California Getaway

Hey guys!  I am finally going to give you a recap on my California getaway.  A few months ago I made friends with author Lauren Bird Horowitz, who wrote one of my favorite books of 2015, Shattered Blue!  She is such a great person.  She was having some book events in the area of California where she grew up so she invited us to come out and help her celebrate and help out at one of the events.  My hubby and I came from MN, Ashley @ Socially Awkward Bookworm and her boyfriend (now fiance) came from FL, Kristen Hunt, author of Blonde Eskimo, came from AZ and Zoe Cope, jewelry maker extraordinaire, came from OR.  Zoe has two fantastic jewelry lines: Zoe Cope Jewelry and Birds N Bones Jewelry.

Ethan and I had a long day of travel on Friday, March 3rd.  We live about 45 minutes away from the airport so we left our house super early to get to the airport and get through security.  I’m a very nervous flyer so I feel more comfortable having plenty of time between security and boarding the plane, even if that means sitting and waiting for awhile.

And we had a 3 hour layover in Denver so we did lots of people watching.  Lots of Shattered Blue pictures taken as well.

    

We finally landed in California and met up with Zoe to drive the rental car back to Bird’s family’s guest house where we would all be staying.  The three of us were the last to arrive so it was really great to be able to spend the rest of the day hanging out with everybody!  Bird had our room all decorated with the awesome Supernatural swag that she got for me!  She is also a screenwriter for the CW so she was able to get all of this awesome stuff for Ashley and I. In addition to the swag, she got us these awesome body pillows!  Sam on one side, Dean on the other.  I had to ship everything home and my box just arrived on Monday so I was super excited to get everything.

She also had an awesome sign on our door welcoming us and of course, some awesome socks for me to use for all of our Ninjaottersox group sock Sunday photos!

And Kristen was such a sweetie!  She got us a couple of things too!  She is such an awesome person!  The bag is GINORMOUS and the Dorbz from Guardians of the Galaxy is so cute!

On Saturday we got up early and headed in to San Francisco to go sightseeing.  Our first stop was Alcatraz!  It was one of the coolest things ever!  We just made it to the ferry on time.  It was pretty rainy and foggy out on the water but it made the island that much more eerie.  Bird, Ashley and I had to take our pictures with our matching talisman bracelets and otter rings!

We listened to a fascinating presentation by one of the park rangers about the big escape in 1962.  In the above middle and right photos, they had the cells replicated the way it was when the three people escaped.  They created dummy heads out of concrete and paint to make it look as though someone was sleeping in the bed.  And they used spoons with the tops broken off to dig out through the wall.  So interesting and if you haven’t heard about the escape of ’62, check out this info here!

   

On the ferry on the way back to the mainland, the fog had cleared up and we had some great views of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Despite the rain it was a fantastic day and we saw some incredible things!

After Alcatraz, we spent some time walking around and went to Ghiradelli Square.  We had lunch at a fantastic place called Buena Vista Cafe which is known for the Irish coffee.  We drove through Haight-Ashbury.

On Sunday morning we got up and Bird toured us around the Stanford University campus.  It was gorgeous!  I love all of the palm trees everywhere and the buildings were stunning.

After our stroll around Stanford we headed into Menlo Park and walked around the town a bit before the event at Kepler’s Books that afternoon.  We walked through the farmer’s market and stopped in Feldman’s Books.  It was such a cool bookstore!  There are two rooms and in between them is an outdoor reading patio.  So awesome!  I ended up scoring two older mass market editions for my Outlander collection.

Kepler’s Books is located just down the road so we headed there to set up for the event.

We had all kinds of swag to give out to attendees and Zoe also had a table of her jewelry for sale.  She designed an awesome set of pieces inspired by Shattered Blue so it was really cool to have her there with her jewelry.

From left to right: Zoe, Kristen, Bird (back), and Ashley

Swag table!  Posters, bookmarks, buttons, and stickers!

Zoe Cope Jewelry (see her website for the Shattered Blue collection)

We had a great turnout for the event!  She had a special promotion for middle and high school kids who came to the event could get a free copy of the book.

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It was an incredible event meeting all of these people coming to see Bird talk about her awesome book!  I loved being there and being able to help her out!

That evening we went out for a fabulous Chinese dinner in Palo Alto at Tai Pan.  The atmosphere was awesome and the food was to die for!

On Monday Ethan and I headed back home to MN.  We had such a great time with everyone and we can’t wait until we can all get together again.

3/4 of our Ninjaottersox gang! Ashley (The Comedian), Me (The Eskimo) and Bird (The Author)

Ash and I before the Kepler’s event

Bird and Zoe

Kristen and Bird

And this post would not be complete without a few photos of Ninja, Bird’s adorable and sweet rescue dog!  She is the cutest thing ever and so much fun to play with!

And there were a few swag items that I designed for the Shattered Blue events that didn’t make it in time so Bird sent those to me separately and I got the package on Thursday night!

The tote features one of Noa’s poems from the book.  And of course she had to send me more socks and look at how amazing they are!  Otters! Mermaid! And glow-in-the-dark manatees in space!  Ashley ended up staying longer in California so they got to spend a day in Monterey and went to the aquarium so she got me this awesome otter bookmark!  So cute!

So that is the full recap of our trip!  I am really looking forward to whenever we can all get together again!

Shattered Blue Event Coming Up!

If you are a returning visitor to my blog, you may have seen my big love for Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz before.  I read the book last December and it blew me away!  I loved it so much that I had to own it in every edition available from paperback to MP3 audio.  I’ve also shared the love with friends and family.

Coming up in less than 2 weeks there will be a Shattered Blue event at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, California!  Come by the event and meet the amazing person behind the novel, Lauren Bird Horowitz!  For more event info and to RSVP to this free event, click here!  And if you do attend, you could also see myself and Ashley @ Socially Awkward Bookworm because we will both be there! 🙂

Not going to be in the area for the event but still want a personalized signed copy of the book? There are still 6 more days to sign up for my giveaway and I will get the book signed for you if you win!  (US Only)
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Spotlight On Shattered Blue

Hey guys!  Today I am going to share some awesome stuff with you about one of my new favorite books, Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz.  If you read my blog regularly you have probably seen how much I love this book.  I read this book for the first time in December and was so in love with it that it only took me 2 days to finish it.  I could not put it down!  I gave it a 5 star review, which you can read here!  And right away in January I listened to the audiobook.  I often have a hard time of finding good audiobooks because of narrators I don’t like, but I really enjoyed the narration of Shattered Blue.

I loved this book so much that I bought it in every format available which you can find at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Audible.  In case you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of this book today!  You will love it 🙂

Formats available are: Paperback, MP3, CD, Kindle, and Audible

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Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz

Synopsis:
For Noa and Callum, being together is dangerous, even deadly. From the start, sixteen-year-old Noa senses that the mysterious transfer student to her Monterey boarding school is different. Callum unnerves and intrigues her, and even as she struggles through family tragedy, she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Soon they are bound by his deepest secret: Callum is Fae, banished from another world after a loss hauntingly similar to her own.

But in Noa’s world, Callum needs a special human energy, Light, to survive; his body steals it through touch—or a kiss. And Callum’s not the only Fae on the hunt. When Callum is taken, Noa must decide: Will she sacrifice everything to save him? Even if it means learning their love may not be what she thought?

About Lauren:

Lauren – or ‘Bird’ as she is often known – is a screenwriter and novelist lucky enough to call both Los Angeles and Kauai home. Bird also counts herself lucky that writing exists as a profession—how else could she share the crazy, fantastic worlds in her head? Bird studied writing at Harvard University with novelist Jamaica Kincaid, where she won several prizes including the Edward Eager Memorial Prize for fiction. She’s a proud member of the Writers Guild of America.

Lauren believes strongly in dog rescue organizations, whom she has to thank for her beloved Ninja. Ninja was saved by Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in Washington DC. To find out more, please visit http://www.luckydoganimalrescure.org.

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Check out Bird’s website where you can find more info about Shattered Blue and read other beautiful things that she has written!

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

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I have had the pleasure of getting to know the author for the past couple of months and she is such an awesome person.  In March, there will be an event for Shattered Blue in California and I am lucky enough to get to attend this!  If you live in the San Francisco/San Jose area, you should come see Bird at Keplers’ Books and Magazines in Menlo Park!  Click on the poster for more event info and RSVP!  Also check out the Facebook event page!

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And for the month of February, Bird is having another amazing giveaway!  For more information about the giveaway, check out this page!

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Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz

Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz

Published September 15th 2015 by Skyscape

336 Pages

Goodreads Summary: For Noa and Callum, being together is dangerous, even deadly. From the start, sixteen-year-old Noa senses that the mysterious transfer student to her Monterey boarding school is different. Callum unnerves and intrigues her, and even as she struggles through family tragedy, she’s irresistibly drawn to him. Soon they are bound by his deepest secret: Callum is Fae, banished from another world after a loss hauntingly similar to her own.

But in Noa’s world, Callum needs a special human energy, Light, to survive; his body steals it through touch—or a kiss. And Callum’s not the only Fae on the hunt. When Callum is taken, Noa must decide: Will she sacrifice everything to save him? Even if it means learning their love may not be what she thought?

Review: I had been seeing this book around and it sounded really good.  When I started reading it it was a little bit slow but the build up of Noa’s character was perfect.  She writes beautiful poetry, fills journals of it but keeps it a secret from everyone.  She lost her older sister Isla in an accident a few months ago that she feels was her fault.  Her little sister Sasha follows her every move and they even sleep in the same bed to be close to each other.  Noa’s world completely changes when she meets Callum.  The sparks between them are undeniable and literally, Noa sees a flash of light when they first touch.

One of my favorite things about this book is the originality of the fae lore.  I haven’t read a lot about fae and faeries but the characteristics and realm of the fae in this book are something I’ve never seen.  There are Blue, Red, Green and Clear fae.  Blue fae can manipulate the elemental structure of living things.  Red fae can read minds.  Green fae can manipulate people’s thoughts and emotions.  Clear fae don’t have any powers unless they can channel a blue, red or green fae.  Things are getting really interesting and then Judah enters.  Judah is Callum’s younger brother.  Everything is up in the air now that he is here.  There are so many twists involving all of the main characters.  This book is thrilling and fascinating.  I love Noa, Callum and Judah.  I really can’t wait to see what happens next in book 2 because there was quite a cliffhanger at the end.

5 Stars

I highly recommend this book to YA fantasy lovers.  And the good news for you if you’re interested, the Kindle book is only $3.99!  And if you end up reading the book, help spread the word so the publishers will publish book 2!  The author has a great publicity campaign going on right now that you can see here.

Here are a few snippets of the poems that Noa writes (both photos are from the author’s Goodies page)