Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Road Trip and Coming Attractions!

I'm so excited to be off on my first solo road trip!! I'll be making the one-day drive (about 7 hours) up to Oregon tomorrow to attend my first roommate's wedding on Saturday and to spend close to a week with my second roommate and her husband. So blessed to have this chance to celebrate and make new memories with these wonderful friends!

Don't worry, though - I've heard all the warnings and cautions and tips from my parents, so I'm set! *wink* (But seriously, I wouldn't mind any prayers for safety, and for my parents' peace of mind. I'm grateful they're allowing me to take one of the cars and giving me this chance to test my independence a bit, and I don't want them to worry too much about me.)

So I'll be bringing the GPS, clothes and necessities, a wedding gift, etc.... But even though I'm new to this sort of thing, I believe a road trip also requires:

Music

I love listening and singing along to music while I'm driving! Here are the CDs I'm bringing with me:
That last one is assuming that it arrives today... Don't let me down now, Amazon Prime 2-day shipping! **Update: It came! I love you, UPS!

I'm also bringing along Heist Society by Ally Carter on CD (audiobook), which I've been saving for this occasion, so there's that, too!

Books

How can you go on a vacation without one...or two...or a ton of these?? I'm planning on bringing Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, as well as Falk's Claim by Jon Humboldt Gates (research for Bleeding Heart!) and my Kindle (which has a nice variety of reading options on it).

I realize I probably won't have a lot of time for reading... But it's better to make like a Boy Scout and be prepared than to be left hanging somewhere with no reading options!! (At least, that's my opinion on the subject. You all agree, right?)

Coming Attractions

In the meantime, I still plan to share a book review next Tuesday (Undeniably Yours by Becky Wade, for the Litfuse Publicity blog tour), and the Love's Miracles blog tour will still be in full swing. Don't forget to follow along and check out all of the fun interviews, giveaways, and reviews! You can keep up-to-date by visiting the blog tour page.While I might not be around on social media sites quite as often as I generally am, I'm still planning on checking in on things while I'm gone and spreading the word about the blog tour and all that jazz!

And when I get back? The winner(s) from the blog tour will be announced on May 31st, and I'll wrap up the tour then. And on the following Monday, June 3rd, I'll be revealing the cover for my debut novel, Bleeding Heart, along with a new blog especially for the book!!! So excited!!! (Huge thanks to all those who are helping me with the cover reveal!)

Well, that's it for now! Just be sure to stay off the sidewalks tomorrow - and don't mind the girl rocking out to her tunes as she travels the highways and Interstates. ;)

(Disclaimer: Despite the pictures of Cars Land, I'm not actually going to Disneyland...at this point in time, anyway! Still holding out hope for a family vacation there later this summer. Maybe! Regardless, I thought the pictures from last year's trip were fitting for a road-trip post, don't you think?)

20 comments:

Abbi Hart said...

Wow a lone road trip! Sounds fun! The only road trip I have been on have been with either my entire family (there's 11 of us) or with 6 family members and grandma. The last trip (the one with grandma) was from PA to TX w/ a stop in TN and it was fun since my sis and I used a headphone spliter and listened to country music on my iPod the whole time. Every time I listen to that playlist it reminds me of our trip. And yeah I completely agree about the books! I took about 6-7 with me for that trip even though I knew I wouldn't have much reading time! I always take a book and/or my kindle with me!
Can't wait for the cover reveal!

Julie said...

Woohoo!! Amber! Have a FUN time! Will be thinking of you and praying for safe travels. Heist Society is a fun read! One of my favorite YA authors(love the Gallagher Girl series). And of course the Kindle must go with! You never know when you will have down time just to enjoy a bit of relaxing and reading :) Again, have fun and CAN'T WAIT to hear all about your adventure! Will be praying for your parents too as I know how it is to worry about you young girls "out there" on your own! Be safe!!

Rissi said...

Woo-hoo! Amber, this is spectacular. Sounds like such a fun trip. And how nice you'll be able to reconnect with some special friends.

Wishing you safe travels and happy listening CD) and reading (anxious to read Ally Carter's books).

Excited for all you have coming to this blog and what happens the third of June.

Looking forward to your return. Stay safe. :)

Lena Goldfinch said...

Have a great (safe) trip! Very exciting. :)

Unknown said...

Have a fabulous trip, Amber! I love road trips...I even love driving alone. Weird, I know. Hope you have a great time.

Can't wait to see your book cover!

Tales of Whimsy said...

Good parents ;)
Safe travels.
Have funnn!

You should pick up an audio for the voyage :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Abbi,

Thank you! I'm definitely excited! :)

And family road trips/vacations are always fun! You guys drove from Pennsylvania to Texas?? Wow! When I was eight my mom drove us from California to Minnesota for a trip - can't imagine how she did it, now that I know what it's like to drive! Anyway, sounds like you and your sister had a fun time. :) My sister generally brings a portable DVD player on our trips... I sometimes glance over, maybe watch something with her, but we kind of do our own thing while on the road. ;) It will be weird to be the driver (and the lone passenger) for this trip!

Sounds like we are definitely kindred spirits! Gotta have books with me, and back-up books in case I finish those ones or want something different. ;) I'm thinking a stop at B&N might be nice, since there's no sales tax in Oregon and whatnot (I'll take any excuse I can for going book shopping, LOL.)

Thanks for the comment - can't wait to share the cover with you! I'll be e-mailing bloggers on Sunday or Monday with the info. :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Julie,

I so appreciate those prayers (for me and for my parents)!!! Thank you! :)

And yes, the Kindle must come with! It's always hanging out in my purse anyway. ;) Glad to hear you enjoyed Heist Society! My second roommate was the one who introduced me to Ocean's 11, so I thought this "Ocean's 11 for the younger crowd" would be fitting for the trip. ;)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Rissi,

Thank you for all the kind words, and for sharing my excitement about all this stuff! :)

I'm so grateful for all of your tweets about BH and the like - thank you for supporting me!! Can't wait to share the cover and all that jazz with you, too! :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Lena,

Thank you, my friend!! I'm planning on it. :) And I'm looking forward to sharing the beautiful cover you designed soon!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Melissa,

Thank you so much! :)

It's so funny... Not that long ago, really, I thought I would never be comfortable with driving. When I first got my permit a couple of years back (at nearly 20!), I didn't think I would be able to drive 30 mph, let alone freeway speed, LOL! Now, I really enjoy driving, especially alone. :) (Who would believe I would ever say that??)

Anyway, I'm very excited to share the book cover - Lena did an awesome job! :)

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Juju,

They are indeed! They've both been imparting last-minute advice today, as well, LOL. I appreciate that they care so much about me! :) Hope I do them proud!

And I have Heist Society on audio, so I'm planning on bringing that along (been saving it for this road trip)! It's a great idea for a longer drive. :)

~Amber

Michelle said...

AMBER!!! Have a fantastic time, my friend! It sounds wonderful! You're definitely all set with great music and books! Enjoy!

Prayers for safe travels.
Hugs,
Michelle

Amber Holcomb said...

Michelle,

Aww, thank you so much!! I'm definitely set in the entertainment department - although it might not stop me from doing a little shopping along the way. ;)

Appreciate those prayers - and you! :)

~Amber

Bluerose said...

I pray you have a wonderful, SAFE trip! I'm praying for your parents, too! ;)

I'm looking forward to seeing your COVER! :D

Amber Holcomb said...

Bluerose,

Really, really appreciate that!! Made it safely, although it was an interesting trip. ;) Thank you for the prayers!

And thank you for sharing my eagerness!! Can't wait to share it with you!

~Amber

Michelle said...

Yay! Glad to hear that you arrived safely! : )

Amber Holcomb said...

Michelle,

Thank you!! :) I'm grateful for this opportunity - and for having made it in one piece!

~Amber

Kara said...

Okay, so I totally meant to comment here days ago. But here I am now! :)

Glad you arrived safely and I hope you're having a lovely trip so far. And yay for CDs arriving on time! Did you listen to Heist Society yet? I've been wanting to read that one. Let me know how the audio is. I love audio books!

And absolutely never go anywhere without a book or two or five! That's my philosophy anyway. ;D

PS-LOVE the cover for your book! Can't wait to share it.

Amber Holcomb said...

Kara,

That's totally fine - it's hard to keep track of all the goings-on in the blogosphere! :)

Thank you for your sweet words! I haven't actually started listening to Heist Society yet - kind of just focused on music on the way up. ;) But maybe on my way home I'll actually start it! I'll let you know what I think, if so. :)

Glad we're in agreement about books!!! (No surprise there, though, LOL!)

And I am so, so happy to hear you like the cover!! Excited for June 3rd! :)

~Amber