Saturday, February 18, 2012

Event Recap: The Dark Days of Winter + Swag Pack Giveaway

The Dark Days of Winter tour hit up Dallas this week, featuring Courtney Allison Moulton, Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows. The event was fantastic, so much fun, and hilarious. These ladies talked about pretty much everything, from getting started writing to editing to struggling with the 2nd or 3rd books in their series. Then there was the more off topic stuff, that are what make these events even more awesome for those there.

But before I get things kicked off, I have the winner for the Dark Days prize pack that went up last week: Amanda Marie. Congrats, and you've been emailed!


I was lucky enough to interview these ladies before the event started, and since anyone who regularly follows my blog knows I tend to ask questions that are more... random... well, these ladies were subject to the same craziness. So here's the interview, then check out the pictures from the actual event!


If you were fighting Voledmort, which character from any of your books would you want with you?

Jodi: Ellie.

Courtney: Will - he can just chuck his sword before Voledmort can Avada Kadavra him.

Cynthia: Will.

Brodi: Cole - if he can get close enough, he can suck all of Voldemort's emotions out and render him useless. (And after she pointed this out, we all agreed this would actually be an improvement for Voldemort.)


If your main character was a tribute in The Hunger Games, what would their token be? 

Jodi: Butterfly.

Courtney: Ellie's wing necklace.

Cynthia: Feather.

Brodi: Poker Chip.


Who is your YA Book Boyfriend: 

Jodi: All the boys. I can't pick just one. (I then informed Jodi we'd have to battle about that later. Good thing *I* have pretty much all the boys locked away in my Boy Closet...)

Courtney: Tucker from Unearthly, because he likes horses.

Cynthia: Ren from Nightshade.

Brodi: Sam from Incarnate.


If you could give any answer to the "inspiration" question, that isn't the actual story, what would it be? 

Jodi: A ferret whispered it.

Courtney: It's an autobiography.

Cynthia: Random neurons firing in my brain.

Brodi: The stork.


And now for some pictures.... because those are always awesome!


 The book table when you first walk into the store. So much prettiness. 
The table set up, before the event started. 


 Getting started!

 Courtney kicked things off, talking a little about her book then reading from it. 

 Next up was Jodi, who told us how Incarnate came to be... and said it was her 17th finished manuscript.

 Then it was Cynthia's turn, who talked about how the idea for Hallowed just kind of hit her, and her craving for writing came back with it. It took her just six months to write the first draft. 

 Finally it was Brodi's turn, who read us a quick scene from the book... after some audience debate of Cole vs Jack (I wanted Cole, but Jack won). It was a good scene though... 

And here's me with all four of them at the end of the event! 


It was a fantastic night, and if you ever have a chance to see even one of these ladies, make sure you go. I hit up The Cheesecake Factory afterwards with them, though I didn't take any pictures there... but there were appetizers, talking, and cheesecake. Who needs pictures?

So there's a little look into the DFW stop for The Dark Days of Winter! If you missed it but are in the area, there is signed at the store.

Make sure you guys also check out Mundie Moms tomorrow for their event recap and interview of the Austin stop, and Once Upon a Twilight on 2/24 for the Houston stop!

I've also got a swag pack for one lucky winner, which includes Incarnate stickers, Angelfire/Wings of the Wicked bookmarks, an Everneath guitar pick necklace, and a Hallowed bookmark!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post with a way to contact you. Contest is US only, and ends February 25.

18 comments:

  1. Great wrap up. I really wanted to go and sport my I <3 Tucker Tshirt, but my daughter's soccer game got rescheduled for Thursday & I looked at my bank account and realized I am Hoover-flag poor.

    Amy @ www.bookgoonie.com
    bookgoonie at yahoo

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was such a great post! I love seeing event pictures since there are never any very close to me. Thank you!

    terilhack at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved the post and the pics! Thank you.

    kasuranna at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds and looks like a blast! Incredibly jealous. They never come close to me :( I'll live it virtually!

    Vivien
    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aw, that sounds amazing. Thanks for such a detailed recap, because I'm one of the unlucky ones who won't be going to any of the DD signings. :( Love the pictures though! So colorful. Glad you had a good time overall.

    Kristi S.
    quailsrock23(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is so cool! I really wish I could start going to more book tour functions like this. It's hard since I live in the middle of nowhere, and no one even comes near enough to drive to. *sad face* Cheesecake Factory is always a good time! It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I'd love to be entered into the swag pack giveaway, too, please.

    lillyisabear (at) gmail (dot) com

    Thank you so much!
    Lilly @ Book Lungs

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love it! I wish I could have attended the event!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    jenelleriane at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ah! So glad you had fun! Very jealous. ;) I LOVE those questions. And Jodi's answer to the inspiration question was genius.
    Thanks so much for the swag giveaway!
    rivkarno1 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ahh wish these tours were closer to me! Sounds really awesome.
    Thank you for the giveaway!
    naruto_and_hinata(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the Voldemort question :) And I'd totally pick Will. Great coverage of this event. It makes me sad that TX is only one state away and yet I still can't make it to these events. I'm going to blame it on the largeness of TX :)

    jaymeriley@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice wrap-up. Thanks for sharing. It's so nice to get to go to these types of events and since not everyone can, it's nice to have this type of post.

    Thanks for the chance to win.

    Valerie(at)stuckinbooks.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing the pics! It would be lovely to attend one in the future. :) So nice that you had fun!

    -Len of Musings of a Reader Happy
    maidenveil(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I really wish they were coming somewhere near me :[ Oh wells, I shall just have to read the books and hope to meet them someday :]

    Thanks for the giveaway!
    aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  14. That sounds like a great event!
    Thank you for the giveaway.
    emilymeimei204 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awh! I wish they would come to CA so bad! Sounds like they are so much fun! :) Thanks for the giveaway!

    Twitter: @BooksOverBoys

    ReplyDelete
  16. Enjoyed reading about the tour. What fun!
    nicolesender(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. The book tour looked like so much fun! That Voldemort question was fantastic. :)
    Sarah L
    two_of_hearts_101 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Knock, knock!

    Who’s there?

    Thermos.

    Thermos who?

    Thermos be a better knock-knock joke than this.(LOL)
    This joke always makes me laugh ;D

    gaby891 AT YAHOO DOT COM

    ReplyDelete