I had the opportunity to attend not one but two book signings for Shattered Souls, debut Young Adult novel by Mary Lindsey. At the first signing at Blue Willow Books in Houston, where I was able to meet some awesome local bloggers: Christin of Portrait of a Book, Amy of Word Lust, Kristin of Kristin Creative, and Michelle of Windowpane Memoirs, I was shopping for my blogging Secret Santa and I also didn't have my camera. Soooo, I thought it only fair to attend a second book signing today at Katy Budget Books. Plus, a friend from the library asked if I could get her a copy, too, so how could I not?
(Note: This post is very photo-centic just to warn those with slow browsers.)
(Gorgeous, right?)
Here's an up-close-and-personal picture of the books and the bookmarks are below.
While we were waiting on a very special guest (Mary's dear mom-in-law), she offered everyone fresh baked cookies. She was very insistent on everyone having a nice snack...
So insistent that she had some professional advertisers model with the cookies. Let me tell you these girls knew how to sell. I should know since I sampled two cookies... then again, I did skip lunch.
After her special guest arrived, Mary went on to explain how the cover of Shattered Souls was selected. I had no idea how lengthy a process it could be, and it was definitely enlightening for all the writers in the crowd. But the final result was just beautiful, so it's definitely worth it in the end.
The one feature about the cover that did remain present from the original cover design to the final design was a gorgeous origami rose. When you look at the cover in its entirety, you'll see the rose on the back cover right where Mary's pointing.
Here's a closer picture of the rose, and I'm just amazed at the intricacy.
Mary then showed her second revision of Shattered Souls after receiving it back along with a 15-page letter from the editor. 15 pages... wow, that's just incredible.
All the notes were color-coded with three different tabs: Red tabs were where an entirely new scene needed to be added, Yellow tabs were liked but needed to be rewritten or moved, and Blue tabs were liked but might have needed to be moved. Needless to say, the writing process is an intense and ever-editing one.
Following some questions, Mary went into signing the books. While there was a smaller crowd at this signing than was at Blue Willow Books (that was the FIRST signing following the release date), it allowed Mary to have more time to visit with her readers. I even had the chance to visit with her family who was right there with her at both signings.
I regret not getting a shot of the whole family, but here's a nice one of her daughter, Hannah. When your teenagers attend your book signings, you know there's a lot of family dedication and support.
Mary was just awesome while we were chatting (and even after I was insistent that she read a bit from Shattered Souls). She is definitely a wonderful person as well as an author, and I'm going to make sure we get Shattered Souls for my library. Thanks, Mary, for bringing a great new YA novel to the industry!
Now, everyone, go check it out!
Find Shattered Souls at:
Independent Bookstores
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