WOTR & Epic Swag Giveaway!

I don’t know about all of you, but I had an AMAZING weekend! I spent the weekend with my bestie at Writers on the River. This is an annual event that takes place in Peoria, Illinois and it such fun for authors and readers of romance. This is the second year I have attended, and it is always a blast.

But the fun doesn’t start with the event—oh no. My bestie and I make a whole weekend of it! We start out by shopping at a few different local book stores. We hit a few different ones: Tails of a Bookworm (Pekin, Il.), the Book Rack (Peoria, Il.), and the Book Nook (Peoria, Il.). Tails of the Bookworm is by far my favorite. Not only does it have an amazing selection of books and bookish items…not only does it have amazingly friendly staff…but it also serves as a cat adoption! They have cats looking to be adopted either in their little homes or running about the store. It is such chaos and fun. This year there were three kittens (two waiting for adoption, one waiting to be picked up later that day). If you live in the area and are taken with one of the kittens, give them a call!

We also make sure to hit a very special place for lunch on Friday…LA GONDOLA! Seriously, if you’re ever in Peoria, try the Torpedo (get a half size, trust me). It’s delicious and their bread is so sweet. My bestie and I always stop for lunch, as not only is it delicious, but it’s close by all of the stores we visit.

Between the shopping, the good food (sans dinner where we ordered salad and got no dressing), the first day was fantastic! Here are some pictures of the fun items I purchased at the stores!

Then Saturday was the event. I don’t have too many pictures, as there really isn’t time to take too many (there are so many authors I want to chat with!). Even still, the event was fun. I bought so many new books – y’all my TBR pile has gotten OUT OF CONTROL! There were games and raffle baskets GALORE. I donated 5, and it was just the tip of what they had available to do raffles on. By the end of the event, my bestie and I each won a prize and we had time to relax before the afterparty.

And by relax…of course I mean organize my swag and take a nap.

The afterparty is a wonderful addition to the event. They provide a glorious buffet of tacos and mashed potato bar. It’s an odd combination to hear, but I promise it is delicious. Then they have dancing, photo booths, and we brought games and tarot cards this year.

The weekend was amazing, though now it’s the work week and I’m exhausted. But even still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Genuinely, if you are ever interested in attending an event, I can’t recommend Writers on the River enough. I’ve attended quite a few events and it is by far one of the best I’ve attended – right up there with North Iowa Book Bash and Romance Rendezvous Book Blast.

With Writers on the River over, there is only one event left on my roster for 2022 – Romance Rendezvous Book Blast! It will be August 20, 2022 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This is important for two reasons…

One, it will be my last author event for the year! So, if you haven’t yet stopped by to say hi and purchase books, be sure to do so! I promise, RRBB is so fun and has amazing authors in attendance.

Two, that means my swag collection will be finished. Each event you attend, you always leave with so many swag items: stickers, bookmarks, keychains, magnets, cups, pens, and so much more. Usually, I have a bunch of swag by the end of the year accumulated in a big bag with nothing to do with. This year, I decided to do a special giveaway for the followers of my blog! If you are following my blog (meaning you get email notifications when I post), you will be entered to win a box of swag at the end of August!

You can see from the pictures below, it has A LOT of fun items in it. Just be sure to follow my blog (storiesbyshannap.com) and you will be entered to win!