The time we stayed classy

Anchorman is one of my favorite movies and we quote it daily. When I saw that Ron Burgundy [not Will Ferrell] was going a book signing at The Grove, it wasn't even something I had to think about.

Hubs has a new job now, so taking days off to wait for wristbands in the morning won't be able to happen as much as it did before. I decided to take a chance and see if I could take Lita up on her offer of saving wristbands for me. I sent an email and she responded almost immediately in a affirmative! 

We got up to the bookstore around 5:30. While in line, we heard the cashiers telling people that they had sold out of wristbands by 9:45am. There was a stand by line going, but there were no guarantees that those people would be able to get in. 

 

 

We went upstairs to check out the signing area and ended up briefly talking to another person attending the signing. He had overheard that Ron [not Will] was going to arrive by cop car, complete with sirens and lights. We had also heard some of the people working in the cafe saying that if he came in, they had to call him Ron, he wouldn't answer to Will. 

Ron walked by just before 7pm. The screams were out of control. They took him to a staging area right away for something...

They had a paparazzi corral and had him pose with the book for a few minutes. 

And then the line started moving. We were only allowed to take photos from the signing line. 

 

As we got closer...

 

 

You handed your book to one person, who handed it to Ron, Ron signed and then the book was handed to someone else who have it back. Once I got up to Ron, he said hello. I said hi and this was our brief conversation:

Me: We drove up from San Diego.

Ron: Where specifically?

Me: Escondido

Ron: Ah. Yes, Escondido. Beautiful city. That's where the swallows go right?

Me: Yes. Exactly. 

Ron: Thank you for coming. 

And then with Hubs:

Ron: Have you ever been to Rancho Penasquitos? 

Hubs: Yes. 

Ron: Me too. Have a good night. 

We were ushered out pretty quickly after having our wristbands cut off. Ben & Jerry's was there giving out samples of Scotchy Scotch Scotch. 

 

All and all, we were out of the store about 30 minutes after he got there. And on the way out, we took dorky photos with the cardboard cutout. 

 

 

Meeting Ron Burgundy was a once in a lifetime opportunity [especially since this was his only book signing]. This event at The Grove was the best one we've been to so far. Security was amazing, the staff was helpful and polite.

Extra special thanks to Lita for being awesome. 

The time it was two people

I missed seeing Lex Thomas when they had their launch party for Quarantine: The Loners at MGRB. I grabbed the book the next time I was at the store and into the TBR pile it went. Unfortunately, it sat in the TBR pile for a while. It wasn't until I got approved for The Saints on NetGalley that I picked it up. 

 

And damn, I wish I would have read it sooner. 

As soon as I saw that Lex and Thomas [yes, they're a duo] were signing at the Grove, I knew I was going. I wasn't about to let this opportunity to meet them slip me by. 
 

We got up to LA in decent time. [You know you're in LA when you think a 2 hour drive from San Diego is making "decent time".] There's an awesome diner type place in the Farmer's Market that we always go to, so we killed time getting some food. After we got into the store, we chatted with Lita for a bit before settling into front row seats. 

 

Lex and Thomas got there just after 7pm. [Lita pointed me out to them and told them I drove up.] They gave a brief synopsis of The Loners and then started talking about how they work together, since it's the question they get asked the most. 

 

7 years of working on scripts, got a rhythm. Books are different. Plan together and split up. Tom will work first. Will do a full read when it's done and the take notes and draft again. 

 

Then they asked if anyone had questions. When no one raised their hand, Lex pulled out a printed page of questions that they are most often asked. 
 

Where did the idea come from?

 

L: T thought of the idea that high school is a nightmare, gangs and how going to your locker could be dangerous. The virus/quarantine became a secondary part of the book. Tried to focus on what was happening inside. 

 

T: Really wanted them to fight. Basically wanted a story everyone understood: high school. 

 

L: It was an idea that they could dive into. Not that their experience was that bad, but can amplify. 

 

Where do you like to write?

 

T: In the dark, with a lantern or candles. Built some anti-distraction glasses. [L: I didn't see that. T: Obviously you don't pay attention to my Instagram.] Used to wear a towel and a baseball cap to keep the outside world out. 

 

Does that mean it has to be quiet?

 

T: Sometimes needs loud music, uses a weird sound generator. Currently uses a coffee shop where there's clinking noises and conversations that you can hear, but can't actually make out. 
 

 

How do you plan out a trilogy?

 

T: Told the publisher that we knew it was a trilogy and we didn't. Only wrote the first 100 pages. Said the 2nd one would have mutants and supernatural elements and realized that couldn't do any of that. Went down lots of bad roads. 

 

L: Hard to regret anything. Passed on an entire idea. Wrote an entire different second book and editor wasn't thrilled. You can outline a tad, but you can't predict what the characters are going to do emotionally. 
 

If you were stuck in the high school, what gangs would you choose? 

 

T: The geeks

 

L: The geeks. Seems like they're having a lot of fun. I was a drama nerd. 

 

T: In school it would have been the freaks. All trench coats and boots.

 

What are you reading?

 

T: The Monstrumologist. A YA book about a kid in the 1800s who is an apprentice to a guy who finds all sorts of monsters. 

 

L: Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith. 
 

 

Did you read YA before writing?

 

T: No. Now I've started reading more. 

L: I was only vaguely aware of the category. 

 

What books did you like when you were a teen?

 

T: A lot of sci-fi. Dean Koontz in jr high. 

 

L: A lot of survival stories. Deliverance, perhaps a bit wise for my years. Stephen King. Misery was one of the first. 

 

When did you have the aha moment of knowing you wanted to write?
 

L: Movies had more of an impact. Books paved the way, was read high adventure books like Treasure Island and The Hobbit by dad. 

 

T: I didn't know. I loved books, but didn't think I would write. Visual arts in school and then got back to writing in 20s. Wrote something in 4th grade about mind worms that pass from person to person with handshakes. 

L: Was an acolyte in church, so wrote a Die Hard story that takes place in church. 

 

What is the most surprising part of writing a novel?

 

T: Its much more satisfying. The end result is the product. Instead of: here's a blueprint to make a different medium. Publishing is respectful, but it's way more work. More freedom and more pride when done. 

 

L: The way we broke down scripts made novel writing seem possible. Before it seemed massive. Came up with a story plan of how it'll work. 

 

T: Super scary when it first sold. 
 

L: 80 pages sold, then had 2 months to finish The Loners. It was horrifying. 
 

T: Publisher had an open slot on the schedule and that's how the deadline worked. 

L: The life or death of the writing made it easy to relate to the characters in the book. 

 

Was there a minimum?

T: Needed a chapter every 2 days. We found we can do it, but it's not ideal. Days where there isn't any progress, you get to the end and find that you can't use any of it. 

 

Is working as a team helpful? You can't lie, you have to be accountable. 

T: Whoever is in front had to email the chapter. If it didn't happen, the second person didn't have something to work on. Also nice to have a partner when you get horrible news. 

 

Got the news that they needed 100 pages of the meat and they only had 2 days. 2 days of freaking out and then publisher comes back and say "we found you 10 more days"

How did you meet?
 

L: Met at a writers group. 

T: Already an existing group of friends. Met and started partying together. 

 

L: Not a lot of writing got done at first. Bonded over the same type of movies at first. I guess you could consider them bad movies. 

T: We bonded over the idea that we didn't think they were bad. 

 

Are you planning on making it a movie?

L: We wrote a script. 

T: There's interest, but that's all so far. 

[At this point, I accidentally hit "publish" instead of save in the app, so I was scrambling to figure out WTF to do instead of listening. I did hear something about casting Rihanna as Violent...]

The talk was over around 7:40 and I was the first to go up to the table. I gave them my copy of The Loners and asked if they could personalize it. I thanked them for coming up and then realized they were from the LA area, I amended my statement. Lex thanked me for driving up and Hubs said, "You're welcome". 

They signed my book and then I got a picture with them. 

  

I feel like the Quarantine books haven't gotten enough love, so go get them! They're fast paced, thoroughly enjoyable and are fairly relatable [minus the crazy virus] since everyone went to high school....
 

Go go go!!!

The time there were kids

I think I got the arc of SYLO in the super secret back room at MGRB. I ended up reading it right away and l loved the fast pacing of the story. Thankfully, I was paying attention and actually caught a tweet from The Grove about DJ signing.

We got up to The Grove at a perfect time. We were able to grab something to eat before the event area opened at 6pm and still secure 2 row seats on the end. 

From there we just waited. 

Right at 7pm, there was a huge influx of children who came running and screaming throughout the event area. And within 30 seconds, all of the seats were filled.

DJ came out just after 7. He talked about being a writer and how it was the best job ever. Was always a story teller, always wanted to get out of "real work". Instead of writing reports, would make films. Went to NYU for film school.
 

  

Day job was making movies, no one would buy the scripts. Made corporate videos, made the video that every employee at IBM got about the benefits getting cut. Learned how to take a volume of information and cut it to a particular audience, which helped writing for younger audience. 

Traveled a lot, "filling up author hard drive". A friend asked if he ever thought about writing for kids. All of a sudden, there were a lot of ideas. Started writing tv shows for kids. 

Wrote first tv show for Encyclopedia Brown, wrote the show Are You Afraid of the Dark, wrote the Tower of Terror movie based on the ride. The kids shows that were popular in the 70s, 80s and 90s aren't being made now. But it still exists in books.

Had an idea. It was too long for a movie, too expensive for a tv show. Ended up being an outline for 10 books, went to pitch, was told it was horrible. Took it to another person, said it might work. Sent to NY and got it published. Turned out to be Pendragon and 5 million books later, learned never take no for an answer.

Will often base characters on people in real life. One character in the Pendragon series is Officer Wilson. The person who Officer Wilson is based on has a daughter. She works at the bookstore and was working the event.
 

Big series books for kids didn't exist when he was younger. When Harry Potter came out, it opened the door for many authors. Went from Dr Seuss as a reader to Dr No. Loves character driven adventure, that is what he'll always enjoy. 

SYLO is the first of a trilogy. Main character is a version of his own personality, Tucker is based on his slacker persona. 

Based on Martha's Vineyard. Go watch Jaws before you read SYLO then half of his work is done. Loves to write for the reader who has seen it all to keep everyone guessing. 

DJ talked about SYLO and then read the first chapter. 

 

Second book has already been written and there is movie interest now. 

He asked if anyone has read the book. When I raised my hand, he asked if I knew what was going to happen, if I had any speculation. I said that I didn't want to admit to anything. He admits that SYLO has a lot of clues in it, that every paragraph and every line has clues. 

After about 30 minutes of talking, the Q&A started. 

Would you consider a reunion of Are You Afraid of the Dark? 

Wouldn't be against it, but the reoccurring cast has a really small part in the show. Would do it, if everyone would come back to do it. Lots of big stars on it: Ryan Gosling, Eliza Dushku, Hayden Christiansen, Jay Baruchel. 

Talks about Are You Afraid of the Dark more now than ever before. Was at ALA recently and everyone wanted to talk about that.

 

 

Can you explain why you had to remove the parents from the story?

There's always the lament in Disney movies about the mom dying. Two reasons: want to have the adventures about the kids. If they have an adult to lean on, the adventure isn't about the kids. 91 episodes of Afraid, came up with 91 ways to get rid of the parents. 

If there is a recurring theme in all books, it's self empowerment. What's the first thing kids do if in trouble? Go to an adult, the police, an authority figure. Likes to shut those doors, there's only one person to help. You. 

With SYLO, the parents may be part of the problem. At the end, you don't know who to trust, don't know who the bad guy is. 

When you start the books, do you already know where it's going to end?

Absolutely. Because they're so intricate, has to have the big ticket items thought out. Outlined all 10  Pendragon books in a week. Get forced to think it all through and then throws away outline. 

 

 

Is Garden Poultry Cafe real? 

The Pendragon books are based on his home town. You could take the book and walk through the town with it. 

After that last question, the signing started. We so wisely remembered to sit on the right side of the seating area and were able to line up right away. 

When I got up to DJ, he asked how I liked the book and if I had any speculations. I said no, that I was a really shallow reader [he said he was too] and that even if it's spelled out two pages before the reveal, I don't always see it coming. 

He told me that he was working on book 3 and when reading back on some of the scenes, he didn't realize how "pedal to the metal" they were. That he didn't set out to write it that way, but it worlds. 

He signed my books and took a picture with me. I [hope I] said thank you before leaving.  

 

 

I briefly talked with Lita before leaving, telling her I would see her next week for a different signing.

 

DJ is an entertaining storyteller, both in print and in person. He's charismatic, fast talking and I can't say enough nice things about him. Go get SYLO ASAP. 

The time it was a full day of crazy

It might not be a well known fact that I am a Twilight fan.  Yes, I did midnight shows for all of the movies [and the marathon for the BD2].  Yes, I have multiple copies of the books [paperback, hardcover, movie tie in, UK paperback]. Yes, we did one of the Hot Topic tours with the cast [unfortunately, not the one with Rob]. No, I didn't see them in Hall H.

Either way, it goes without saying that as soon as I saw that Stephenie Meyer was going to be signing at The Grove, I was going to get up there.  Honestly, I did go back and forth with it because I knew thought it would be a nightmare.  As soon as Michelle said she was interested in going, it was a done deal. 

The alarm went off at 4:15. I woke up to a text from Michelle saying that she wouldn't be able to go, since Ollie wasn't feeling good. We gassed up the Honda and set off.

We got to The Grove just before 7am. And of course there was already a line in front of the store. There were two lines, actually. Apparently, some people lined up at midnight and security told them to line up around the corner. Hubs ended up seeing Lita out front and she said the major line up WAS the line up.

Around 7:45, Lita came by and merged the two lines. She also said that all of the people in line would be in the preferred group and get a special The Host t-shirt.  We also got a list of guidelines.

We got into the store around 9:30 and we played another round of "hurry up and wait".

But then we got up to the counter and bought our books. Our wristbands were still in group A and the t-shirts were still available.

We got out of the store just before 10am and went on a hunt for some food. On the way to the car [to grab my Twilight books], we decided to head into B&N to see if they had the event section set up. Hubs stopped a woman who had just gotten out of line at the register and asked what letter she was. Her answer? J

We got up to the events area and they had the corral up and tape on the floor indicating where the lines would start.

 

There was a girl who was already laying down to the left of the start of the line. She said that she had been there for over 90 minutes and no one had said anything to her about it. She ended up having priority wristbands and said I could have her spot.

So I waited in line without being in line.

Around 12:00, a girl from the studio said that she was going to clear the events area out to set up the lines. Meanwhile, security and booksellers from the main cashier section were telling people they were allowed to line up on the taped letters. I quickly became the head of the official unofficial line.

And then we were told that group A was actually going to be lining up on the letter C and everyone merged over to that aisle.

They pushed us back a few times while they were setting up the barriers. After about 35 minutes, we were happily lined up in the official line as the first group of the A's. [We met Allison and Morgan in line and they hung out with us as it was their first book signing]

Stephenie and the cast showed up right after 2pm. They posed for paparazzi pictures and then moved to their separate areas. Stephenie was at the main table alone and Max Irons, Jake Abel and Diane Kruger were at a side table signing posters. Saoirse Ronan was supposed to also be there, but she missed her plane and they expected her later.

Once we got up to the holding section, we were told that all cameras had to be down. You handed your books to a handler, who handed them to Stephenie.

Once I got up to her, we both said hi and then I thanked her for coming. I had the UK version of Twilight as my extra copy and she commented on how she loved the UK versions, that they were so special. She then said that she was waiting for her white copies for her personal collection, that she still didn't have any.

Hubs and I weren't allowed to walk up together, so I only slightly overheard Stephenie comment on what a great helper he was.

 

We then walked over to the cast table. Diane was first, she signed my book and then asked if we still wanted posters. We said yes, so she signed and starting passing it down.

Max and Jake had tweeted earlier about throwing ping ping balls at Stephenie. As we were in line, someone was passing them out. Someone threw one at Jake and I laughed saying that I forgot all about the ball. He asked if I still had it and if so, we were going throw them at Stephenie at the same time. When I said no, because I didn't want to get thrown out, he laughed again and said he would "huck them both" himself.

Security sort of got mad that we were still there, so they ushered us away. On the way out, they cut off the wristbands am told us if Saoirse showed up, we could use the wristband to get back in line for her.

 

It was just before 3pm when we headed up to Thousand Oaks for the second signing.

We got up to that B&N around 4:30. And right when you opened the door, they had a table display and sign promoting the event.

I had to get a couple of books and was rung up by THE NICEST employee I've ever met. Ever. Anywhere. From there, we scoped out the event area and asked when it would be set up. Grabbed some dinner, then went back to the store to wait and steal electricity.

Chairs were set up just before 6pm and I quickly grabbed front row.

The authors got there at 7pm, but the events person said they don't normally start on time, to give people extra time to get there. Once the event started, each of the ladies did a brief introduction to their books and then opened it up to questions.

For each person who asked a question, they were given a prize. Jodi gave knitted flowers, Cynthia gave out patches and Brodi had gum.

Where do you get your ideas?

C: likes Kiersten White's answer of getting them from a back alley on the streets of LA. Actually, they come from a lot of random places.

J: Time traveled to year one in Japan and fought a ninja, broke into a sealed vault, stole a magic dagger, time traveled to year one million, found a unicorn and some of the dust that may or may not have come from the unicorn horn got into her brain.

B: Got the idea from girl from school, in pottery class [C: "no good comes from pottery class"] coming back after a long absence, looking completely different. There were a lot of rumors and it prompted the idea of telling the story of where she went while gone.

What's the hardest part of being a writer?

B: Writing. She thinks it'll get easier but it doesn't, has come to the conclusion she can't write.

J: Waiting. For responses. For phone calls from the editor. For edits being returned. For everything. Publishing moves so slow. Incarnate sold in 2010, released 2012.

C: The 48 hours right after she gets her first revision letter from the editor are the hardest. Spends that time feeling bad and thinking she's a bad writer. Time management is hard, making time for the important things.

  

Best advice for someone wanting to be in the exact genre? Maybe the hardest lesson they learned.

B: Read a lot and finish your book. Don't chase trends.

C: Takes about 17 months before its on the shelf after selling it, so something that is a trend now won't be when it's released. Write the story you want, that's in your heart. Prove to yourself that you can finish.

J: Start with a change. Kill everyone if you want. In fiction.

How many manuscripts?

B: One. Got an agent with it and the second was published.

J: 16 full books, most about 100k words.

C: Unearthly was the first book she finished. Wrote short stories, got rejections there. Had an agent already through a short story in a literary journal. Didn't try to publish until she was pretty practiced as an author.

Should you wait and polish your craft until trying to publish?

Novels are a marathon, short stories are a sprint. Why she loved being on tour, everyone had different experience. Short stories worked for her specifically.

What made you pick this genre?

C: It picked me. Didn't know Unearthly was YA. Wrote fanfiction in high school and literary fiction in college. Read 70 YA novels in one year and fell in love with it.

J: Same. Tried writing seriously and her friends were telling her it was YA. Her response was, "No. I'm an adult. I'm 23." Years later, she loved the YA covers and wanted to read those. She just had a man on the airplane tell her she should write about Argentina. He said, "Come to Argentina you can stay in my apartment". She said no and put on her headphones.

There were a couple other questions, but I didn't pay attention. Then before the signing started, Jodi had a giveaway for some mitts she made. The question was the full name for Sam's pony. I knew the short name and another girl said if I said the short name, she's remember the full name. She gave the full name and won the mitts, I said I should get one for the assist and Jodi gave me a knitted rose.

The signing started and I walked right up to Jodi, since I had already seen Cynthia and Brodi. Cynthia said hi and that it was nice to see me again. She asked where we lived and I ended up telling her about SM and being up since 4am.

Since Michelle couldn't go, I ended up getting books for her and Caitlin. Jodi asked if I was Caitlin's emissary. I laughed and said yes. And then when she saw Michelle's book, I explained how she couldn't make it since the baby was sick.

 

After all of the books were signed, I thanked them for coming, hugged the wife and started the long drive home to get some sleep.

Even though it was an insanely crazy day, it was all worth it.