Category: Book Events and Tours

Cookbook Updates: Prairie Fox Bookstore Event and Goodreads Choice Awards

Posted October 31, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 5 Comments

 

 

Hi, everybody! Happy Halloween! Our November menu starts tomorrow, but before that kicks off, I have two pieces of exciting news to share about my cookbook, A Literary Tea Party:

  • First off, just a reminder that I’ll be in Ottawa, IL on November 17th at Prairie Fox Books for a book signing. There will be fun giveaways, and I’m bringing treats from the cookbook to share! I’ll also be there again in late spring/early summer to do a cooking demo for the grand opening of their new cafe. No exact date set for the second event yet, but I’ll let you know when it’s decided.
  • Second, my cookbook has been nominated for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards!! 😀 😀 😀 Every year, Goodreads.com picks 15 newly published books in 20 different categories and has 3 rounds of voting to determine the winner in each category. If you would like to vote for my book, you can access the Food & Cookbooks category by clicking here (you’ll need to create a Goodreads account in order to vote, if you don’t already have one). I truly appreciate your support. Seeing my book alongside those of Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis is mindblowing. To be honest, it doesn’t feel real! I’ll know by Nov. 6th if I qualify for the next round of voting. Fingers crossed! ?

 

See you all back here tomorrow for our first Nov. recipe!
Thanks again for your support!

 

Giveaway Deadline and Some Changes to the Tuesday Post Schedule

Posted June 19, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Blogging, Book Events and Tours / 6 Comments

 

 

Today is the last day to submit entries to my cookbook giveaway! The official end time is 11:59 pm Central Time. Be sure to get your entries in ASAP for a chance to win a signed copy of my new cookbook, A Literary Tea Party, and a Tea with Tolkien mug!

 

I LOVE the mugs. One is green and says “Tea with Tolkien” and the other is blue and says “Lattes with Lewis”! 😀

 

As many of you have heard from my posts here on the blog and on social media, I’ve been working hard to get the word out about my book. However, there’s a lot of other new exciting things going on as well! First off, we’re moving! We’re currently in the process of packing and house hunting—with the hope that we’ll be tucked away in our new home before the end of the summer. We’re very excited about this new change for our family and can’t wait to find a new place.

We also have ANOTHER new and exciting thing in the works! The timing isn’t quite right to reveal the details yet, but I’m hoping to spill the beans some time in July. 😉

All that being said, I’m having trouble keeping up with my normal post schedule. And I’ve been just AWFUL at keeping up with blog comments. I’ve tried to work ahead as much as possible, but the fast pace in conjunction with my hectic schedule has created confusion and mix ups (some of you may remember two weeks ago when my Vulcan Spice tea post published a week early…before my Star Trek menu even started! Eek!!!). I was already considering parring down my Tuesday posts, but the Vulcan Spice mix up made it clear that I REALLY needed to.

For the next several months, I’m putting all my regular Tuesday posts on hold (Top Ten Tuesday linkups, reading kits, and tea premieres). I can’t give an exact end time, but it will go at least until the start of October. However, there WILL be lots of new book updates, so I’ll share those on Tuesdays as they occur. Of course, my recipe posts will continue to publish every Thursday as usual.

 

I’ll see you all on Thursday for my next Star Trek recipe.
It’s a fun one, and I’m happy to say the Little Mister and I are both huge fans of it! 🙂

 

Book Release Awesomeness: Guest Posts, Interviews, & Events for My New Book! Plus, How to Schedule an Event Near You! :D

Posted June 12, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 11 Comments

 

 

My brand new cookbook, A Literary Tea Party, came out last Tuesday!!! * cue wild flailing and dancing *

I’ve been doing lots of book promotions and event planning the past few weeks, so this is the first time I’ve had a chance to talk about it on the blog. There’s LOTS to tell you! Here’s what’s been going on:

  • Sara LeTourneau Guest Post. Sara was kind enough to write the intro for my cookbook AND invite me to write a guest post for her blog the week it came out! Since the cookbook focuses on tea party recipes, I decided to write a post with tea party planning tips. Swing by Sara’s blog and check it out!
  • Paperfury Cake Recipe for A Thousand Perfect Notes. Paperfury’s debut novel came out just two days after my cookbook, so we teamed up to write a post for her blog! Everyone knows she has a passion for cake, and she couldn’t resist sneaking one into the pages of her book: chocolate almond date cake. I developed a recipe for it, and she shared it on her blog, along with info about both our books. Many thanks, Cait! 🙂
  • Podcast Interview with DIY MFA. I am honored to have been a guest on Gabriela’s podcast for the DIY MFA writer’s site, where she interviews authors about their books and writing lives. It’s so fun and informative–I’ve been a huge fan for ages! Since my interview hasn’t come out yet, I don’t have a direct link to it, but I’ll share one as soon as it’s available. Keep an eye out!
  • My First Author Event! This past weekend, we held an author meet ‘n greet and book signing at the Streator Public Library in Illinois. It was my very first author event, so I was super excited! It was great to be able to do it in my home town, at the library I grew up using. I literally went around grabbing books and telling my husband, “This is the first copy of the The Hobbit I ever read! This was where I first read Phantom of the Opera!” Many thanks to the library for hosting and to everyone who attended. It was so great to see you all! 🙂

 

Me at the Streator Library!

 

Want Me to Visit Your Local Library, Bookstore, or School? Let’s Make It Happen!

I’ve had some people contact me about scheduling an author event in their town, which is SO flattering! I’ve got several potential appearances in the works, and I wanted to let you all know what to do if you want to schedule one too:

  • First, contact the location you’d like me to visit and let them know you’re interested in having me come by. Some locations don’t do author events, so it’s always good to check. Plus, libraries and bookstores are always more interested in inviting authors if their patrons specifically request them.
  • If they’re interested in hosting an event, send me an email here!
  • I’ll send them our press release, and my publicist and I can start talking with them about scheduling! 😀
  • NOTE: Since I live in the Midwest, visiting locations in this region shouldn’t be a problem. For anything further away, I’ll have to get the ok from my publisher, since they’ll be covering transportation and accommodation. However, if I’m not able to visit your town, we’ve got lots of other options available! We can schedule a radio or podcast interview, or you can let me know of nearby book festivals that my publisher might already plan on attending. We’ll do everything we can to make it work!

 

Thank you all for your continued support of my blog and book. I couldn’t do this without you guys! 😀

 

#LiteraryTeaPartyTime Giveaway: Share Pics of My Recipes for a Chance to Win a Copy of My Cookbook!

Posted May 1, 2018 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 5 Comments

 

 

Wanna hear something crazy? My cookbook is coming out next month! It’s been a long, wonderful, crazy road, and soon my beautiful book baby with the blue scalloped cover will make its debut. It’s scary to send it out into the world, but it’s also wildly exhilarating. I’m an AUTHOR…that’s so…I just…what even? For someone who writes for a living, I can’t seem to string together a sentence that adequately expresses how I feel. All I can say is that it’s some kind of bottomless joy and I NEED to share it!

My editor and I first started discussing giveaways as we finished tweaking the final draft of the book. To be honest, some aspects of the promotion process seem kinda terrifying…like going out into the world IN PERSON and talking to REAL PEOPLE about my book to their FACES. Excuse me while I melt in terror at the thought #IntrovertLife. However, giveaways make me super excited. I love participating in them, so hosting one of my own is a special treat. What’s not to love? Someone gets my book for FREE, and I can’t wait to see all the entries, no matter how difficult choosing between them will be.

So let’s get started! 😀

ENTRY GUIDELINES

  • HOW TO ENTER: 
    • I’ve selected 3 recipes from my cookbook and shared links to the instructions below. Make 1 of these recipes and share a photo of it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+ with the hashtag #LiteraryTeaPartyTime.
    • The post must include the hashtag, the name of the recipe, and a link to this giveaway post. I’ll run a search of the hashtag on each platform regularly, but you can also tag me in your post to be sure I see it right away. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ (but not Instagram).
    • Each person is allowed to submit 1 entry per recipe for a total of 3 possible entries per person.
    • The giveaway is open to all countries.
  • PHOTOS WILL BE JUDGED ON THE FOLLOWING:
    • Accuracy of the Recipe. The recipe must be made correctly.
    • Quality of the Photograph. You don’t need fancy equipment, but the photograph does need to be in focus, have adequate lighting, and prominently feature the food from the recipe.
    • Creativity. Flex that left brain! Your photo could be a closeup on a fun plate, a painstakingly staged food arrangement, an action shot of you chowing down, etc. Don’t be afraid to have fun!
  • ENTRY DEADLINE: June 5th, 2018 (the day my book comes out!) EDIT: We’ve extended the deadline for 2 weeks to allow early reviewers a chance to participate. The new deadline is now June 19th! 🙂

 

ENTRY RECIPES

Beorn’s Honey Nut Banana Bread from The Hobbit

Cracked China Deviled Eggs from The Wizard of Oz

Queen of Hearts’ Painted Rose Cupcakes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 

PRIZES

Every good tea deserves a beautiful cup to serve it in, right? That’s why in addition to a free copy of A Literary Tea Party, we’re also offering two custom mugs as prizes, compliments of Kaitlyn from the blog and Etsy store Tea with Tolkien. One mug is green and says “Tea with Tolkien,” and the other is blue and says “Lattes with Lewis.” I absolutely love them and am sorely tempted to keep them for myself. They’re sturdy and beautiful with rich colors, and something about them just says FILL ME WITH A HOT BEVERAGE RIGHT NOW PLEASE! 🙂

1st PRIZE: A free SIGNED (!!!) copy of A Literary Tea Party and a mug from the Tea with Tolkien store

2nd PRIZE: A mug from the Tea with Tolkien store and a “Hobbit at Heart” Sticker

 

Here we go, folks! Ready…Set…#LiteraryTeaPartyTime! 🙂

I Interviewed Cait from Paper Fury about her Debut Novel: A Thousand Perfect Notes!

Posted November 28, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 3 Comments

 

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Hey, folks! 🙂 I’m sure many of you are familiar with Cait, the brilliant mind behind Paper Fury. Her passionate book reviews, tongue-in-cheek writing advice, and love of cake have graced the blogosphere for 6 years and earned her the adoration of readers worldwide.

I’ve been following her blog ever since I started my own 4 years ago, and I instantly loved its energetic tone and distinctive voice. So when she recently announced that her debut novel, A Thousand Perfect Notes, will be published in June 2018, I was thrilled and had so many questions! I was sure many of my readers would feel the same, so I asked Cait for an interview…and she said YES! 😀 😀 😀

Cait has revealed a few details about the book on her blog, but much of the story is still a closely guarded secret (even the cover art). A little more will be revealed closer to the print date, but right now we know that A Thousand Perfect Notes is the story of Beck, whose mother forces him to play piano for hours and hours every day, meeting any hint of rebellion with abuse. Beck longs to compose his own music but lives in fear of his mother, until he meets a girl named August who opens his eyes to new possibilities.

Of course, even that tiny taste of the story is powerful, but Cait has expressed her desire to avoid revealing too much too soon.

That in mind, I chose seven questions related to Cait’s writing process and inspiration for ATPN, along with upcoming projects—enough to satisfy our curiosity for now, while still getting a few delicious details about what we’ll have in store when we crack open A Thousand Perfect Notes for the first time.

So here we go!

 

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BookCon 2016: Where I Got to See Veronica Roth!!!

Posted May 18, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 3 Comments

 

You may remember that the Mister and I attended C2E2 (a comic book convention) a couple months ago. Later, I was super sad to find out I had missed some YA fiction panels earlier in the day. Luckily, Chicago BookCon was this past weekend, so I finally got my fix of all the bookish goodness I could ever want. ^.^

This was my first book convention, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I decided to attend just one panel and spend the rest of the day browsing the show floor. Picking a panel was a tough choice, but I decided to go to the first one of the day: a panel on good vs. evil in YA lit run by Lauren Oliver, Sabaa Tahir, Melissa de la Cruz, and Veronica Roth.

That’s right. We’re talkin’ world-famous-author-of-Divergent Veronica Roth. I was so excited/nervous that I had to run back into the house two different times before we left because I forgot my phone and jacket!

 

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Ghosts on Tour Part II: In which I review The Hollow Boy and Interview Jonathan Stroud About the Lockwood Series

Posted October 10, 2015 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book Events and Tours / 0 Comments

 

As you know, a few weeks ago I attended a tour event for the new Lockwood & Co. book, The Hollow Boy…and I got to interview the author, Jonathan Stroud! Since I wanted to cover two general topics in my interview, I decided to divide my interview into two parts and publish them separately. The first was a mini interview about the book tour, which I published a few weeks ago with an overview of the tour event. The second part was a more in-depth interview about the Lockwood series itself. I just finished reading The Hollow Boy, so today I’m posting the longer interview with my review of the book. Enjoy!

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Mr. Stroud tells the tour audience about the first book he ever wrote as a kid. His shirt says “Fictional Character!” 🙂

Jonathan Stroud Interview Part II: The Lockwood Series

Before the tour event began, I got a chance to sit down with Mr. Stroud and ask him some questions about
The Hollow Boy and the Lockwood series as a whole. Here’s what he had to say!

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Ghosts on Tour: How I Got to Meet Jonathan Stroud and Learn What It’s Like to Write Ghost Stories

Posted September 18, 2015 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Blogging, Book Events and Tours / 3 Comments

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Yep, that shirt says “Fictional Character!” 🙂

 

Last night, I interviewed Jonathan Stroud (famous for his bestselling Bartimaeus series) at a tour event for his new book, The Hollow Boy! And strangely enough, I owe it all to Goodreads. 🙂

 

I devoured the Bartimaeus books when they first came out, so I was thrilled when Goodreads notified me about Stroud’s new series: Lockwood & Co. It’s the story of three teens who run their own ghost-hunting agency in London, which is plagued by a sudden and mysterious ghost epidemic. An avid ghost story reader, I decided to read and review the first two Lockwood books (you can read my reviews here and here). Goodreads also informed me that Stroud was planning a promotional tour for the newest Lockwood book, The Hollow Boy. One of the tour events was scheduled to take place in La Grange, IL…not far from where I live! I tracked down the contact info for Stroud’s publicist and asked if I could pretty please have an interview with Mr. Stroud at the La Grange event. The publicist was gracious enough to forward the info to him, and he said YES!  * cue shameless fangirl squeals *

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