Mundie Moms

Sunday, March 15, 2015

The Orphan Queen Launch Party & Giveaway


Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton were in town this past week! It was so great having them back in TX. They were in town for The Orphan Queen launch party, at a local indie book store, The Book Spot. We love having them. We've decided to give them the honorary Texan status, as each year they come back and visit.


Jodi Meadows came prepared with her own clock, to match her cover. We loved the cloak. I told Brodi if she was sitting by Jodi, she needed a cloak to. We used the cloak pictured above on Jodi's books, as Brodi's cloak. 


They're rocking these cloaks! 


The signing was a lot of fun. It was nonstop laughs. We also talked a lot about their books, writing, and what they're working on now. Some of the things we learned are:
  • Jodi's favorite scene happens on page 297. It involves kissing
  • There will be novellas with this series, and if fans buy the novellas, we could see a print version of the collection of novellas. We're really hoping for this!
  • While the cover of the book is beautiful, her character doesn't actually wear a cloak. 
  • YES there is a sequel coming!!
  • Jodi, Brodi and Cynthia Hand are all writing a book together called My Lady Jane. Yes, this is a historical mixed in with plenty of humor, as we know from history, Lady Jane meets a not so great death. This book will be out in 2016!
  • Novellas are harder to write than an actual book.
  • They both love coming to Texas.


I feel like the odd one out since I didn't have a cloak. haha


There is a story behind this picture, and it took us about five minutes to stop laughing in order to get this picture. Brodi was dared to do this look, and Jodi and I couldn't stop laughing. I seriously love these two. If you ever get to see them together at a signing, I highly recommend it!


It has become tradition, that when they're in town, we meet up for dinner after wards at Chuys. It was so much fun. I'm between Brodi Ashton, and local author, the lovely Sherry Thomas, who's books you'll see pictured below. 


I supported a few friends, as a well as an indie book store, and purchase these pretties. The top book is an arc, which I didn't purchase. I took it to get signed for the giveaway. Both Jodi and Sherry's books I got signed, and I also had to pick up The Winner's Crime. 


Jodi gave away some of her hand written note cards. I'm totally framing mine and putting it on my book case. I've also got one to giveaway! 

Thank you to Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton for a fabulous signing, and memorable night. My stomach hurt from laughing so much! Thank you to The Book Spot for hosting another fabulous signing. You can purchase signed books by both Jodi and Brodi here. 

This coming Friday, don't miss my The Orphan Queen blog tour stop!

THE GIVEAWAY!


One lucky person will win a one of kind SIGNED arc of The Orphan Queen. I asked both Jodi and Brodi to sign it. Normally that's not something I'd do, but these good friends didn't mind. Along with the arc, the winner will receive a hand written The Orphan Queen notecard, and some swag. This is open Internationally! Good luck! Enter to win below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MOSQUITOLAND by David Arnold



Hello & welcome to today's stop in the MOSQUITOLAND blog tour, hosted by Viking Books. I'm thrilled to be able to spot light David's debut today. This is a book has been receiving a lot of book buzz. Find out more about the book below. 

ABOUT THE BOOK


By: David Arnold
Published by: Viking 
Released on: March 3rd, 2015
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes&Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Mim Malone is not okay. In the past year, her parents got divorced, her father and new stepmom dragged her from her Ohio home to Mississippi, and her new therapist prescribed her powerful, mind-numbing antipsychotic drugs. To top it off, Mim learns that her mother is sick in Cleveland. When her mom stops responding to her letters, Mim ditches her new life and hops a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and real mother, meeting a ragtag group of fellow wanderers along the way. As her thousand-mile odyssey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane. It's testament to Arnold's talent that, though you won't know exactly where you stand with this girl until the very last page, you still won't be able to look away. I'm certain that Mim will steal your heart just she stole mine, and that MOSQUITOLAND is the start of an incredibly exciting career for this new writer. 

I was really looking forward to sharing my review of this book, sadly while I was away this book fell victim to either being taken off my porch or it fell into the hands of the person who can't stop stealing my book mail via the mail carrier. Either way, this book never made it into my hands. Since I can't personally share my thoughts with you on the book with you, I thought I would gather some quotes from a few of my friends who reviewed this book. These quotes are taken from their reviews I found on Goodreads. I also linked back to their actual reviews on their blog.  picked these three, as they are reviewers whom if I was going to purchase this book, their reviews on the book would sway me to do so. 

Mosquitoland was just delightfully offbeat in the most charming of ways. Mim is a heroine wherein no adjectives can quite pin down the essence of Mim. She will test your patience but you cannot help rooting for her on her journey. And the writing?! It made me up my dog-earring game! Gut-bustingly funny at times, punches you in the gut at other times. David Arnold is a brilliant author who DEFINITELY brought out the big guns with his refreshing and vibrant debut. What next, David, WHAT NEXT? I cannot wait to see what else he can do. Read her full review here.

This story really hit home - depression and how we handle it is very "hush hush" and it shouldn't be - a lot of people in Mim's family struggle with mental illness, which has an effect on everything in her life. Normal childhood memories become tainted. Mosquitoland is lightening in a bottle. I cannot wait to see this book skyrocket; it has the potential to change the stigmata around mental illness. Read her full review here

I am here to tell you that Mosquitoland was pretty much everything that I was hoping it would be. Mim's desperation to find her mom and then getting on a bus to Ohio to find her is only the beginning of the wonderful craziness in this book. Along the way, we get to know her through her journal, and her dry sense of humor paired with some tough introspection made me love her immediately. Read more of her review here

WATCH THE TRAILER




ABOUT THE AUTHOR


David Arnold is a stay-at-home dad who wrote Mosquitoland while his son napped and watched Sesame Street. This is his first novel. The family lives in Lexington, KY and readers can find David Arnold online on Twitter @roofbeam and visit him at www.davidarnoldbooks.com.

Labels