Breathless Reads Tour. This stop: NYC!

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the Breathless Reads Tour book signing at Books of Wonder in NYC. Appearing were the authors of The Eternal Ones (Kirsten Miller), Nightshade (Andrea Cremer), Matched (Ally Condie), The Replacement (Brenna Yovanoff) and Across the Universe (Beth Revis).

(l-r) Brenna Yovanoff, Beth Revis, Andrea Cremer, Ally Condie & Kirsten Miller.

The lovely authors were approachable, friendly and funny. Before the panel they chatted with several fans and posed for pictures. The moderator was Sabrina Rojas Weiss of MTV’s Hollywood Crush Books. I just checked out her blog and it is awesome. Lots of great news and scoops. You’ll want to add that to your favorites and follow on Twitter!

Sabrina explained that it is called the Breathless Reads Tour because the main characters are breathless when they meet the love of their life and because the books themselves leave the reader breathless.

I had a lot of fun and I loved hearing the author’s opinions, stories and insights. Here are a few tidbits I found out:

• Kirsten wanted to be Sherlock Holmes when she grew up and loved Chemistry in school.
• Andrea wanted to be Anne of Green Gables so she could marry Gilbert Blythe.
• Ally’s first story when she was a child was about pregnant unicorns, because as she stated and I’m paraphrasing here, “What’s better than unicorns but more unicorns?”
• Brenna really loved Physical Education class when she was in school and never finished any stories she wrote when she was younger thereby creating “unintentional cliffhangers.” (That makes me feel better!)
• Beth has a beautiful southern accent and made up her dystopian mythology through her interest in   linguistics.

There was also a round of “Would You Rather?” based on their books. For example, “Would you rather have your whole town think you're possessed or have all your decisions made for you?” or “Would you rather be forced to marry at 17 or spend 50 years in space?” Their responses had everyone laughing. Hmmm, "Literary Would You Rather?" Might make a good feature or meme on a book blog.

Sabrina Rojas Weiss mediates.

My favorite part of the panel however, was when they talked about writing. It seems that none of them ever dreamed they would get published and came to writing via various vehicles, Ally literally by accident. She was laid up on crutches for many weeks when she decided to really give it a go. Their message is to believe in what you are writing and don’t write for others. They also stressed to just sit down and write! Kirsten pointed out that lawyers don’t claim to get “lawyer’s block” they have to keep working and so it should be with writers. I’m totally inspired now! Thanks ladies!

At this point I have only read Nightshade, but I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of these books especially after meeting these authors.

In honor of the Breathless Reads Tour, I have picked up all 5 autographed books for a few lucky winners.  The 1st winner will get their choice of two (2) of the books.  The 2nd winner will get to pick two (2) of the remaining books.  The 3rd winner will receive the remaining title.

To Enter:

We're going to play a game.  I'm going to start off by asking a "Would You Rather?" question as the first comment. The next person will answer my question and leave another "Would You Rather?" question.  The following people can answer any of the "Would You Rather?" questions that are posted in the comments, but they must also leave their own question.

Rules:

• See my contest policy HERE.
• US residents only. 
• Contest ends Friday February 18, 2011 at midnight.
• Please leave your e-mail address in your comment.  No e-mail=no entry. 
• If I cannot contact the 1st winner within 5 business days, the 2nd & 3rd winners will move up and another 3rd winner will be chosen.  (This also applies to the 2nd and 3rd winner.)

Extra entries are optional:

+2-If you are an old follower.

+1-If you are a new follower.

+1-If you Tweet about this contest. (Please leave link.)

+1-If you post about this contest on Facebook.  (Please leave link.)

+1-If you post about this contest on your blog. (Please leave link.)

I hope to figure out Random.org to pick a winner, but if I can't, I'm just going to have to pick one out of a hat! 

Good luck!