Friday, October 10, 2014

A Little Something Different Event Recap + EPIC Giveaway!


A few weeks back I was asked to attend and cover an event for Sandy Hall, the first author to publish under Macmillan's new Swoon Reads imprint. I jumped at the opportunity to drive down to Cincinnati and meet Sandy prior to the signing, but once there I found more than I bargained for. In the best possible way.

Not only did I have the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Sandy (and Brittany from Macmillan!), but the amazing team at Joseph Beth Booksellers also organized a small book club event that included a couple other bloggers as well as Joseph Beth staff members. We were fed delicious sandwiches, chips and cookies, and were able to talk A Little Something Different in a really relaxed, casual way. It was a blast. A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone a Macmillan and Joseph Beth for creating a truly memorable event!

I was able to sneak in a few questions with Sandy prior to the book club meeting because I got there  a touch early, and she was just as nice as she could be. Please forgive the brevity of the below answers (many of which I paraphrased), she was in no way short with me, I just couldn't write fast enough to record everything we chatted about. I should really record the interview next time ;-)

Q+A WITH SANDY HALL


We get to see Lea and Gabe's romance from 14 different viewpoints. If someone observing your life wrote a book about you, what would the title of that book be and would you want to read it in order to see yourself through another person's eyes?

Boggled.

(We determined that she would in fact read the book as curiosity would get the better of her, though she did specify that desire would only hold true if the book was about her life post-high school. I don't know that anyone wants to see their high school selves through someone else's eyes, it was hard enough seeing through our own ;-)

If Lea and Gabe were aware of all the people (and animals!) paying close attention to the beginnings of their romance, whose viewpoint do you think they'd be most surprised by?

Lea - Victor
Gabe - Inga. He'd be surprised by how invested she was.

If you could choose any piece of fiction to be rewritten from a variety of different perspectives, which book would you choose and which character's eyes would you most want to see out of?

Anne of Green Gables, and I'd want the perspectives of either Gilbert or Matthew.

(I have yet to read Anne of Green Gables. How much do I fail?)

You wrote a first draft of A Little Something Different in 6 days. Please sum up those 6 days in three words.

Words spilled out.

If you were to cast yourself as the heroine of a romantic comedy (book, TV show, or film), who would you cast opposite you as your love interest?

Darren Criss from Glee!

There are some unusual viewpoints in this book thanks to the bench and the squirrel. If one of the inanimate objects or animals in your home or daily life could provide you with its observations, which object or animal do you think would give most interesting account?

My work computer - lots of office gossip.

(This launched a whole discussion on what the inanimate objects in our lives would say if they could, and I think computers would hands down have the most interesting (horrifying?) things to share. Just think of all the things in your browser history...I'm looking at you murder mystery writers ;-))

This story started out with 23 different viewpoints before being trimmed down to 14. Who were a couple of the discarded perspectives and was any one person (or object) harder to part with than others?

(I'm going to summarize this answer for Sandy as it was answered more in discussion/conversation format. She said a lot of the characters are still in the book, they just no longer have their own point of view. A librarian went away because Sandy saw too much of herself in her, and then she decided to add the perspective and insight of Gabe's brother after taking a few others out.)

A couple shots of Sandy:



(she brought an adorable squirrel stamp with her to stamp all the signed copies)

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the fabulous team at Macmillan, I have not only a signed copy of A Little Something Different to give away today, but also an epic prize pack of mystery 2015 Macmillan ARCs. For book lovers, I don't think it gets much better than having a mystery box of amazing books show up at your door, so that's why I'm keeping most of the titles secret. I will give you one of the titles though, just to get you super excited: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski. Oh yes, it and six others are up for grabs ;-) To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

33 comments:

  1. I am not the biggest lover of contemporary but you book was so adorable Sandy!! You've made me a believer in comtemps! Thanks for this stellar giveaway *super fingers crossed*

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  2. I am a huge contemporary lover so you know I want to read this Jenny! Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us!

    Have a wonderful weekend!!

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  3. What a great interview and such a unique concept for a book, having so many viewpoints on one subject!

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  4. I was so excited for this one and when I got my hands on it I devoured it. I love YA contemporaries and this one was so original and cute and I loved the different viewpoints as well!

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  5. Wow, 14 different povs is a lot! This one looks cute, Jenny and I like the concept behind the premise. I'll have to check this one out.

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  6. I would totally pick Darren Criss as well! He is such a cutie! Although Blaine's slicked back hair and bowties are ugh! I really want to read this one! Thanks so much!

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  7. So happy that you got to meet her! I have heard great things about this book. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  8. Eek! I absolutely love being able to meet authors. Especially new ones! This sounds fantastic.

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  9. What a great interview. Cute squirrel stamp! :) Can I say that... "Words spilled out" is so perfect? So curious about this one and what a great giveaway!

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  10. That's a fast first draft

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  11. this looks and sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing ;)

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  12. US people are so lucky!! Looks like you had loads of fun :)

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  13. Mary DeBorde
    Sandy, I am absolutely amazed that you knocked out your first draft in only six days - so neat that the *words just spilled out*!! <3 Congrats on your amazing new book :)

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  14. I haven't read Anne of Green Gables yet either, Jenny! :( I've heard of this book and was intrigued by the concept.Plus this cover calls to me! Pretty! I still laugh at the thought of a POV from a squirrel! Really need to get to this soon! And, gasp! at the thought of my computer having a POV on my life! Eeeek!

    Looks like you had fun, Jenny! Awesome interview/recap! And amazing giveaway. Thanks! :)

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  15. This book sounds so good and I love that there is 14 different points of views!!
    Can't wait to read this!

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  16. LOVE what she said about her home computer being an awesome POV!! completely agree with her love interest :)

    She's so nice!!

    thank you so very much :)

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  17. Congrats on the book. I cannot wait to read it.

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  18. Wow! 14 different povs sounds very interesting! I just hope it's something I could keep up with! Thanks for the giveaway.

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  19. I love hearing a story from multiple points of view!

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  20. lol I'm afraid to be lost I confess with 14 POVs but at the same time I'm curious to see how it was done. Thanks for the interview!

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  21. 14 POVs. This makes the book very interesting to see. It makes me wonder who are the people's telling the same story but from different perceptions.

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  22. I still have this one in my Kindle library awaiting to be read! I love the idea of all the different POVs, specially the bench and the squirrel, I'm weird like that!

    Sounds like it was indeed a fantastic event and experience, thank you for sharing it with us, Jenny!!

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  23. Oh I didn't realise that this book had 14 different perspectives, this sounds really boggling, but from the things that I've read so far, it sounds like this works really well! I'm glad that you had such a fun time at this event Jenny! :)

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  24. I would love to read this, it sounds like it's from a very interesting perspective.

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  25. Great interview!! I'd love to read this; it sounds great. I had NO idea she was in Cincinnati. I live right by there. I'm so bummed I missed it!!!

    -Lauren

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  26. First draft in 6 days?? That's amazing! I've read some wonderful reviews of this book and can't wait to read it!! :) :)

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  27. Ooh yes, getting multiple perspectives in Anne of Green Gables would be awesome! I am totally in awe that her first draft was completed in 6 days. It makes me feel rather lazy when I think about how little I accomplish in the same time frame. Awesome interview, glad you had such a cool event experience!

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  28. Book sounds good, looking forward to seeing the view points of other people.

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  29. I enjoyed this one but I can't believe she had so many MORE POV's in the original. AND that she wrote it so fast! How fun that you got to hang out and stuff before! And the giveaway? AWESOME!!!!

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  30. Fantastic interview. She ain't lying about how interesting things could get if our computers could talk. But honestly, I think if an animal could observe and talk, our pets would be the source of the most interesting stories about ourselves. I know my 3 dogs have seen a LOT of interesting and possibly embarrassing things from their mom! I CANNOT wait to read this book!!

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  31. 14 viewpoints is staggering! I'm so intrigued to see how it plays out on the page. I can't believe she initially had 23, though--and that she managed to write it all so quickly! I do usually write in huge bursts, but I can't imagine writing that much that quickly (and from so many different POVs!).

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  32. I love contemporaries and this one looks really good!!! I can't wait to read it!!!

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