Carrie Harris's Bad Taste in Boys launch party (+ swag giveaway)

Yesterday at 2 PM Carrie Harris had her launch party for Bad Taste in Boys at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor. This was my very first book launch party and I have to say it will be hard to top this experience in terms of author events. Carrie is such a warm, fun-loving person that she immediately makes you feel like you've just made a new friend.

I went up to her and before I even introduced myself, I offered to help her set out the refreshments because she looked like she had more important things to do than set out cookies and lemonade. I, being the foodie that I am, take pride in playing hostess so this was something I had no problem helping her out with. ;)

After placing all the cookies on trays, I then proceeded to introduce myself (I know, I did it backwards, right?) and she led me over to some other book bloggers and introduced me. It was there that I met Tirzah, The Compulsive Reader, Kelly from Stacked, and Valerie from Sisters in Scribe, among others whose names and blogs elude me now (sorry bloggers!)

At about 2:15 Carrie began her reading and took questions from the audience:

Note the epic zombie unicorn dress

Showing her zombie door prizes

Even though I had already read Bad Taste in Boys, I was thoroughly entertained by Carrie's reading. She read with such verve and expression that she reminded me of a teacher I used to have in elementary school who used to bring books to life with her soothing voice and expressive tone. She made me want to go back and read it all over again even though I only finished the book two days ago.

After the reading and audience questions, she began signing books:
 

And Carrie was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me:



I even caught some alarming zombie-esque behavior from Ms. Harris and some fans:

Luckily it was just a false alarm.

Another cool part of the day was that I also got to meet Aimee Carter, author of The Goddess Test. We got to talking about where we lived, and discovered that I used to sub for a teacher that she had in high school. Love those Small World moments. And since I'll be out of the country for both of her Michigan events in August, she was gracious enough to sign my copy of The Goddess Test for me.

All in all, it was an amazing afternoon and I can't gush enough about what an awesome person and talented writer Carrie is.

So to bring a small piece of Carrie's launch party to you, I have some swag to give away that Carrie was gracious enough to sign. It's one of the coolest swag book marks I have ever seen and 5 lucky readers can win one. Come on, you know you want one.

Giveaway Rules:

• You must be 13 to enter
• Open to U.S. residents only
• Following is not necessary, though it is always appreciated
• 5 winners will be selected using Random.org
• Giveaway ends August 7 at 11:59 EST
• Fill out this form to enter