Author Appreciation Week (March 16, 2010)

I am so excited to be participating in 'Author Appreciation Week'!  Heidi Kling, author of the highly anticipated book Sea, came up with this wonderful idea!  You may be asking, "What do you have to do to participate?"  Well, there are no set guidelines, just write a blog post everyday this week that spotlights the authors that you appreciate!  You can spotlight as many as you want each day.  If you would like to join in this week full of author love, then stop by Heidi's site (Click Here) and get more info, avatars, and graphics that you can use in your posts.  I am planning on spotlighting two to three authors a day.  In truth, I appreciate all authors!  I admire what they do and aspire to do it myself.  But unfortunately, I would be blogging forever, so I will limit it to some of the authors that have written stories that have touched me in some way, or made a strong impression on me.


I really appreciate... Suzanne Collins


She is the author of the INSANELY popular Hunger Games Trilogy as well as The Underland Chronciles, and a picture book titled When Charlie McButton Lost Power.  I am a huge fan of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  Both books are in my top ten reads of ALL-TIME!  She created such a vivid world in these books that enabled me, as a reader, to completely envision it in my mind.  I felt like I knew exaclty what the arena looked like, how the characters looked, and this is what connects me to a story!   I felt like I was inside of it (my favorite kind of book!).  I am anxiously awaiting Mockingjay, which is the final book in this incredible series.  It is due for release on August 24, 2010!  If you would like to find out more about Suzanne Collins or her books click here.  This will take you to her official website.  

I really appreciate... Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

(Margaret Stohl, Me, and Kami Garcia at a booksigning event in Charlotte, NC)

These extremely talented ladies are the co-authors of Beautiful Creatures.  This book took my breath away!  It is the first book in the Caster Chronicles Series.  I had the pleasure of meeting the authors at a book signing event in January.  They were SO nice!  After reading the book you can hardly believe that this is a debut novel.  It is hauntingly beautiful, epic, and compelling, with a good dose of southern charm to boot!  A definite stay up all night kinda book!!  I  cannot wait for the next in this series which is titled Beautiful Darkness and is scheduled for release on October 26, 2010.  If you would like to learn more about Kami and Margaret or The Caster Chronicle Series click on the links below!

Official Beautiful Creatures Website 
Some Loves Are Cursed (Little Brown Official BC Site)
Caster Girls (Fansite for BC) 

*There are so many wonderful authors out there in the YA genre!  I look forward to spotlighting some of my favorites this week.  Join in the fun and show your favorite authors how much their hard work means to you!