Posts Categorized: utah authors

Authorpalooza 2010 and TDD Giveaway

08 Feb, 2010 by in utah authors 15 comments

Barnes and Noble hosted Authorpalooza this weekend with 40 authors there to sign their books. I have added them all to my sidebar for you to check out! I took my daughter along with me and she was in awe! My husband claims I am turning her into a geek, but I say Hooray! I was a book worm and she can be too. We got a few books autographed and picked up a lot of bookmarks and trading cards. But really we just wish we were millionaires. There were so many books we wanted to buy, but didn’t have the money. Fellow Utah book bloggers @SueySays

@mawbooks and @meow_mix85 were there, as well as Brodi Ashton. We did also happen to snag a bottle of Bree Despain’s nail polish from The Dark Divine, which we are giving away to a lucky winner! Enter in the comments below…

Here are the Utah Authors Who Attended

James Dashner “The Maze Runner” Jessica Day George “The Dragon Fire” Frank Cole“Hashbrown Winters” GG Vandagriff “The Last Waltz” Bree Despain “The Dark Divine” Jillayne Clements Wendy Paul “101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 minutes” Nichole Giles Cindy Beck “Mormon Mischief and Mishaps” Terri Ferran “Life’s Alphabet Soup”Rhonda Gibbs Hinrichson “Missing” Heather Justesen “The Ball’s in Her Court”Linda Chadwick “Second Chances” Berins Stephens, Dan Willis, Cory Paulson, Lisa Mangum “The Hourglass Door” Mette Ivie Harrison “The Princess and the Bear” Emily Wing Smith “The Way He Lived” Sharlee Glenn “Just What Mama Needs”Alvina Kwong “My Imagination” Kristyna Crow “Swamp at Bedtime” Carol Lynch Williams, Ann Cannon, Ann Dee Ellis , Kevin Hall Larry Myler , Mike O’Reilly, Zane Taylor Jack Nelson “To Die in Kanab” , Rebecca Lerwill “Relocating MIA” Kim Williams Justesen, Bobbie Pyron “The Ring” Aubry Mace “My Fairy Godmother” , Sydney Salter Nathan Hale “Calamity Jack” , Bron Bahlmann , Alan Bellows, Paul Genesse , Larry Correia

To win the Dark Divine Nail Polish

leave your name and email address below…Additional entries
1) Tell us which book you would buy from Authorpalooza +1
2) Visit a Utah author’s website and leave a comment-leave link +2
3) follow us @FireIcePhotos on Twitter +3
4) Retweet this contest +2
5) Follow our blog +3
6) Add our button to your site +5

Contest ends March 8th 2010, Good Luck!

The Actor and The Housewife

17 Jan, 2010 by in Maw Books, Shannon Hale, utah authors 1 comment


From Barnes and Noble: Product Details
Pub. Date: June 2009
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Format: Hardcover, 352pp
ISBN-13: 9781596912885
ISBN: 159691288X

Synopsis
A very different kind of fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale.
What if you were to meet the number-one person on your laminated list—you know, that list you joke about with your significant other about which five celebrities you’d be allowed to run off with if ever given the chance? And of course since it’ll never happen it doesn’t matter…
Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.

From Publishers Weekly
This successful sophomore turn at chick lit (after Austenland) from YA and graphic novelist Hale sets up a platonic relationship between a dashing movie star and a Mormon housewife. While in Los Angeles to ink a deal for a script she’s written, pregnant Becky Jack holds her own against her big screen crush, Felix Callahan, known the world over for charming his way through romantic comedies. Witty banter draws them together, and though they debate what their fascination with one another could mean, an improbable friendship is born. Their alliance weathers the occasional break, Felix’s disinterest in children and his indifference toward Becky’s Mormon faith; spousal jealousy and the chasm separating their lifestyles also throw an occasional curveball. Hale keeps the prose crackling with humor and has a sure hand in creating nuanced, believable characters, so when otherwise unlikely plot turns creep up—Becky getting cast opposite Felix—they’re, well, likely enough. Though Becky just wants to keep her best friend and her normal life, readers will hope she gets nothing less than a fairy tale ending.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This review contains spoilers…
The beginning chapters of this book were a hard read for me because the idea of a married Mormon woman being able to have a male best friend is one I have pondered and decided it just isn’t possible. That being said, I think Becky goes through all of the emotions any typical married housewife with morals would go through and I admire her strength. As I got more into the book I really admired Becky’s relationship wit her her husband Mike. They are still in love after all of these years, they still have a spark and he trusts her enough to let her keep Felix in her life. Her relationship with Felix is just perfect, full of witty lines and funny situations. I cried through the last four chapters at the raw emotion and grief the family went through losing Mike. I love that the spiritual questions were there and were answered through the traditional means of prayer and service without seeming preachy or unrealistic to those not of the same faith.
I hope as Becky has time to heal her loss and she and Felix have time together their love blossoms. In my mind that will be the way it really ends. Felix is not perfect, he makes his occasional mistakes, but what I love about them is that they are always there for each other, they make one another laugh and the romance would be based on ten years of friendship first.Felix takes care of her financially, sweeps her off on vacation, calls her and woos her in the way every woman would love to be wooed. Come on Shannon…give me my fairy tale ending or even a movie. It would be so fun. I will be waiting! I give it a five out of five stars, good clean romantic fun!
My friend MawBooks recorded these and uploaded them to Youtube…Here is Shannon Hale talking about the book at The King’s English Bookstore.


Bree Despain’s Launch Party

04 Jan, 2010 by in Heather Gardner Photography, Matthew Kirby, paranormal YA fiction, the Dark Divine, the king's english, The Six, utah authors 2 comments

Bree and I…she is just beautiful!
Saturday Bree Despain hosted her launch party for the Dark Divine at The King’s English bookstore in Salt Lake City. I arrived at 3:05, five minutes late, and had to wait in line two rooms away from where Bree was reading. They finally let us in and we found a seat on the floor where it was standing room only…and we still didn’t all fit! Spotted in the crowd were Sara Zarr, author of “Once Was Lost,” Brodi Ashton author of “Echo,” Emily Wing Smith author of “The Way He lived”, AmyO administrator of TwilightMOMS, Bree’s writing buddies “the Six”, Bree’s husband and two sons as well as Matthew Kirby of the 10-ers.
Bree read to us all from The Dark Divine where Grace tells her family she accidentally ran into Daniel, the dark main character of the book. She explained to us how she named the book with the help of her six writing friends’ vote after originally pondering the title “Daniel Divine.” She shared writing and editing tips with fellow aspiring authors in the crowd and updated us on how the sequel is coming along. It is obvious from Bree’s reported life schedule that her family comes first and her husband is very supportive of her writing.
After the reading we all filed in line for purple frosted crescent moon cookies and a chance to get our purple Dark Divine nail polish. Bree was kind to each of her guests and personable. She is very approachable and friendly. The owner of the King’s English, Anne Holman congratulated Bree saying “We have hosted a lot of very famous authors here at the store and Bree just blew them away!” They sold out of all copies of The Dark Divine to guests at the signing. Congratulations to Bree on her great launch! Pick up the Dark Divine, you won’t be able to put it down. Scroll down on the blog for our five star review as well as TDD journals and jewelry.


Brodi Ashton and Cam Ballou, guests and friends of Bree

Here are Bree’s upcoming events as listed on her website

“1. On January 5th, I will be the special quest on the “Book and a Chat” show on BlogTalkRadio.com. You can listen online, and even call in and ask me questions.

2. On January 6th, l8bloomeronline.blogspot.com is hosting a group chat in honor of TDD. Come chat with us and ask me your questions.

3. I’ll be doing a reading and signing at the West Jordan (Jordan Landing) Barnes & Noble on January 16th at 2pm.

4. I’ll be participating in an Authorpalooza at the Sandy B&N on February 6th. This is a great opportunity to meet several local authors at once, and pick up great V-day gifts for your friends and family.

5. On February 13th I will be signing books at the Orem B&N. Come get a signed TDD for the special someone in your life–just in time for Valentine’s day.”

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

03 Jan, 2010 by in once was lost, sara zarr, story of a girl, utah authors, YA fiction Leave a comment


Pub. Date: February 2008
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
Age Range: Young Adult
ISBN: 0316014559

Synopsis
As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also each other’s only friend. So when Cameron disappeared without warning, Jennifer thought she’d lost the one person who would ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she is popular, happy, and dating—everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be. But she still can’t shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they both are confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.

Sweethearts is a story about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts.

From Sara Zarr’s website :

Honors

•2008 Cybil Awards Finalist
•Oprah Book Club Kids Reading List
•American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
•New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
•Utah Book Award Finalist
•TX Tayshas Pick

Reviews

•“…dark and engrossing, thanks to Zarr’s full-bodied characters and creative storytelling.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
•“Zarr’s writing is remarkable.” – Booklist, starred review
•“…subtle, beautifully written…” – VOYA, starred review
•“…an engrossing novel.” – The New York Times
•“…wistful prose and skillfully layered characters.” – The Horn Book

About the book:

The story of Jenna/Jennifer and Cameron was inspired by a friendship I had as a child with a boy, Mark, who came back into my life when we were both adults. When Mark and I got back in touch, I was surprised at what a strong bond we had despite having not seen nor heard from one another since third grade. I started asking myself—what if Mark and I had been reunited in high school? What if our lives had taken divergent paths? Would we still be loyal to each other, based on that childhood friendship, even if we wound up in different social circles and with different destinies? If so, why? What kinds of emotional and practical challenges would that bring? Though the details of what happened to Jennifer and Cameron were all made up, I did my best to be as emotionally truthful as I could with their story. I continue to be been blown away by reader response to this book, and how many people out there have Jennas and Camerons of their or their own.

I met Sara Zarr soon last month after completing her book “Once Was Lost” at the “Beautiful Creatures” release party. She was sitting on the couch and I knew no one else around, as our friend Brodi had not yet arrived. I went up and introduced myself in a Jennifer Harris moment of my own. I tried to spark up conversation about my opinions of her book and in the process made a complete fool of myself. Sara was down to earth and genuine. Meeting her made me want to read more of her work.

Sweethearts was so realistic and heart warming for me personally. Cameron Quick is the kind of friend you want for all of your life, despite his understandable walls and ability to disappear. I could relate to much of their life story which is I think why I was pulled completely into the pages. I finished it in 24 hours and it left an impression I am sure I won’t forget. Having worked for several years as a child protective service and foster care worker for the State, I see so many of Sara’s descriptions as real-life struggles for teens seeking independent living and seeking to break the cycles of their childhood.

Sara tackles every day issues in today’s world like abuse, single parent homes, popularity, school bullies, religion, compulsive eating, and teenage relationships. She leaves you hopeful that there are every day heroes and loves that endure the bounds of time and space. Five out of five stars for “Sweethearts.” I think it would be an excellent book to explore in the classroom.

Watch a fan made trailer on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM8gfCJUTMs