Jennifer Bosworth is a lot of fun on Twitter. Just before her book, Struck, was released, she had posted that the Barnes and Noble in Mira Mesa had put it on the shelves early. I told her that specific store was only 10 minutes from me and I would go see if I could get my hands on a copy.
When I got to the bookstore, I found the stack of Struck on the trolley to be put out. There wasn’t anyone around, so I struggled to get a copy out, almost falling over in the process. I did get caught by the B&N employee, but she didn’t care.
As soon as I saw that Jennifer was going to be at Mysterious Galaxy before the Fierce Reads tour started, I was pretty sure I was going to attend. And as soon as Jennifer and I came up with a secret handshake that was based on Ten by Gretchen McNeil [because we’re both awesome and have already read it], it was a sure thing.
On the day of the signing, we got up there around 11:30, with the event starting at 12. I met up with LeAnna and we cemented plans for the YA book club that I’m going to be hosting there [squee!!].
And then… She took me to the secret room of books and pointed to a bookshelf FILLED with ARCs. She said that now that I “worked” there, I was allowed to take anything on the shelves. *swoon* We also talked about volunteering for future events.
And yet, I digress… Back to the signing.
Jennifer came to the podium and the first thing she asked us to do was to draw a Tarot card from the deck she had. After everyone had a card, she asked if anyone knew why we were doing it. I offered the idea that she wanted to see if anyone would pick the Tower card. [For anyone who hasn’t read Struck yet, Tarot cards play a part in the story].
Turns out, it’s believed that the cards absorb energy from anyone who touches them. And she wanted to leave the deck for the bookstore. [I later suggested to the really nice guy in the Doctor Who shirt that works at MGRB, who’s name I don’t know that they should get Jennifer to sign the Tower card].
Jennifer then talked about the book overall. She stated that writing it was the right story at the right time in her life. She read the prologue and then showed a very awesome featurette that had the making of the book trailer as well as additional insight.
After the featurette, Jennifer took questions. I asked my standard question: Besides Mia, who was her favorite character to write. Jennifer said that she loves villains, so she really enjoyed writing Rance. She thinks there’s always a reason why villains are the way they are and she likes exploring that. Jennifer even wrote a small piece of Rance’s childhood [which was an excellent insight into the ever-so-creepy Rance].
The signing started and I was the second one in line. I told Jennifer that I’d be at the Fierce Reads tour in San Diego and she asked if I was covering it for my blog. I explained that I didn’t review books for my blog, but the signings I went to.
She thanked me for coming AND I DON’T THINK I THANKED HER!! *facepalm*
After she signed my books, I started to wander around the store. We were just getting ready to leave when LeAnna asked if I wanted to help get the stock signed. She explained what they wanted and while we waited for Jennifer to finish with the people who were attending the event, we started talking about a specific Chuck Wendig inscription he wrote in one of his books.
That led me to leave the book stock job to Hubs and go in search of every copy of Blackbirds that MG had [Challenge Accepted!!] looking for said inappropriate inscription. Alas, I did not find it. Someone else had the pleasure of buying the book, perhaps unwillingly.
When everything was done, we started to say goodbye. Jennifer thanked us again for coming and somehow her Struck necklaces came up. Jennifer asked if we wanted one and she ever so nicely gave LeAnna and me a necklace.
Today was a lot of fun. MGRB is one of my favorite bookstores and the events are always an experience. And Jennifer, if you’re reading this, thank you for taking the time to be at the bookstore with us. I’m super sorry I didn’t actually say it to you. Please don’t kick me out of the super secret Ten club we have.
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