Jonathan Maberry is a Freakin' Genius

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I mean a LOT. I do have over 100 books to get through, after all. O.O.

Out of all those books, there's been one author in particular who I've really come to respect.

This guy.

Prior to BEA, I'd heard of Jonathan Maberry (obviously), but I'd never read any of his books. They looked really interesting, don't get me wrong, but I had a long list already that I had to get through. But when I saw him there, you better believe I picked up one of his books.

Somehow I ended up with three, actually. :o

These three:

Well, they sat there on my shelf as I read through six other books I'd decided I wanted to get through first. 

And then one day I picked up Rot & Ruin.

I inhaled it, dear readers. Inhaled it. One day, done. And I immediately picked up the second in the series, Dust & Decay. Again, I devoured that thing like my life literally depended on it. It is about zombies, so maybe my life was in jeopardy.

Finished with those two, I didn't know what to do. Do I start Patient Zero? Will it be just as amazing? 

I really didn't know. You see, I've been into anything and everything YA for so long that I didn't know if my taste for Adult had fizzled. 

So I read some other books first. 

Patient Zero stared at me, begging to be consumed.

And I did. And oh it was wonderful, readers. Like you wouldn't believe. Other than the fact it nearly killed my eyes with its super tiny print (though that could just be me--staring at a computer screen all day has destroyed my vision) , it was just about the best thing I'd ever read.

I may have somehow gotten away with three free copies of your books, Mr. Maberry, but you better believe I'm buying every single book you ever write from now on.

And if any of you, dear readers, have not read one of his books, I suggest you rectify that situation today. I've rarely read plots so engaging, scenes so well written, and characters so immediately lovable, so pop-out-of-the-page real. I'm kind of (as in, REALLY) sad I don't have anything else of his to read right now.

Enjoy!

More Tales From BEA

Wow, it's already 10:00. Sorry about that, guys. :o

You see, I actually get up pretty early (somewhere around 6 or 7) and I tend to get a little carried away with doing other things before I open up my computer.

This morning (and actually, the past few mornings), I've been dealing with this:

This picture does not adequately portray the mess my living room is in, but it's a start. That big open space is my walking path.

This pile only includes my YA and MG titles. My adult pile is even bigger. :o 

By the way, if you look at that picture closely, you can see doubles of some books and figure out which ones I'll be giving away after I complete my tales of BEA series of posts.

So, I promised the Tale of the Missing Display Copy today. It's actually my favorite story to tell because it is SO ABSOLUTELY AWESOME, I'M STILL IN SQUEE MODE!!!!!

Ahem.

So I went through all my copies of Elemental (which is sooo awesome--you guys are AMAZING!) a little bit before my hour ended. My hubs and I decided we'd start milling around, looking for some good books. Well, right next to the SHP booth was the Horror Writers Association booth and who did we happen to see signing books?? Jonathan Maberry. Yeah, the bestselling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, Patient Zero, etc. Huge HUGE squee moment!

Well, we got in the line and I was so excited! I started wondering if I should introduce myself when it was my turn to get a signed copy of his book. You see, we're facebook friends in that way that a lot of people are facebook friends. He MIGHT have known I existed in some abstract way like he's seen my bio pic from time to time. 

When the person ahead of me stepped up, I decided I would NOT introduce myself. There was no way he'd remember me. The guy has over 5,000 fb friends. I'd only embarrass the both of us if I asked if he recognized me.

The person ahead of me went on her merry way and I stepped up with the biggest grin ever. This was so huge. And what does he do???

He says he wanted to get in my line for a signed copy of Elemental, but it was too long...

He then explained he'd promised a family member that he'd grab a copy of my book and then asked if I had any more left...

Of course, I didn't. Oh man, you have NO idea how much I wished I'd brought a copy of my own for just this moment. But, obviously, I never anticipated something like this actually happening.

I had to tell him they were all gone and then I walked like a zombie over to the SHP booth to tell everyone over there what had just happened. They insisted I grab the display copy off the bookshelf and give it to him. 

Yeah...

One of the most amazing moments of my life.

Stop back on Friday for more tales of BEA!!