Kristin McTiernan

On May 20-21, I participated in my very first Comicon as a vendor rather than a guest. It was an extremely valuable learning experience and I am so glad I went.

You will notice I called it a learning experience rather than "the best f-ing day of my life." There is a reason for this. I only sold three books over two days. You'll recall I sold five books when I did Books on the Bottoms. And that was for two hours. So five books in two hours at an antiques venue vs. three books in a combined 24 hours at a venue that specializes in sci-fi, fantasy, and nerd culture. So what in the world happened? Well I can break the cause down pretty easily. So for other book sellers planning on hawking your stories at an event like this, I thought I would share my wisdom.


1. Comicon is Big. Like, so big. And I don't just mean the 30,000 people who attended. I mean there were so many booths filling up Bartle Hall: Artists, Cosplayers, knick-knack vendors, graphic novels, regular novels,…

Into My Silhouette: Discovering the Dark by Becca Noire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Becca lives the life a lot of us do—divorced, raising a teenager, wading through the disappointing world of online dating. But then she strikes the jackpot with John... or at least she thinks she does.

I am not a frequent reader of erotica, but when I do I end up really loving it or really hating it. If you're like me and the dumpster fire of 50 Shades of Grey turned you off of the genre, please take this as my personal invitation to dive back in—because this was outstanding. Becca is so real because you know her. Maybe you are her. Or maybe she's a wittier version of you (at least that was the case with me). There are no Mary Sues here, just a real woman falling down the rabbit hole, feeling what is happening to her, but helpless to stop herself. So many of us go through life with longing, and when we finally get what we have bee…

UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book series can be tricky; you never know if the sequels will live up to the original. Unwholly not only lived up to Unwind, it surpassed it. Shusterman gives us a wider view of the world in which our characters live and the slippery, all-too-believable slope that brought our America to the reality of tearing teenagers apart for their organs and limbs. Using multiple POV characters and the dispassionate, all-seeing eye of internet news, Shusterman shows how easily people can do the unthinkable, if only enough people agree that it's the "right" thing.

The characters arcs of Connor, Lev, and Reesa were both fascinating and true to their characters as they were established in the first book. We also met new characters: Miracleena, a steadfast tithe who has what Gretchen Rubin calls an "Upholder personality"; and Starkey, who is the most perfectly manipulative bully to ever walk the earth. These were the major pla…