TNVAE 2014 Wrap-up

All of my pretties! I may have went overboard. ;)

  You guys! Last Saturday, I got to attend my first author event and signing. It was overwhelming, nerve wracking, and absolutely AMAZING. I got to meet some favorites, and I discovered some new favorites. Let's ramble, shall we?

  I was actually a volunteer the event, and I think that part made me appreciate it SO much more. It's really and truly insane what the event organizers and authors go through to make these events happen for us. I'm in awe of them. Kathy Womack, you are such an amazing lady. Thank you so much for putting this event together.

  So back to the volunteer thing. I only live an hour away from Knoxville, so I drove down on Friday to help with set-up. While stuffing 1000 swag bags, I got to know Dulaney-Glen. They're two sisters who write together as a team. We've officially started Team Awkward. Seriously, these two girls made this event amazing for me. They're absolute sweethearts and we just clicked. Keep an eye out, because I'm going to be giving away a copy of their debut book, Unexpected, and swag soon!

I stole this from Sarah's Facebook. This girl is auh-mazing.

  On Saturday, I was the assistant for Sarah Ashley Jones. I'm not super saturated in the Indie world. Sarah really gave me the inside look at it, and I had so much fun being her assistant. She's SO inspiring. Seriously, she should be the poster child for why Indies are amazing. (Plus her Alice in Wonderland sleeve is wtfbbqsauceAMAZING.) Between her and Dawn Pendleton, I can safely say that Indie authors are seriously wonderful people.

  Between assisting Sarah and having moments of "omg is that who I think it is? IT IS.", I scurried around the center collecting books and goodies from the authors. I had a list of the authors I had to see before the event, but by the time Saturday rolled around it had doubled. Originally my list consisted of Sarah Ashley Jones, A.G. Porter, Amy Miles, and Dawn Pendleton. And I got to meet all of them!

I'm a thief! Stolen from A.G. Porter's Twitter!

  A.G. Porter is just plain ol' awesome. I was so excited to meet her. If this event happens next year, I'll be the first in line at her table to tacklehug her!

  Thanks to Kathy's recommendation, I also picked up The Final Piece by Maggi Myers. She had the best swag, y'all. Coffee! The perfect thing for an event full of readers and writers!

On Friday, I met Lexi Witcher/Leanne Tyler while she was setting up her table. She's such a sweetheart. I made several stops at her table to pick up a copy and Bittersweet Sixteen and just chat. Amy Miles is another sweetheart! I had originally pre-ordered one of her books, but I knew I couldn't go home without The Arotas Trilogy, too.

  I think I could ramble even more. I want to, but I'll cut it short. This event was really amazing. I'm crossing my fingers that it happens again next year.

I wound up with a ton of swag from this event. Since sharing is caring, enter with the rafflecopter below to snag some for yourself! This giveaway is US only because shipping rates suck. Sorry, INT lovelies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway