One entry per household.
Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
I am not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you all get the chance to meet Maggie one day. She's so much fun and just so witty and weirdly charming. :D

Thanks for stopping by & happy reading!

Labels: authors are rockstars, favorites, hpb, maggie stiefvater, scholastic, signings, the raven cycle, the scorpio races

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a weekly meme where we all get to brag about the books and swag we got in the mail, for review, won in contests, etc.

I love weeks like this, but I'm glad they're not all like this. Otherwise, I'd always have my nose in a book. Not like I don't already, but well, I'm not as coordinated as Belle. :(

For Review:

Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)

Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for these review copies:

Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi - I don't know how I've kept myself from starting this one yet, but I don't doubt that I'll crack it open at some point this week. Oh, I'm sure I'll start off by telling myself it's just a peek, but then I'll have devoured the book. I'm dying to know what happens. Plus, my life has been decidedly Roar-less for too long now.

This Side of Salvation by Jeri Smith-Ready - I adore Jeri Smith-Ready, and I absolutely loved her Shade series. I cannot wait to read this book and fall in love with the her new characters!

Death Sworn by Leah Cypess - This will be my first book by this author, but I saw assassins in the summary, and before I read any further, I'd already clicked that little 'download review copy' button.

Thanks to Tor Teen and HarperCollins for the finished copy and ARCs:

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake - I just finished my ARC of this last night and this book has renewed my affection for mythology. And now I have a finished copy PLUS one of those awesome feather bookmarks! My shelves will be so happy! =)

How to Love by Katie Cotugno - Really excited about this title after discussing with Lauren earlier this week. I already had a galley from EW, but it seems like the kind of book better enjoyed by turning physical pages. ;0)

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas - Already read and loved this one. It was kind of the anti-Harry Potter for me. :-P

Rock and a Hard Place and Snapshot by Angie Stanton - An ordinary girl and a rock star? Sounds fun! I think these were indie/small pub hits that were recently acquired by Harper.

Won/Gifted:

Won a signed copy of The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson from Em at Book Jems for the Freedom to Read Giveaway. It was well worth the wait. Now to find the time to re-read it with Em. :) HectorHectorHectorHector!!! Hectoooooooooooorrrrrrrrr!!!! =)

Purchased/Audiobooks:

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - I had a galley of this title from Netgalley, but I put it aside in favor of other reads. And also because I loved Black's Curse Workers series on audio and was hoping for the same awesome experience with this audiobook...and I was not disappointed.

HPB Haul:

My haul:

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - review
Graffiti Moon - Cath Crowley
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
The Eternity Cure (ARC) by Julie Kagawa - review
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers - review
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Fang Girl by Helen Keeble
Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

_____________________________________

Katie's haul:

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses

The Three Little Pigs

Peter Pan

Cinderella

Goodnight Stories

Green Eggs and Ham

Fox in Socks

Are You My Mother

The Foot Book

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Oh the Thinks You Can Think!

3 Golden story books

So, that's my haul. How about you? What did you get this week?

The Week in Review:

Reviews:

Mini Reviews of Shut Out and The DUFF by Kody Keplinger (audio)
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (audio)
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (audio)

Current Giveaways: Expect another So Many Books So Little Time Giveaway in the very near future!

Promotional/Discussion Posts: On Monday, author April Genevieve Tucholke stopped by to give us her take on black and white characters as part of the Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Blog Tour. I teased Antigoddess & Monsters by Kendare Blake and Ilsa J. Bick, respectively, on Tuesday. And I'm waiting on Raging Star by Moira Young this week...and I can't believe I have to wait something like an extra six months for this final installment! Plus, we discussed the judgy-mcjudginess of fellow readers on Thoughtful Thursday.

Jen's Currently Reading/Listening To:

Still reading Monsters. It's rather intense, so I took a break to read Antigoddess this week, too. Hoping to finish and review early next week.

And I couldn't decided on my next audio, so I'm listening to the audio of Hopeless that I won from the author last month until a couple new releases are out next week. Some that I have review copies for but haven't been able to get to or would probably prefer the audio anyway. =)

The Week Ahead:

Reviews: Antigoddess, Monsters & Fangirl

I've been contemplating re-rating some books on Goodreads, simply because if I re-read them now, I'd wouldn't enjoy them as much as I once did. So, on this week's Thoughtful Thursday, I'd like to get your take on re-rating books.