Last month I attended the Laini Talor reading/signing event for Daughter of Smoke and Bone at the fantastic Boulder Book Store.It was great hearing Laini talk about her book, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, which I loved. I found it interesting that she traveled to Prague to research another story about vampires, and ended up using that experience for Daughter of Smoke & Bone. She was originally thinking of setting it in New York or Florence. She also read a few passages which showed her protagonist Karou's personality while also introducing us a little to the magic of the story and the hierarchy of wishes... enough of a tease to make me want to start reading immediately!
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| Laini Taylor prepping us for the passage she read from Daughter of Smoke and Bone. |
After the reading, she opened up to questions from the audience. I really enjoyed learning that she's a bit of a perfectionist (like me) and how she learned to work with her brain - knowing her strengths and weaknesses. She shared that while writing, she keeps the manuscript open on one side of the screen, and next to it, another document that she allows herself to write freely. When she described this I was nodding like an idiot because that's how I work! I'm not a writer, but for my job I have to write test and validation reports. I usually have the report open on one side and a document open next to it where I keep notes, ideas, and draft paragraphs/sections. I've never known anyone else to do this (but I've never really asked so maybe it's more common than I think)! I really like learning how authors approach the writing process so I just ate up this information. She also shared that she doesn't usually follow an outline, and that she loves revising but hates first drafts (me too!).
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| Clementine, Laini Taylor, and me :) |
Afterwards, I had 2 copies (yes... two, one for me and one for one of my lovely readers!) of Daughter of Smoke & Bone signed, and also a paperback copy of Lips Touch, which is illustrated by her husband Jim Di Bartolo, who also signed my copy! Since I was one of the last ones in line, I was fortunate to chat with them all for a bit. It was great meeting Laini and her family, they are all so warm and friendly, and her daughter Clementine is just adorable! Oh, and I just love Laini's pink hair - I wish I was that bold!
I feel sooooo lucky to have been able to meet Laini Taylor. I wish I had been able to read Daughter of Smoke & Bone beforehand so I could have asked her more questions about the incredible world she created and her characters. I finished it yesterday and I'm still reeling! I'm drafting my review and I'm just at a loss right now on how to use words to describe my love for the story, the world she built, and the characters. Seriously.
I'm sharing my love for this book by giving one of my readers a signed copy of Daughter of Smoke & Bone! I feel torn about this, and I haven't done this in a while, but I am requiring that entrants are followers. I'm so thankful to each of you, for making my blogging experience so incredible, and I want to gift this book to one of you. This is easily one of my favorite reads of 2011, and is proudly displayed on my favorites bookshelf. I'm so excited to share it!
To enter, click "read more" and fill out the Rafflecopter:
