Where I Actually Leave The House
Feature where I post about random places I've been which focuses on places with books, conventions, and other random odds and ends with oodles of pictures, misc. madness, and fun (for me anyway!)
Kim Harrison Book Signing in Tampa, FL 2014
Yes, this was 2014, so I'm ridiculously late at making this post. But...life happens and I procrastinate. If you follow my blog you may have noticed that The Hollows by Kim Harrison is my favorite book series.
There are thirteen books in this series, and one extra featuring short stories from the series, 'Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond', and of course a guidebook, 'The Hollows Insider.' I came into the series relatively late, where I only had a four year wait before the series completion.
I had sent off to the author for some book extras, but never had the chance to meet her. She was never near me for a book signing. And then finally, for the last book of the series, she announced she was coming to both Orlando AND Tampa, both a little over an hour away from me. I knew I had to meet her or else I'd spend life regretting it. We decided on Tampa since it is easier to get to, with my mom driving and my best friend in tow.
It was held at Barnes N' Nobles. Ours shut down years ago here, so we made sure to come early and visit their cafe so we could eat some of their Pumpkin cheesecake (from the cheesecake factory) that we remembered so well. The bookstore was great - neat kids section especially. All these were taken with my crappy cell phone camera, but I took some shots I will put up later when showing B&N as a bookstore.
Here is one freebie I got - a free bookmark from the series. I also received a bus token. We sadly didn't win the tote bag, but I ended up getting one for Christmas anyway in December from my best friend when she won a contest.
Listening to Kim Harrison was fun - she has a great sense of humor and enjoyed answering fans questions. She said that now Al has become her favorite character, how hard it was but necessary in her mind about Kisten, and about Rachel and her relationship with Ivy.
A funny thing happened as well - this bizarre woman was in the crowd and kept making noises with her book bag that distracted everyone. Then she asked Kim questions about a series that clearly wasn't the Hollows. When Kim kept acting confused and telling her she must be mistaken, the woman started arguing with Kim and kept insisting. It took awhile for the woman to quiet down and believe the audience AND the author that she was mistaken and was thinking about another series. Since it was set in St. Louis, we were thinking she meant the Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake series.
I didn't personally ask any questions because I don't go that way - plus nothing was coming to mind anyway. As part of the giveaway tokens, Kim was allowing free tokens to be given (which my friend and I really wanted) if you donated canned tomatoes. This was done for a food charity drive. They said on facebook that since this B&N had such a small space they would not be doing the can drive at this location, so she would be giving away tokens without donations. Because of this , we didn't bring cans. When we got there and saw there was a table set up and cans donated, we explained the situation to the assistant who allowed us to have a token.
Of course meeting Kim was a delight. I didn't take too much time but gushed about her books to her and told her that Al was my favorite character as well. I was wearing The Hollows T-shirt I bought from the tour.
I take horrible pictures, but this was still a fun moment. Besides meeting Kim Harrison, this was my first official book signing with an author other than a movie convention.
The 13th book, 'The Witch with No Name'
The Tour T-Shirt
Finally, the group picture for all who wore their T-Shirts for the event!
