The time it was the longest event

I wasn't planning on recapping this event. I've seen these particular authors a zillion times and I figured it would be nice to actually just sit back and listen without having to take notes. And then I had a couple of people tell me that they couldn't wait to read my post on it.

Sooooo. Lets see what I come up with, shall we?

I got to Mysterious Galaxy early to meet Michelle for Starbucks. I was there first because traffic was horrible the day before when we met up, so I wanted to avoid it. That left me ample time to people watch. And get "Joanne" yelled at me multiple times.

We got into the store around 5:45 and there were already people sitting down. Thankfully, we were still able to get front row.

After securing our seats, Michelle and I ran over to Starbucks. On our way out, we ran into the authors who were going to interview with Ava. We said hi to everyone quickly and then went back to the store.

The event started promptly at 7pm.  The chair situation was bit odd, so they all decided to stand around the podium.  Veronica started by saying they would do an introduction of themselves and then a brief synopsis before just opening it up to a Q&A session.

When it came to Tahereh talking about her series, she said there was: "Lots of kissing for a girl who can't touch anyone."  I really loved that.

With the angst between Juliette and boy toys: will there be improvements in her situation?

Tahereh struggled to answer at first, the question was sort of worded oddly.  The girl who asked the question kept trying to reword it before she finally said:

Will we see anything about her sex life?

T: Can we get a mic drop? YES. There will be a big finish.

Ransom then commented about the teaser from book 3 that had been released.  Tahereh told a story about how Chapter 62 in Unravel Me made her editor sort of uncomfortable so they had made copies of the chapter and passed them around the publishing house.  Apparently, there is a part in book 3 that her editor is passing around again, but it's not public.

For Anna & Cynthia: both gave an exhale about the series being complete: glad to be done or what's next?

A: both? A bit of mourning. Is working on something new, but thinking about bonus material. Really digging into new book helps.

C: Goes through waves. Up and down due to having to come back to it.

 

Next projects?

C: Can't say anything because it hasn't sold yet

A: A duology, first book titled Blackbird. Mysterious thriller set in modern day LA.

R: Sequel to Miss Peregrine. Takes places during London blitz.

T: Working on book 3, waiting for revisions. Hopefully will work on a new project.

V: Almost done with 3rd book. Working on something every exciting but can't say anything.

What song best describes your writing process?

V: "Hotel California"

T: Listened to rainy mood.com, needs to be depressed while writing book 3.

At this, Tahereh decides to spoiler something from Ransom's second book.  The fact that he coined the phrase "softly crapping". Ransom's response was "there's a lot of birds in the book."

A: "I Can't Get No Satisfaction"

What is your theme song for you book?

R: "People Are Strange" by The Doors

A: "Howl" by Florence + the Machine

C: "Human" by Civil Twilight

T: "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event and "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

V: "Shine" by David Gray

For Ransom: In the second book, will there be scenes in Wales?

Some leaving of wales. Maybe some horses. Softly crapping.

For Veronica: Loved the romance between Roar and Liv.  Will the shocking event be changed? And will there be more novellas? [The second part of this question was something like that]

There will be more novella. Obsessed with secondary characters. Can't just write someone who walks across the room. As for the shocking event question, chooses to take a pass.

Most drastic thing you've done for a deadline?

R: push it by a year

V: A few all nighters. Check into a hotel, becomes gollum of writing. Been hungry and drank coffee creamer. Mixed sugar it's not so bad.

A: Saw a strawberry with a face, went to eat it and took a picture to share on twitter. Now it's out there. What sort of mind set would think that was okay to share?

C: Normally doesn't drink caffeine. Will have a whole tower of iced tea bottles. Writes in the Pepperdine library and is surrounded by other people constantly nodding her head and saying "okay".

T: Gets obsessive pockets of writing and shuts herself off. Survives on tea and whatever is around. Lived on pita bread for a week. Probably just a couple of days.

Are you willing to have your books turned into movies?

A: Be willing? If they begged me.

C: It's very common to sell the rights.

Do you ever find yourself restructuring the scene with a movie in mind?

R: Need to show, don't tell

Ransom then asked: Do you think about the geography of a scene?

A: Drew a map and layout of rooms. Need to be able to see the layout in minds eye to be able to write with clarity.

V: Fight scenes: likes to make sure it's very clear what's going on. Doesn't want to have readers confused with what is going on.

How much of yourself do you see in your characters?

C: Little pieces of herself in all of the characters. Sort of a beginning writer thing. Versions of themselves, but better.

A: To write well, you have to understand the motivation. Tends to put pieces of friends within the evil characters.

R: Not self aware enough to realize. Probably doing it, but not on purpose.

T: Echoing everything else. Inspired in part by everyone she's met. She has 4 older brothers. At Thanksgiving, one of her brothers had just finished reading her book.  Adam has a bird tattoo on his chest.  So does her brother.  He was supremely concerned. Kenji is an amalgam of all of her brothers and mom.

V: Doesn't try, but there's a limit to how well you can know yourself. Tries to create individuals. Doesn't base on people she's knows. Gets essence for what makes them tick: desire or insecurity. Never looked at family and thought: I'm going to make a character out of you.

For Tahereh: Did Warner always start out the same as how he ended up on the page?

T: No. Doesn't outline, finds out what happens when she's writing. At the end of the first book, she knew what was next.

What makes a good villain? Who is your favorite villain?

C: Needs to be more than 2D, vulnerable. Fun to write.  Loves Snape.

A: Darth Vader. Likes a villain you can understand. Real life is the greatest inspiration.

R: Depends on the story. With a horror story, it has to be what you can't understand. Not everything needs a villain. Likes really smart villains like Moriarty.

T: I should be taking notes. Mobsters who could be a family man. Think they can live a normal life, It's just the family business. So interesting that can be so loving and nurturing and then turn around and kill someone.

V:  Loves dark heroes. Loves when there's a real struggle.

R: No villain thinks they're a villain.

How did you come up with the plot?

C: It's all a mystery. Very intuitive.

A: Comes up with patches and outlines. Will revise if she finds that she's making her characters go somewhere that isn't organic for them.

R: Hard to have entire story in the head. Knows the beginning and the end. Makes balsa wood puppets to act out middle.

T: Intuitive. Trust yourself. Doesn't outline or plot. Likes the story to be fluid, lets character decide everything.

V: Process is similar. Combo of plotting but if characters go somewhere else, go off road. Editor will help in process. Wrote the ending of book 1 2 weeks before print.

There were a few more questions after that, but I just got tired of typing. The Q&A went on for over an hour When they concluded the talk, Michelle and I headed to the end of the line because I was getting a defaced copy for Jaime.

It took about 30 minutes or so for us to get to the front of the line.  For me, I only had Anna's book, but I had two for Tahereh and two for Veronica.  I said hi to Cynthia and chatted to her and Anna for a minute.  Then I handed Tahereh Jaime and Erin's copies of Unravel Me.

 

While Tahereh was working on Jaime's book, Michelle and I were chatting with Veronica.  We started talking about all of the places we had seen each other and all of the places I've traveled for book signings.  I said that I really wanted to fly out for Elizabeth Norris' launch party for Unbreakable, but that Hubs wasn't having it. 

And that started us on the conversation of books to read.  Michelle said Eleanor & Park and I said Unraveling and Unbreakable. Veronica told us that she had forgotten to grab a book and that she always needed to have one for down time.  I gushed about how fantastic Unraveling is and she said she was going to buy them!

After saying goodbye to everyone who was there, Michelle and I left.  It was a loooooong night, but so worth it. All of these authors are just so much fun.

Edit: As I read through this the next day, I realize that the charisma and humor these authors have doesn't even remotely come through. Let me assure you, they are amazing. Don't judge them by my shoddy notes and lazy fingers/editing.

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.

The time we were last

As soon as I posted that I was going to the Dark Days tour with Tahereh Mafi, Cynthia Hand, Veronica Rossi and Brodi Ashton, friends started asking if I could pick up books for them.  At first count, I was going to have 36 books for the four ladies.  It ended up being 19 to bring, with 11 to pick up.

We started up to Huntington Beach early, stopping to pick up Ava. She had already talked to Jeanne about holding seats and books for us, so we didn't have to rush.  But, we all know how hateful the 405 can be...

Anways...

We got Ava and hit the store around 4. We had front row AND Jeanne was super awesome and set aside the books we needed to purchase day off.

 

We went to buy the books we needed and headed back upstairs to flap everything. While we waited, we met up with Kristin and chatted about everything and anything book related. It was also good to see Crystal and finally meet Beverly. 

The authors got there just after 7. There was a moderator from Harper Collins and a designated blogger who would also have questions.

The first question of the night had the authors explaining their books as if they were texting their best friends. So there were some BRBs, a LOL and an OMFG.

During questions, Brodi said that she "didn't like reading", but actually meant that she didn't like reading educational materials. She then implored everyone to NOT tweet that she hated reading.

Tahereh fell over in her very tall shoes when she learned that she could have a "pants optional" job.

And now the questions:

Explain the most exciting part of your book:

V: that she got to play with opposites. Two protagonists, two societies, and an Amazing Race of two worlds, who will survive.

T: Chapter 62

C: the question of destiny versus free How Clara has to face that over and over and decide what she believes in.

B: Nikki and Cole both so certain in their reasons and so morally upright. She loves exploring their relationship.

What kept you going from book 1 to book 2?

B: Candy

C: Deadlines

V: Wine

T: Coffee

How did you come up with your villain?

C: Didn't do a lot of research until the end. Knew she wanted a complicated villain and while reading the Book of Enoch, found the name Samjeeza.

T: Thinks its important to create someone who isn't easy to hate. She wants to ask "wait. What are your motivations".

B: At first Cole was the love interest. And that's it.

V: Would second everything already said and then added that she thinks Kelly Slater [the professional surfer] is Sable.

 

After publishing, is there anything you would want to change?

V: The opposite. Finds that it's exciting to go back and the story inspires itself.

T: Exactly what Veronica said

C: Loves revising. She sees that things should have changed [mostly the language]. Sometimes a reader will point something out that will make her imagination go.

B: Once the story is in book form, it's over. But it still lives in her head. There's a specific scene that she hates and when she relives it, Nikki says and does the right thing and its frustrating.

 

After about 30 minutes, the signing started. Ava and I stood off to the side to be last since we had so many books to get signed.

As the lines started dwindling, the handler came over to me and said that I could head over to Brodi to start.

First off, Brodi is adorable and absolutely hilarious. She asked if I was a blogger. When I said yes, she asked if I had included the comment about her reading. I said that I did, but would gladly take it out if she wanted me to. She laughed and said no.

 

Cynthia was next. I had the most books for her -- 11. I didn't have them organized very well, so it took a minute for me to realize that it would be easier for Cynthia to sign the same books together, since different colored markers were used.

After that was figured out, it ran smoothly and I was able to get them all taken care of.

 

Up next was Tahereh. I had asked if she was ready and she opened her arms and said "My body is ready!" I had quite a few for Tahereh as well. When she got to my copy, I asked if she would deface it. She said because it was for me, of course.

I had a book for my HBIC and asked for a special inscription. Not only did Christina get the special inscription, but Tahereh also used my phone to text Christina.

 

We took pictures and hugged many times. And she told me that she expects to see me at every LA event that she does. I happily said that I would be her stalker if she was okay with it.

 

And last but not least was Veronica. We also hugged many times. We started out with the books and then it morphed into a serious discussion about Kelly Slater and Snarkles who was there with the HC woman [and I didn't catch her name].

 

She mentioned how many books I had and asked if someone had recorded how many it had because it had to be a record.

We were the absolute last people there and said goodbye to all four ladies a few times as we left the store. Huge thanks to Brodi, Cynthia, Tahereh and Veronica for making the trip out. And extra special thanks to Jeanne at BN for being so amazing.

Now.

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