Barbara Vey Readers Luncheon

Me and Mary Buckham with her book (which she signed for me) and the "shapeshifter" that she gifted me with.

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Barbara Vey Readers Luncheon in Milwaukee.  I was surprised at what a big event this was - there were 60 authors in attendance including some big names like Debbie Macomber (who was the keynote speaker and was quite funny) and Gena Showalter.  There were over 400 attendees as well, so the place was pretty packed!

I was sitting with author Mary Buckham, who writes the Invisible Recruits, a fun urban fantasy series.  She has also written several books on writing, and I really enjoyed talking to her about that aspect of her career - she had some fascinating insights on what publishers are looking for (or at least on their list of "don't"s - she says they're much better about telling authors what they don't want than they are about telling them what they do want!).  I just find the publishing trends so interesting!

Mary has also teamed up with Dianna Love and they wrote a YA series together under the pen name Micah Caida.  I read the first book in that series and really loved it!  (My review will be coming soon.)

I was hoping to have more time to spend at the book signing at the end of the luncheon, but I had to leave to go to my niece's birthday party (and the check-out line was CRAZY long).   So, I only ended up with a few signed books.  Next year I'll definitely leave myself more time at the end.  

I got TONS of books from the event (to see all of them, see my Sunday Post) - some of them aren't genres I normally read, but it might be nice to expand my horizons a bit! I think I'll be hosting a giveaway soon so that I can share the wealth with my awesome readers!