Upcoming Author Events for SoCal Book Lovers + Giveaway

The Authors are ROCKSTARS! gals are super excited about a couple of upcoming events for Southern California book lovers! We'll be covering the first-ever Passion & Prose conference with a special Road Trip edition of the podcast.

And you should join us there!

Presented by Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, together with Adventures by the Book, the conference takes place Saturday, February 25, 2012, from 9:00am to 3:30pm at the Westin Long Beach, 333 East Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802. Attendance is limited to the first 450 readers who register.

Passion & Prose is a ticketed event ($125) that includes a breakfast buffet meet and greet with the authors, speed dating (an interactive author activity), and lunch with one author at each table. The day also features a Young Adult author panel, three keynote speakers, multiple book buying and signing opportunities, free goodie bags to all participants, and an opportunity drawing to benefit WriteGirl, a non-profit organization that promotes creativity and self-expression through writing to empower girls.

Does that sound amazing, or what?

We are pleased to offer our listeners the chance to win a FREE PASS to this exciting event! Complete the following form for your chance to win.

Edit: Form removed. Contest is over!

This contest is open internationally, but you are responsible for your own travel expenses. Authors are ROCKSTARS! is providing one Passion & Prose pass (a $125 value) only. We will announce the winner on February 6th.

And that's not all! Even if you don't win the free pass to Passion & Prose, we have something special for you. When you register to attend the Passion & Prose conference, simply enter referral code ROCKSTAR at checkout to receive $25 off the price of admission!

 Also, from January 1-February 14, Passion & Prose is offering a special discounted Mother-Daughter registration promotion ($200 per couple).

Edit 2/9/12: Due to changes to the Passion & Prose event structure, they are no longer able to offer any discount on admission.

Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot is one of the keynote speakers, and you definitely don't want to miss her. The YA panel will feature Andrea Cremer, Sarah Wilson Etienne, Marie Lu, Beth Revis, and Jessica Spotswood, and is sponsored by Penguin Young Adult as part of the Breathless Reads tour.

Speaking of which... Authors are ROCKSTARS! will be also covering the Breathless Reads tour stop at the Once Upon a Time bookstore in Montrose, CA, on Friday, February 24th. We can't wait! Will we see you there?

Check the full tour schedule to see if there's a stop in your area:

• February 15^th Anderson’s Bookshop Naperville, IL
• February 16^th Politics and Prose Bethesda, MD
• February 17^th Books of Wonder New York, NY
• February 18^th Towne Center Book and Café Collegeville, PA
• February 19^th The Doylestown Bookshop Doylestown, PA
• February 21^st Little Shop of Stories Decatur, GA
• February 22^nd Blue Willow Bookshop Houston, TX
• February 23^rd Barnes & Noble Frisco Frisco, TX
• February 24^th Once Upon A Time Montrose, CA
• February 25^th Passion and Prose Conference Long Beach, CA

We hope to see you in Montrose or Long Beach next month! As always, if you have questions for any of these fabulous authors, leave us a comment and we'll ask on your behalf.

Gene Luen Yang: Special Edition

We here at Authors are ROCKSTARS! are pretty big fans of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Yeah, we're hugging on an adorable Appa plushie in that photo. It's okay to be jealous!)

So you can imagine our elation at the opportunity to chat with Gene Luen Yang, author of the new graphic novel, Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part 1, which picks up right where the original series left off and continues the story in an amazing way. It's seriously awesome!

In addition to being a super talented, award-winning author and artist, Gene is quite possibly one of the nicest guys ever, and has such great insights. We had a blast discussing his perspective on diversity in fiction and the media, how he got started in creating graphic novels, and, of course... the whereabouts of Zuko's mom. Dun dun dunnnn! (spoiler: the truth cannot yet be revealed, of course!)

If you're an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, we hope you'll enjoy listening to this episode of the podcast as much as we enjoyed recording it. We even kick off this podcast in an extra special way. It's pretty epic. And if you're wondering what this whole Airbender thing is all about... what are you waiting for?? Go watch the show! Then run out and get the graphic novel. And then come back and listen to this interview.

Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part 1, is published by Dark Horse Books. Look for it in comic stores on January 25th, and in bookstores everywhere on February 7th. Learn more about Gene Yang at his website.

Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Avatar: The Last Airbender theme song © The Track Team. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes for more awesome author interviews.

Andrea Cremer: Road Trip Edition

Gorgeous and talented.. Andrea Cremer!

Folks, have we got a show for you today. Don't always just love how comedians say that? Well, I'm no comedian, but seriously, we sot down with one fabulous ROCKSTAR author on our first "Road Trip" edition of 2012. It's New York Times Bestselling author ANDREA CREMER!

This is our second time chatting with Ms. Cremer. We got to meet her last summer at the book launch for Wolfsbane along with Kiersten White and Stephanie Perkins. When we heard she was going to be back in Southern California, we jumped at the chance to speak with her again. This time, we opened up the floor to your questions and she had some fun answers for you guys. We also had an extra special surprise guest who has known Andrea his entire life. Dun dun dun! What juicy secrets will he reveal? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out!

Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3.

Before I sign off, I guess I better announce the winners of our giveaway! Andrea signed 3 posters for us, so 3 of our lucky listeners are walking away with prizes. Our "grand prize winner" of an Authors are ROCKSTARS! t-shirt and poster is Kristin. Jana and Janiera also win signed posters. Congrats ladies and thanks for the awesome questions.

Well, that's all for now, but stay tuned because we have some awesome interviews (and giveaways) coming up. ;o) To keep in the know, be sure to follow us on Twitter at @AuthorsROCK.

Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss.Be sure to subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! via iTunes.

Andrea Cremer Interview: Submit Your Questions!

Are you a fan of Andrea Cremer? Did you just DIE over the sheer awesomeness of Bloodrose?

Well, we're interviewing Andrea at her tour stop at the Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach on January 11th. And we'd be happy to ask her YOUR questions!

So if you've got something you'd like to ask Andrea, submit your question in the comments by January 10th, and we will do our best to ask on your behalf.

Plus we'll enter you in a giveaway to win an "Authors are ROCKSTARS!" t-shirt and try to get something signed for you by Ms. Cremer! Just include your name & twitter ID (so you don't have to publicly share your e-mail address). If you don't have Twitter, please include your e-mail so we can reach you.

So leave a comment and ask away! We'll try to include as many listener questions as we can on the program.

January Podcast: Tahereh Mafi

How lucky are we?! We got to interview Tahereh Mafi, author of the much buzzed about new dystopian novel, Shatter Me. And believe us, it's worthy of the buzz! We loved it, and we were thrilled to get a chance to sit down and chat with Tahereh about her fantastic debut novel. She talks about herself as a reader and writer, using social media as an author, and a potential theme song for her main character.

Also in this episode, we discuss our book picks of the month (Unearthly and Hallowed, by Cynthia Hand, and Ditched, by Robin Mellom), talk about what's coming up next on the podcast, and wish you all a very happy 2012.

This time around, we got to record the beginning and end of the show together, which doesn't always happen. Since we're both busy moms, we usually end up recording separately and editing the files together. But when we record together, it's SUPER FUN. (Meaning, we say "SUPER FUN" about a million times.)

Please be sure to let us know what you think, and show some love for the fabulous Tahereh Mafi in the comments! We love to hear from you guys.


Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3. Or subscribe on iTunes!

Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Our song of the month is If I Was, by David Christopher. Be sure to subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! via iTunes.