Nashville Author Event Review!

Hello and happy Sunday readers! Hope your weekend is going great! As many of my fans and readers will have already hear, yesterday I had the great privilege to attend the Nashville Author Event hosted by Lalone Marketing. The event was held June 7, 2014 at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum located in the heart of downtown “Music City USA”, Nashville, Tennessee (the happiest place on Earth in my opinion). I did a quick pre-post about the Nashville event. That post can be found by clicking here. 

The event was the best author event I have been to to-date and I am excited to share my experience with all of you guys! As you guys know, reviewing my events is something of a tradition here at OneGuysGuideToGoodReads and they are always my favorite posts to write because they include lots of pictures of me freaking out over meeting some amazing authors, bloggers, and fellow Street Team members! Hope you guys are ready, because this post has all kinds of fun in store!

 

Yesterday morning, two of my best friends (Hannah and Tommy) and I set off on a 3 hour drive headed to Nashville. Though a little tired, I was more than excited about what the day had in store for us. I knew that 2 of my fellow street team members, some blog "sisters", author friends, a a whole slew of fellow readers awaited me at the event. This was also the weekend of CMAFest which, if you guys don't know anything about it, seriously get out from underneath your rocks. CMAFest is a HUGE deal. It's pretty much Woodstock for country music and the ENTIRE city of Nashville celebrates! I figured rough traffic, no parking, long lines, and plenty of frustration would meet us upon our arrival in Nashville. I couldn't have been more wrong. Little to no traffic, easy parking (very close to the venue), and no frustration whatsoever. The weather started out beautiful so no complaints there. My only complaint was that my partner in crime, the amazing Megan who has accompanied me to every event thus far was unable to come due to a prior commitment. Before I get into the review of the event, here are some pictures of the venue and Nashville! 

Hannah and I in front of the Musicians Hall of Fame and museum before the event!

Marquee bearing the event and the Griffin Peterson performance announcement! Such a neat venue!

The beautiful Nashville skyline from the observation deck of our parking garage!

Once we got inside the event we were greeted by a line of amazing fans and then several "hey Ethans!" which made my day! If you guys have never been to a book event, let me tell you: go. The people are so nice and they really do remember you. I had been introduced/reintroduced to at least 10 people before I ever even took my place in line. It was such an amazing feeling! 

Line waiting to meet the amazing authors!

Rather than go through and discuss my experiences meeting each author, I am just going to post a whole stream of pictures and give you guys a visual journey through the event. Sorry, but I'm in all the pictures! :D Here we go!

First up was my amazing friend and author Miss Cora Carmack. I have met Cora before, but I still LOVED seeing her again. As a member of Cora's Street Team I have worked closely with her for the past few months promoting her newest novel All Lined Up! Cora is so freaking awesome. Pictured with us is my blog mentor and "sister", Amber from GrownupFangirl. More info on Amber and her gang later on!

My next stop was probably the one I was anticipating the most. Jay Crownover! What up Jay!! Jay is the author of the Marked Men series, and while I haven't read them, Jay is one of my favorite people ever. She and I have connected several times since our paths ALMOST crossed in Des Moines back in April. It was so awesome to FINALLY get to meet her. She is such a fun person who really loved her fans. I may be joining the Crownover Crowd after meeting her and Melissa! Megan is VERY jealous!

Third on the list was Rebecca Donovan! Rebecca is the bestselling author of the Breathing series and loaded me up with some amazing swag. Another fun lady, I can't wait to meet her again!

Fourth was the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, FANTASTIC Colleen Hoover! As you guys will remember, I featured a series review last month of Colleen's Slammed series. Colleen is an amazing author and hilarious woman. She was also extremely generous and actually gave me some surprises to give away to my amazing readers (be on the look out for that). I'm a huge Colleen fan so meeting her in person was such a great experience! (BTW that's Tommy in the background, hey Tommy!)

Fifth was bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin! Heidi is the author of the extremely popular Beaumont Series! Heidi was so awesome to meet. She loaded me up with giveaway swag and even told me to contact her if I ever want to collaborate so you guys may be meeting more Heidi later. Also with Heidi was one of her cover models which was pretty cool (for obvious reasons I did not request a picture with him, sorry guys [I'm looking at you Carmcats....])!

Sixth up was probably the coolest person I met in Nashville, Mrs. Tina Reber. I have only heard of Tina so I did not know what to expect. Nobody mentioned that she was the most awesome person ever! She and I talked for quite awhile about me being a guy in this female dominated book world and she had lots to suggest in the line of future events. Tina is awesome, she was later found dancing in her seat at the concert later that afternoon! She was so cool to meet. I'd love to see her again after reading some of her works! Her book covers are AMAZING!

Oh boy. I can't describe my experiences with this author in a short few sentences. This is me with Jenn (J) Sterling. Don't know who Jenn is? You should be ashamed. Jenn brought the party with her to Nashville and definitely made my few minutes meeting her a very memorable experience. I will never, ever forget meeting Jenn. Haha! Jenn is the bestselling author of The Perfect Game series. I haven't read any of Jenn's works, but after meeting her, I definitely will be in the very near future. I WILL be making it a point to meet Jenn again. Haha!  

Last on the event line was the author I was the most excited to meet, Mrs. KA Tucker. KA is the bestselling author of one of my favorite series, the Causal Enchantment series. I will be doing a series review of it later this week (with giveaway). KA is also the author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series which is huge right now! KA was amazing and so nice to talk to. Coming all the way to Nashville from Canada to be with her fans. We were so fortunate to meet her. 





Check out each author's Goodreads page by clicking on the authors name below!

Cora Carmack          Jay Crownover          Rebecca Donovan          Colleen Hoover  

Heidi McLaughlin          Tina Reber          Jenn Sterling                  KA Tucker

As you can see, the team behind this amazing event did not skimp on the author list! 8 of the biggest names in the business! Seriously, you couldn't throw a stone without hitting 2-3 bestselling, award winning authors. That is seriously impressive. HUGE shout out to Emily and her team at Lalone Marketing for putting this event together.

That being said, the event would not have gone off without a hitch without all the amazing blog sponsors and volunteers who helped make it happen. They did such a great job. Even more exciting, 4 of those volunteers were friends and fellow ST members! The event was blog sponsored by none other than the amazing girls over at GrownupFangirl. You guys have heard all about these ladies before, but I'm going to talk about them again. Amber, Carmen, and Christina were on hand in Nashville and were so awesome to see (again). I had previously met Carmen and Christina when I traveled to Des Moines for AViD in April! These girls have been so awesome to me while starting this blog and Amber can be thanked endlessly for her support since the beginning. I seriously love you guys to death. Ya'll always know how to make this guy feel special!

And as if that wasn't reason enough to be excited, I also got to finally meet another Carmcat, Elizabeth, who volunteered with Rebecca Donovan at the event! Here I am with Beth!

Here are a few more pics of me with the girls!

Me with the amazing and hilarious Christina from GrownupFangirl, Christina is probably my current favorite person on the planet, seriously she's awesome!

Pictured with my "sis", friend, mentor, fellow Carmcat, fellow blogger, storm chasin', readin' fiend and favorite person from Mississippi, the AMAZING Amber from GrownupFangirl! She's such an awesome person!

Me with the beautiful and hilarious Carmen from GrownupFangirl!



Carmen and Christina came all the way from the Kansas City area to be there, nearly 9 hours! They're hardcore!

The Carmcats went out to dinner after the event yesterday evening to celebrate us being in the same town for the first time! Nashville wasn't exactly "close" for any of us, but we still made sure to get together before heading back to North Carolina, Alabama, and Missouri late last night and early this morning!






Be sure to check out the girls from GrownupFangirl by visiting their amazing blog at http://www.grownupfangirl.com/ they work 366 days a year to ensure they have the most awesome book blog out there! Give them some love!

Here's the last of the random pics I have from the day including a picture of the Griffin Peterson performance!

Cora cheesing it up before the Griff concert. We can't take her anywhere without her being CRAZY! Just kidding, you know I love ya Cora!

 

Griffin Peterson and band playing the soundtrack to Colleen Hoover's bestselling novel Maybe Someday!

Overall this was THE BEST author event I have been to to date. The authors were amazing, the fans were great, the convert was spectacular and oh by the way IT WAS IN NASHVILLE!!! Woohoo! Needless to say we were rather exhausted after the 3 hour drive back to Missouri afterwards, but it was well worth it. I know I will be forgetting someone, but huge shout outs to each author, the volunteers, Emily, and all the bloggers I had the great opportunity to meet yesterday! Special shout outs to my best friends Tommy and Hannah for coming with me to this event. Sorry you had to be a pack mule and camera man Tommy, you know I appreciate it bro! Lol. And Hannah, I am so glad you finally got to meet some of these amazing authors I've been telling you about! Much love to all you guys! 

That's all I have to say for now about the Nashville Author Event, but you can check twitter for the hashtag #NashvilleAuthorEvent for some fun posts and pics of the event or you can check out the event Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/591605820924239/ for more awesomeness! 

Coming up tomorrow here at OneGuysGuideToGoodReads I have a release day post for Kallie Ross' newest novel Descent! I am getting ready to start it tonight and am real excited about it. It come to me from the amazing KP and her team at InkSlinger so check back tomorrow around noon for that post! Also be on the look out for some giveaways soon because I have LOTS to give away after yesterday. Have a great week readers and as always, Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Nashville Author Event THIS SATURDAY (Tomorrow)!

Hello readers! Very quick post for you guys! I have recently moved and have been without internet so I have been unable to keep you guys posted on reads and upcoming events and I deeply apologize for that. Usually I would have done a HUGE post about each of the authors I will be meeting at the Nashville Author Event tomorrow (6/7/2014), but due to time constraints, I'm just going to keep this nice and simple and promote the event instead so you guys can come out and meet all the amazing authors! Here's the rundown folks!

Head here for all the info pertaining to this awesome event: http://www.lalonemarketing.com/events/nashville-author-event/

I, along with several members of my support staff will be in attendance tomorrow and would love to meet any and all of my readers! Just holler and I'm sure I'll see you (I'll be the one freaking out over being in the same room as Cora, Colleen, Jay, and KA Tucker)! Lol! 

Also, as many of you will have read before, I am a member of Cora's street team promoting her newest All Lined Up so you guys need to check out my archives to read all about ALU! Also I have written about Colleen Hoover, Jay, and KA so be sure to check those out as well! This is sure to prove to be an exciting event for all. Plus it's free so register yourselves and I will see you there!

Lastly, the amazing girls over at GrownupFangirl are the blog sponsors for this event and as you guys know, these girls are like my blog-sisters and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for all their support over the past few months with this blog so be sure to give the girls a high five (or a hug, they don't bite) when you see them there! I know I will be! They are awesome! Check out their blog with ALL the important info about the event at http://www.grownupfangirl.com/!

Alright, I told you guys this would be short, I apologize for the short notice, but I hope to see many, many, MANY of you there tomorrow! Nashville is an amazing city and you won't regret coming! Until next time, Happy Reading!

PS If anyone remembers, be sure to stop by Cora's table and wish her a happy belated birthday! She celebrate her's this past Wednesday! Much love for the belated birthday girl!

-Ethan

Authors Visiting in Des Moines Review!

As my readers will remember, this past weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel up to Des Moines, Iowa to attend the New Adult panel of this years Authors Visiting in Des Moines event. I know this isn't a book review or anything so I will keep it short and sweet. I just wanted to share about my experiences and show you guys a few pics!

Last week I posted a huge exciting preview to the AViD event, you can see that post By Clicking Here! Three authors were to grace the stage in Des Moines: Jennifer Armentrout, Jay Crownover, and Cora Carmack. Unfortunately due to horrible weather conditions, Jay was unable to attend, but Cora and Jennifer made sure the crowd was still satisfied. As I stated before, the weather was HORRIBLE this past weekend and sadly several people tragically lost their lives in the storms that passed through the Midwest and the South. We traveled 6 hours north to Des Moines from Springfield, Missouri for the event and were very fortunate to not get trapped in any of the horrible weather (although driving home was a mess). Anyways... Here are some pictures of our experience at AViD!

Jennifer L. Armentrout (Left) and Cora Carmack (center) are interviewed by the moderators during the New Adult panel at AViD. They answered a variety of questions pertaining to their histories, writing experiences, and what we can expect in the near future from both of them!

Megan (one of my best friends), Jennifer Armentrout, and I posing for a picture after the panel. Meeting Jennifer was an amazing experience, she is such an amazing author and woman. She definitely gained two HUGE fans here! I am currently reading Jennifer's Lux series and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! Per Cora's recommendation, I will be reading her Covenant series very soon!

And of course, the moment we have all been waiting for. When I FINALLY got to meet the AMAZING Cora Carmack. This was our very first time meeting. As a huge fan of Cora's and a member of her Street Team, it was a great honor to meet Cora in person after having worked closely with her over the past couple of months. She has become a great friend and this experience will always stay special to me!

After a busy day of rubbing shoulders with the literary elite, Megan and I were just going to turn around and head straight back to Springfield. After talking it over, we realized we would probably never be in Des Moines again, so we decided to take a little time to do some sight seeing while we were downtown. Megan and I are both history majors who love anything old. Well, it just so happened we were downtown and only minutes away from what was quite possibly THE most beautiful building I have ever seen: the Iowa State Capital. We spent over an hour walking the grounds and snapping pictures. It was definitely an amazing experience that neither of us will soon forget.









Overall, this trip was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had. As you guys well know, I am a HUGE fan of anything that has to do with literature. I would have never thought in a million years that I would be traveling to meet New York Times Bestselling Authors Cora Carmack and Jennifer Armentrout to hang out in Iowa for the day. We not only got to hang out with them at AViD. We also got to spend a little time with them before and after the event. For a small town guy from nowhere, this was a really big deal. This blogging world has really given me some amazing experiences thus far. I am very excited to see where it takes me next. A huge shout out and thanks to Cora and Jennifer for making Megan and I feel so welcome in your company, we are both very blessed and had a great time! You guys made us feel like old friends! I cannot wait to see you both again! 

Also, a special message to Jay (if you are reading this), we were so bummed that you didn't get to make it. I can only imagine how frustrating it was to be stuck with the weather acting the way it did. I cannot wait to meet you in Nashville next month, don't worry, I'm a hugger as well! See you soon!

Oh yeah, and one more shout out to Megan. Thanks so much for coming with me and dealing with the major freakout I had since I was so excited! You're awesome, I am so glad we got to experience this together, I don't know what I'd do without you. Also, sorry we had to eat McDonald's on the way home. We were in Des Moines, we should have gone somewhere fun... Oh well :D


One more thing I almost forgot! I forgot to mention that I got to met two of the amazing girls behind my "sister blog" GrownUpFangirl at AViD as well! Here I am pictured with Carmen and Christina (Amber, be jealous)! Amber from GrownUpFangirl is one of my amazing blog mentors who has taken me under her wing and showed me the ropes, I owe a lot to her and these ladies for being so awesome! It was a great honor to meet them as well! Check out their amazing book blog at http://www.grownupfangirl.com/!

Alright guys, be sure to be on the lookout for more awesome posts soon here at OneGuysGuidetoGoodReads! Comment below and let me know if you were at AViD as well! I'd love to hear from you! Happy Reading!

-Ethan

Authors Visiting in Des Moines Event This Weekend!

Hello readers! Ethan here, I am currently reading three books at one time right now to have some awesome reviews for you soon, but I wanted to stop by with a little promo for an FREE event that is going on this weekend where you all have a chance to meet 3 amazing authors. Where can I find out more information about this exciting event, you ask? Well, read on my friends!

Authors Visiting in Des Moines, better known as AViD is a program held through the Des Moines Public Library (that's in Iowa for you geographically challenged folks). The programs bring many amazing authors from around the country to Des Moines to speak on their latest works, as well as meet and greet their fans! Click Here To Learn About AViD

This coming Sunday, April 27, 2014. AViD will be hosting a New Adult Panel. As any of my readers will tell you, I am a big fan of the new adult genre. Plus, it just so happens that one of my all time favorite people, the amazing Cora Carmack will be one of the featured authors! The other two featured authors will be the renowned author, Mrs. Jennifer L. Armentrout and the always unexpected and awesome Jay Crownover! Here's a little bit of information about each of the three authors!



Cora Carmack

 
Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Losing It series. 

Visit Cora's Website Here

Jennifer L. Armentrout

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Visit Jennifer's Website Here 

 

Jay Crownover

 

Being native Coloradan is a source of pride if you ask Jay.  She loves all the things her home has to offer, and that is why she set her books in this familiar place. Writing about what she knows is why her stories feature plenty of rock and roll and body modification.

Jay has been a bartender since she was in college, spending over forty hours a week watching interactions between men and women.  This 9 to 5 job offered great insights into relationships - how they start and how they evolve in a social setting.

This cutting-edge author likes to write New Adult novels because she remembers being in her early twenties and thinking she had it all figured out, only to be proven wrong time and time again.  When she looks back, she see's that those years defined who she is today, and, good or bad, those decisions ultimately set her current path.

 Visit Jay's Website Here

Click Here To Learn More About This AViD Event 

Where: Des Moines Public Library (Central Location)

(Click here for library information, location, contact info, parking, etc)

Date: April 20, 2014 (this coming Sunday)

Time: 2:00-4:00PM

Like I said guys, this is a great experience to hear three amazing authors discuss the New Adult genre and what we can expect to see from the genre in the future. This is the first authors event I will be attending since starting this blog, so I am really excited to meet these authors and hopefully let you guys live vicariously through me! I will be coming up from Springfield, MO that morning and will leaving that evening to return to Springfield, but I understand that many of my colleagues in the blogging world will be there and I would love to meet each and every one of you! Please don't be a stranger! 

Another really special part of this event is that it is the first time I will be meeting Miss Cora Carmack in the flesh! As you guys have heard and seen from previous posts, I am a member of Cora's street team promoting her upcoming Rusk University Series starting with All Lined Up releasing on May 13 (check out links in the sidebar). Be prepared for a meeting of epic proportions. 

I will be bringing one of my best friends and One Guys Guide to Good Reads "support staff" member, Megan with me to this event as well. She is also very excited about what the day will hold for us. Like I said before, I hope to see lots of people there and feel free to contact me for more information about the event! Hope to see you all Sunday afternoon!

Until then, Happy Reading!

-Ethan