Love in the Pages...

Love, love, love. We’re celebrating all things love related, so how can I not mention my love of books!

I love how books bring people together. I love how wonderful it is to meet readers. I love talking about stories and characters and enjoying the “community” of the book together. Stephen King says (and here I’m paraphrasing) that books require that you enter the author’s world and that together, you imagine. The author imagines and captures her world on the page. The reader absorbs the world and imagines it in her mind. Together, you build the story. Isn’t that cool and so true?

Your reading of a book is unique. It’s intimate and special and all your own. And yet – all readers of a book have shared something together. It’s unlike anything else in the world. So there you go. My love affair with books revealed.

Well, I have to say, this has been an extremely lucky month for a booklover like me. Last week I got to meet Carrie Jones, the amazing author of Need, Captivate and other great books, and vampire-book author Alyxandra Harvey, together on their signing tour across the US.

I found Carrie extremely humble, super sweet, and hilarious. She’s a friend of a friend, so along with a few other YA authors, we chatted and laughed over turkey and chili-veggie burgers at a local joint. I always love hearing how everyone approaches writing their books – and it’s just amazing to me how different everyone’s process can be. Here’s a pic of Carrie, along with Liz Gallagher and Alyxandra, showing off their books at B & N.

To top off an already great week, this last Saturday, Liz and I got to meet Buzz Girl Dona Sarkar for a delicious brunch before heading to our signing at Mockingbird Books. Look how cute these two talented ladies are! Liz was decked out in pink in honor of the day - and Dona is, well, Dona is always decked out no matter where she goes.

They have an annual event at Mockingbird Books, and in other indie bookstores, called Kids *Heart* Books – a day of signings and readings all for young readers. The store owner, Sue, and her fabulous staff made it a super great event. And I left with a bag of homemade chocolate madeleines as a thank you! That’s a win-win, if I’ve ever tasted one.

So now for today's giveaway:

To win a freshly signed copy of Alyxandra Harvey’s new twist on a vampire YA novel, Hearts At Stake, tell me in the comments what you love most about books or reading.

I’ll randomly pick a winner at the end of the week, and Buzz Girl Wendy Toliver will announce the winner on Sunday! Feel free to pass on a link to our blog and tell your friends to comment to win. Remember you can comment on any of the posts this week up until the winners are revealed.

Much love to all you Buzz Blog readers and booklovers everywhere!

Heather

www.heatherdavisbooks.com

The Clearing – April 2010 HMH

Never Cry Werewolf – Sept 2009 HarperTeen

Newberry Winner Speaks!

One of the best things about loving books is that you have friends who also love to read. I’m always getting cool suggestions for what to read next from them. This week, my author friend Liz Gallagher, insisted I head on down to University Village Barnes and Noble to hear Rebecca Stead, who just won the Newberry for her book When You Reach Me. I can’t wait to read this book! It's set in NYC in 1978 - in Rebecca's childhood neighborhood. It has time travel and the $25,000 Pyramid. Apparently, Rebecca's mom really was a contestant on that show in the 1970's.

Rebecca is a former public defender, who spent years working on her first novel, First Light, with her editor Wendy Lamb. I mean years! And then this second book also went through several years of revisions and versions, each given to different people to read because the book has a bit of mystery and both editor and author wanted to see how a new reader would solve it.

There was a packed house for Rebecca’s reading and Q & A. So many of the audience members were young kids since this is a middle grade novel. They posed terrific questions. Rebecca, when asked why she enjoys writing for young audiences said, “because they pay attention and they are so smart.” I have to agree wholeheartedly

Have you read When you Reach Me? What did you think about this much lauded Newberry winner?

Hugs,


Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
The Clearing – HMH April 2010
Never Cry Werewolf – Harperteen Sept. 2009