Dark Days Tour Update

 

I was fortunate enough to go to The Dark Days Tour that came to St. Louis this past Monday. The featured authors were Veronica Roth (INSURGENT), Aprilynne Pike (DESTINED), Dan Wells (PARTIALS), and S.J. Kincaid (INSIGNIA).

Most of the people there were for Veronica Roth (me included). I've already blogged a review about Partials (not a bad book but skimpy on the medical details), and Kincaid's Insignia was a Waiting on Wednesday entry (worried that it may be too similar to Ender's game, but it's gotten rave reviews). I had never heard of Aprilynne Pike, but after I heard that her series was about "magic and lots of kissing," and her in depth discussion of her villain, I knew I should take a look.

They gave a brief synopsis of each book and then opened up the floor to questions. I have to say that Dan Wells and Aprilynne Pike were the most fun to listen to. Some of the most notable questions were about how to create an interesting villain (which is spawning a whole blog topic on its own because this is one of my favorite things to talk about!) and how Battlestar Galactica's non-impressive ending was inspiration for Dan's book Partials (he basically wanted to put Hermione in Battlestar Galactica). Veronica at this point looked really sad because apparently she has not finished Battlestar Galactica. She should-- it's a great show. Dune by Frank Herbert was a very popular favorite book among the authors.


I ended up buying a copy of Insignia (by the way, the inspiration for the title came from Kincaid walking into a Best Buy and seeing that brand). So we'll see how it goes. I'm exponentially having less and less time to read (sadly!!!) but hopefully I can finish it soon and post a review for you guys.


They each had their own signing line, which was nice. Unfortunately for poor Kincaid (who here thought she was a guy from her pen name??? *raises hand*), since her book hadn't come out yet, she didn't have much of a line. 

Veronica Roth had, unsurprisingly, the longest line. And yes, I took a picture with her. I am THAT dorky! And I am dorky enough to post the picture twice ;-)


Possibly the best part of it all was meeting other bloggers, fans, and just people that love to read. I met someone who is a teacher and gets books signed on a regular basis for her school's library. I remet Jessi from the wonderful Reading in the Corner blog. And I got to sit down with Antony John, the author of the wonderful Five Flavors of Dumb and the terrific Elemental, a dystopian YA novel, coming out Nov 21st. I'm lucky enough to be a beta reader for the second installment of the trilogy! And tune in for that amazing ARC giveaway of Elemental, which will likely be in September.
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Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of Insurgent or The Intern's Tale!