Armchair BEA: Blogging Community Relationships

Today for Armchair BEA we are focusing on relationships in the blogging community. I have several stories to share about relationships because in the last almost 2 years I have had several wonderful experiences that I'd love to share!

Unofficially, I have always loved getting items signed by their "makers": cds & t-shirts by band members & books by authors mainly. Well when I realized what a GOLDMINE I have in Quail Ridge Books (our local Indie bookstore) I definitely got to ramp up my number of signed items. While I am not on a first name basis with the staff there, they have started to recognize me for the sheer number of events I have attended there recently. They get to bring in some of the BIG names in not just adult book, but teens & kids books too. I have met Adrianna Trigianni, Beth Revis, & Ally Condie just to name a few. It's such a great resource!

I have to say though, the best relationships I have discovered so far are the ones with authors. These wonderful people have so much talent & they are so patient with the fans that I can't help but admire them.

• Terra Elan McVoy (author of Pure & the newly released The Summer of Firsts & Lasts) is actually the author you have to thank for my blog. I met her in July of 2009 at a signing in a local library. I had read her book & was in love. I asked her honest opinion about blogging & what she thought about me & she strongly encouraged me to at least try it out. Without her nudge (as her book was one of the first I publicly reviewed) you might not be reading this at all. :)
• Rachel Vincent is a phenomenal author with a huge heart. She gives her loyal fans lots of sneak previews & even asks their opinions on things that end up influencing her writing! She has always been extremely courteous & helpful when working together on extensive projects (I hosted a Soul Screamers week celebrating her series & she really took an interest). Rachel is also an amazing cross-genre author who can write differently for her fans.
• Finally, Maggie Stiefvater is also one of my favorite newly-developed blogging relationship. I drove 3.5 hours to see her in Virginia & despite the smaller crowd turn out (this was a signing for Shiver, before it got big) she stayed the whole time, answered every single question we had, told hilarious stories & really made us feel like we were rockstars. She is extremely helpful & patient at signings & in communications. All around she's just fun. Not to mention she also believes in keeping her fans in the loop & enjoys creating exciting things for us to explore (her art, her music, etc).

The other relationships that I have really come to love are the ones with fellow bloggers. I have had email conversations, met in person & really come to enjoy all the different types of bloggers that exist. There are moms & students, full-time workers & high schoolers & we all bring something different to the plate. Just to name a few, my best memories of blogging lie with these people (in no particular order):
Zombiegirrrl from Crackin' Spines & Takin' Names (A pleasure to meet another local blogger)
Cindy from Princess Bookie (she's so cool, she also runs Around the World Tours)
Misty from Book Rat (I love her style!)
Katie from Sophistikatied (This girl is so quirky, I love her panache!)
Taryn from Super Librarian (We library people have to stick together!:) )

So what are some of your favorite memories or relationships created through blogging or even just related to books? Share some stories with me!