Colleen Hoover and Abbi Glines Signing Recap + Giveaway!

On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend Colleen Hoover and Abbi Glines' signing in Fairhope, Alabama. I was so excited to go! I've only very recently become a fan of both authors; I read my first book by Abbi a couple of weeks ago and my first by Colleen last week. In fact, I bought Slammed and Point of Retreat just last week on a whim, before I even knew she would be in town! Needless to say, I thought it was quite funny that things happened in such a way. :)

 Normally I bring a notebook and take notes during signings, but I was forgetful and didn't do that this time! So I have to work off of memory, which means this is going to be short. :)

The event was loosely structured as an informal question and answer session. Attendees simply raised their hands and the authors indicted who could speak. Questions ranged from very specific about each authors books to general. Having read only one book from each author, I was a little out of my league on a good number of the questions!

Abbi told us the absolutely crazy number of books she has coming out in the next six months--I want to say it was almost one every month--and joked that that's what happens when you have two different publishers. She also told us that when she sits down to write her first draft of a book, it generally takes about seven days. Colleen told us about her upcoming books, which definitely aren't as numerous, and talked about how her stories tend to get a life of their own. She says she plans a plot, but generally her characters make other decisions. She said it takes her about four months to write a book, though a lot of that time is spent just thinking about the book, rather than writing.

Another thing I they talked about that I loved was their character's names. Colleen didn't have a specific way she found names, but she did talked about when she was writing Slammed how she named Layken's little brother Kel--which is her son's name--with the expectation that no one would ever read the book. Abbi talked about how she's always listening to parents calling for their children, and if she hears a name she likes, she stores it in her phone.

They also discussed plagiarism scandals and the new adult genre! And then they signed books! :)

Now, here's what I'm sure you're here for. I picked up a signed copy of Abbi Glines' Fallen Too Far to give away to one lucky reader! The giveaway will run for one month, meaning it ends on August 22, and is US only. The winner will be notified via the email address used by Rafflecopter and will have 48 hours to respond.

a Rafflecopter giveaway