The time it was a recommendation

I got an arc of Red Rising at WonderCon last year with the explicit instructions to read it immediately. Of course I didn't. It went into my TBR stacks and eventually I ended up giving it away. Flash forward to a couple of days ago and my phone started going crazy with people emailing me and texting me about Pierce's launch party.

It was a last minute decision to go. Mostly because I saw a glowing review from Entertainment Weekly and they're so picky. I knew that if I didn't go, it would be something that I would get pissed about later. 

We got down to Mysterious Galaxy before 6pm. There was all sorts of snacks set up, including a cake [it was Pierce's birthday]. But the most impressive thing was the book display. 

Pierce got to the store around 6:30 and went to work on signing the stacks of books that were around the store. 

Patrick started at 7. His introduction talked about how a year ago he started talking about the book and 8 months ago he was pimping out the arc. Now he can actually sell the book. 

Pierce did a brief introduction. He talked about this being his very first event and that he didn't have anything prepared like a lecture. There was talk about his childhood and parents, but I was taking photos and didn't get any of it. 

Also? I have a disclaimer: Pierce talks fast and smiles so pretty so my recap isn't anywhere near to being complete. Consider yourself warned about the hot mess that's about to happen.

 

There will be more?

Yes. It's a planned trilogy. It's always been 3 books for me. I don't want to prostitute the story for money. There could be more stories, but most of it will be told in 3 acts. There could be future stories set in the same world. I have a big black book that I try to hide that has info about the world and characters. 

Without discussing the plot, what is the set up for building the world?

It's sort of like those CDs "Now That's What I Call Music": a compilation of all of your favorite things. My first coloring book was about the Greek and Roman wars. Have you ever seen the great illustrated classics? My parents gave me those. They became part of my childhood. World building is my favorite. 

This book quickly became a revenge book and as I went on, it became about justice. There's a lot of Antigone. There's probably some Hardy Boys in there.  There's some Serenity. 

How did you get the idea for the book? Did you pick Mars because of the color or the god?

The first thing I knew was that on Mars there's a flower called a blood blossom and that was the first line and I don't know where it came from. [There was WAY more to this...somehow this was all I got down]

Were you an English major?

Nope. Political science and economics major. I couldn't get into AP English. They told me that I didn't write correctly. Economics really helped me with the story.

Will there be deleted scenes?

That's a question my editor should answer. I'm hoping that before book 1 and 2 there will be little episodes. I would like to show Darrow as a lancer. That would be fun. 

How did you end up getting assigned an editor and how do you decide work that way?

I've been trying since I was 18 to get an agent. I wrote books and query letters for each one. It took me 3 books, well my first book was 720 pages... Five books later, I finally got an agent. I had been rejected by 24 agents and I was working at a tech start up and I wasn't really liking it. 

An agent's former assistant contacted me and asked to be my agent. She was now an agent and I would be her first client. There's a lot of negatives to that, but the upside would be that they have a lot of time on their hands. And she helped me edit it. 

All of the publishers wanted to change something. And at Del Rey, they didn't want to change any of it. Then my editor ended up leaving to go to Amazon. My new editor, Mike, is amazing and we work well together. A good editor will champion your work and you don't have to argue about content. I know that if he sees there's something wrong in the book, there probably is. 

What modern day authors influenced you?

Gene Wolfe. Shadow and Claw traumatized me.  George RR Martin. Patrick Rothfuss's work is great. I like Neil Gaiman a lot, his world building second to none, except maybe Joss Whedon. They can battle it out. 

Did you try to draw in politics that are happening now and put them in dystopian situations?

No. I don't like to do that because it seems like I'm preaching. I haven't lived enough to have those sorts of opinions on humanity. I know they will change. When I'm 45 it'll be different, when I have kids, it'll be different.

Do you watch tv? 

Not as much as I used to. I like a lot of premium channels. I love the idea between revolution, but I couldn't get into the show. And I love Being Human, but I don't really watch. I love anything that JJ Abrams puts his stamp on, so I watch a lot of Buffy and Serenity. 

Are you anticipating studios contacting you?

Yes. I had a studio send me a gift today. I said that I loved a particular movie and they sent me 4 different copies of it and huge poster. I wasn't home and they sent a huge package and my roommate wanted to open it. So he did and videoed the entire thing. 

Hollywood is really good at first dates. I don't want to be stuck in development. If the right team comes along, sure. But I haven't given up my rights. 

How do you approach swearing?

I fucking love it. [There was more to this answer, but I just didn't catch it. I mean, really.  What more do you need?]

How do you categorize this? YA?

I wrote it to be YA, but quickly realized that I can't write YA. I find that in a lot of YA, they cater to what they think people want, to get readers. Like the love triangle. TFiOS is an amazing book and it's considered YA. Harry Potter is considered YA and that just literature. 

When I realized at page 20 that I was going to kill someone, I had to abandon the idea that it was YA.

Are you going to let them see your previous 6 books if they ask?

Oh god no. I don't think I could even read them. There's some good characters in there. 

Do you write with an outline?

No. And they hate that. I feel that outlines will keep away epiphanies while writing. I do always know where I'm going. The last scene of every book, it's all in my head. 

Social media? 

Pagers. No, twitter and facebook are the best. My email is a lost cause. I should be writing, but I could be doing that instead. I always answer. 

Then he started talking all about book two, giving us some of the plot and the title. I don't want to post that info, just in case...

The signing started around 7:45. Everyone in my row lined up like normal, only to find that we had to move to a different line up spot. So instead of being 3rd in line, I was near the end. 

I got up to Pierce almost an hour after the signing started. We talked about hot peppers, Scooby-Doo snuggies, raw cookie dough, London, living in LA, tater tots, throwing things at him and social security numbers...all within 5 minutes. He's chatty and adorable. 

I can't tell you anything about Red Rising other than the fact that it came very highly recommended by people I trust and Pierce is charismatic and everything I could want in an author when it comes to interacting with readers. 

That should be enough, right?

The time I went to Berkeley

I convinced Hubs to take me to San Francisco for Tamara Ireland Stone's launch party for Time Between Us, so it only made sense [to me] that I would head back up there when Time After Time launched. He was unable to take the time off work, so I headed up alone. 

 

You think the drive to Vegas is boring? This is worse. The only good thing about it is that drivers on the 5 like to drive fast, so even though it was 2 lanes the majority of the way, I maintained a good speed. 

 

I got up to the bookstore just before 5pm and was lucky enough to find parking right next to the door. I am horrible at parallel parking, so I was a little anxious at the idea of there only being street parking available. 

I went into the store and found this delightful display for the event. Of course, after I walked right passed it and had to ask where the display was.... 

 

I completely ruined it by buying all of the books. I may or may not have knocked a few things over. As soon as I told the girls behind the counter that I drove up from San Diego, I got the blank stare. [When am I going to learn that people just don't do things like this normally?]

They set the event area up early so I would have somewhere to camp out. I [like always] had eleventy billion books to flap, so I settled into the front row, got organized and started to wait. 

 

Tamara got to the bookstore around 6:45. She saw me, hugged me, asked about my drive and introduced me again to her husband. I gave her the gift I had for her [Bri, she LOVED them!!] and we chatted for a minute or so before she started making the rounds. 

And there were cupcakes with the book titles on them!

 

I met Anna and Keiko [who also came up from San Diego] before the signing and it was so awesome to FINALLY meet them both!!

The event started just after 7 and it was kicked off with Gayle taking her shoes off because so many people wanted to see them. They both have duets [Gayle: I have a duet of duets] and talked about how they were going to read parts of their books.

 

G: I just finished Time After Time on the plane, did you know you were going to do that? You're juggling so many things and how did you do it?

T: And was it really hard? Yes. I wrote the first book hoping it would be a series. I was so invested in the characters I felt like I could write them forever. And by the time I got done with TBU, I was done with it. But I was so happy that they picked up a sequel. How about you?

G: With If I Stay, no. I didn't think it was going to be a viable book and definitely didn't think it was going to be a sequel. And then the characters started waking me up and I started feeling a responsibility to them. I didn't want to deal with the immediate future and as soon as I made that decision, Adam's story came out. 

For Just One Day, there was a week where there wasn't going to be a sequel. And FYI, I was going to end it exactly where it did. 

As I was writing Just One Day, I had to figure out a lot about Willem. I had to figure out a deep backstory. Why was that day so important? You have to plant the seeds in book one if there's going to be a book 2. 

T: I had a lot of fun with writing a new point of view, writing similar situations from another point of view. 

Tamara talked about Time Between Us and then read from it. She read a scene about Maggie's house first from Anna's POV and then from Bennett's. 

G: The shift of perpsective was fun. It changes everything. You see the entire year and you learn more about the characters and all of these moments where they could have passed each other. 

Gayle read a piece from Just One Day that dealt with the watch and then another piece from Just One Year that also dealt with the watch. 

 

They talked about both being pantsers. I missed most of this conversation because I was taking pictures....

G: Do you feel that each book has their own arc and then together tell a bigger story?

T: Yes. Absolutely. TBU is mostly Anna's story and how she started strong and got stronger. And Bennett's is the same way. His life is in no way miserable, he's not missing anything. It's how he is seen in her eyes. 

G: I called mine books Trojan horse romance. I've got the army in there and look they're in Paris and now they're kissing and now they're more than kissing and then bam!

[Then there was a topic about family.  I blame these two ladies for being so charismatic that I couldn't focus on anything but them talking.]

 

T: In all 4 books, there's a part of family. Bennett is attracted to Anna's normal stable family and Anna is attracted to Bennett's adventure and fly by the seat of your pants life. 

G: Maybe it's because I was a mother when I started writing. 

G: Do you get a lot of people asking about the third book?

T: All the time! Maybe it's because they're conditioned to trilogies. 

G: How many people want a third Mia and Adam book? [I raised my hand] It's so flattering, but let's look at what it would be. It's a book for the sake of being a book. Mia and Adam cook breakfast. Mia and Adam go for a walk. Mia and Adam kiss, but they've been together for a while, so it's not that hot. Or there's conflict.  Mia and Adam have a disease. Mia and Adam have a baby and it dies. Does anyone want that? If you do, there's something wrong with you. 

T: With Time After Time, I had all of the readers in my head. I had to figure out a way to get everyone out. [I missed most of her answer, surprise, surprise]

 

G: Why do you always write girls POV first?

T: It never occurred to me to write it from his POV. And it's his gift... I loved the idea of a reluctant hero. I though that would be more interesting to show from the POV from the girl who loves him POV. Think Spider-Man from Mary Jane's POV. 

And with the second one, it made sense. Once I got to know him so well, I thought it would be just fun to tell the story from his POV. 

Was it hard? Yes. I don't think I would have done it if my editor hadn't pushed me to do it. FYI I've never been a 17 year old boy. I can get in the mindset of a 16 year old girl in high school. My husband read all of my drafts and told me when a guy wouldn't say those things. I had a hard time with the general male to male interactions. [At this point, there was a comment from Gayle about Tamara scratching her balls in public or something like that.  Seriously, my notes are shiteous.]

T: How about you?

 

G: It never occurred to me to write a male POV. Adam was easy to access because he's most like me. Especially the mean Adam in the beginning. 

T: Let's talk settings. You have some great ones in your books, have you been to all of them?

G: Yes. India sort of sticks with you, but I made the entire family go to Mexico for Spring break. What about you?

T: Yes. We had to go to Paris for "research". I wrote 3 chapters and then told my editor to put them on hold. They were the last 3 chapters I worked on to make sure they were authentic.

G: I don't like reading travel books and it's important to me to have little details that make the location.  It's not an information dump like in a travel book.

And then the floor was opened up for Q&A.

 

What are you working on now?

 

T: I just told a book and it's awesome. I was feeling a little sad, missing Anna and Bennett, so it's been great working on that. And it'll be out Spring 2015. [Too. Far. Away. I also might have said that out loud.]

G: I worked on If I Stay for myself. It was saved under "why not". This is a book that I've cheated with, it feels amazing. I don't have a title, but I will tease by saying that it's the hottest guy I've ever written. 

Do you have some routine when writing?

 

T: I can write anywhere as long as I have headphones. I don't listen to music a lot, I can't get the words down if there are other words in my head. I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks. 

G: Get the kids out the door and coffee. Sometimes I will actually put on clothes and go to the cafe. It's not always productive, but it needs to be done. People always ask how do I find the time. It's like closet space, you work with what you have. 

Do you write a requisite amount of words?

G: No. I write until I feel like there's almost nothing left. And then the next day I go back through everything I've done.

T: I do the same.  Sometimes I just spend the day editing what I wrote the day before.

G: Yes, because it's all crap.

 

Fan cast for your books?

 G: I don't have one for If I Stay. And then when they did cast it, it was perfect. And the guy who is playing Adam? He's even hotter. Willem is the guy from the Lumineers, but not as pretty. 

T: I don't have an Anna. [Her son said Lorde and then Tamara said maybe because she has long curly hair]. Bennett is kind of Jeremy from TVD. I like the nice guys. Anna's father will definitely be George Clooney. 

What inspired you to be a writer?

 

T: I've always written for myself. It's cathartic. I wanted to write something that was for me, something that wasn't watching tv or going to the movies. Writing for young adults, I have to credit Judy Blume. In my dream of dreams, I want to create stories that people read over and over again. 

G: The romantic answer would be that the stories inspired me. The realistic answer is that poverty inspired me. I was a journalist and we had bought and apartment and then I had a baby. I had 3 pieces killed in one month. Someone told me that I should write and it was like a light bulb went off.

 

There were more questions, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of these two ladies. I do remember someone asking if Tamara was attached to Cyndi Lauper and that's where she got the title for Time After Time. Gayle and Tamara instead bust out into the song.

The signing started around 8:15. I got up to Tamara first and told her that I had to ration what I had for her, that's why there was only 3.

 

I gave Gayle her huge pile and she started working on them. She asked where I came from and when I said San Diego, she said that she saw my tweet about it. And also mentioned how I was a really good friend for getting all of the books for other people. I calked myself a pack mule [thank you, Kami Garcia] and Gayle started laughing. We talked about my necklace [hand stamped charm that says "Book Boys are Better" from Charmed by Books] and how much she liked it.  Meanwhile, I loaded up on swag...

  

And then Tamara asked if I was leaving right away.  I said yes.  She asked if I could wait a minute and sent her husband out to the car... When he came back, she showed me four different foreign editions of Time Between Us and told me to pick one.  I grabbed the pretty pretty oversized UK version.

 

While Tamara was signing it, she was telling Gayle that I'm her Kevin Bacon.  She can connect around 100 readers of Time Between Us back to me.  This woman....she slays me in the best way ever.

After another round of hugs, I made my way through the store, saying goodbye to everyone I had met.  And I didn't get pictures with anyone. *face palm*

Tamara and Gayle are magical together.  This ridiculous recap and lack of good note taking is mostly my fault and partially theirs.  If they weren't so damn entertaining, perhaps I would have been able to do better.

Now. Go pick up all of their books.  You won't be disappointed.

The time it was steampunk themed

I read Innocent Darkness when it was a book club choice and I really enjoyed it. When Charmed Vengence was released on NetGalley, I eagerly requested it. Once I was approved, I devoured it and loved it even more than the first one.

So, when I saw Suzanne was going to be signing at Mysterious Galaxy, it a pretty sure thing. 

I got down to the store just after 1pm, got a chai tea from Starbucks and headed over to bug my favorite employee, Rob. We talked about Tim Burton and books while he set up the event area. 

Suzanne got to the store around 1:30 and started setting up a tray of cupcakes. All of a sudden, there was a loud scream...and the entire tray of cupcakes had fallen into the shelf of books. And of course, I had to point out to Rob that I had NOTHING to do with it. 

 

Suzanne started at 2:20. She started talking about her costumes and how she was once mistaken for an Amish person when in costume getting gas and wearing a corset. Then went into the synopsis for Charmed Vengeance.  

 

She asked if anyone wanted to call out a number for her to read.  I said 19, her daughter said 59 and she read a portion of the scene on each page.

 

From there, it was an open Q&A session. There was only one other person at the start of the Q&A [more showed up later] so, her and I just went back and forth asking the questions.  Thanks in advance to Gretchen McNeil for your awesome SCBWI guerilla panel questions.
 

What is your writing process like?

Vomits out books, messy dirty drafts. Book 1 had an outline, but it was a different story. It wasn't steampunk. Charlotte wasn't in the story. Book 2 was entirely pantsed. People had opinions of where it should go, some of them came from twitter. Or taxi cab conversations with other YA author friends. 

I don't usually go back, I work on getting all of the words on the page and then make it pretty. When you only have an hour a day to write and a deadline looming, the word count is important.

Did you devise playlists while writing? 

It's a combination of writing while listening. I use the playlists to switch mindsets between drafting and editing. 

Best and worst thing that's happened since being published?

Best: signing arcs at BEA. Felt so honored and humbled to see hundreds of people in line. But then you go to a bookstore for a signing and it's closed. 

What's going to happen in book 3?

There will be some great things happening. We finally get to meet Elyse and she gets to start doing things. 

 

What about Kevin?

He grows up and realizes that maybe drinking isn't the best lifestyle choice. He gets a bit of a happily ever after. We do see more of James and the Dark King in book 3. 

What is one thing you wish someone would have told you about publishing?

That it took so long. It was 27 months from the time book 1 sold to the time it was published. I felt like I was pregnant for 2 years.

Did you already know the group of authors that you're good friends with?

I started writing at RWA before YA was really accepted and was part of the 2012 Apocalypsies, so I've done a lot of things with the same authors who have become friends.

Current guilty pleasure?

I'm a mom, so if I buy candy, everyone else eats it. But I love sour patch kids. A lot of them lost their lives while writing book 2.

Weirdest thing googled while doing research?

Victorian torture scenes from book 1 were based on real things. 

What do you do in your free time?

Between a day job, being a mom and cleaning the house, I've found that people want food too. 

What is your favorite genre?

I read a lot of YA and steampunk. I have a huge TBR pile. [There was a lot more to this answer, but I was taking photos.]

What 3 things would you take to a desert island?

I would take him, *points to husband*. His response? "And then you'd survive."  Her daughter answered, "And a computer."

What's next?

I have several projects, but I write fairy tales. Pretty much everything I write is based on that, some are magical and some aren't. [Her daughter kept interjecting different things, different characters and Suzanne told her that those books weren't written yet.]

 

Describe the series in 5 words. 

Who put fairies in my steampunk?

I always get questions about the fairies. People don't realize that in the Victorian era there were many prominent people thought they could talk to fairies. 

If you could write any famous novel, what would it be?

 

If there was an answer to this, I didn't hear it.  Somehow this got into a discussion about a cupcake cannon and how her husband is going to make her one.

Around 2:50, Suzanne said she would be happy to sign books.  When I got to her, I thanked her for coming and started taking all of the swag that was on the table.  We briefly chatted about the fact that authors pay for their own swag, but didn't get to say much more than that. A couple came rushing in to the store, came right up to the table and started talking to Suzanne about how they weren't sure they were going to make it.

  

As I was gathering up my stuff to leave, I ended up talking with Suzanne's husband. [John? I'm so sorry that I'm horrible with names!!]  He had heard Rob and I talking about NOS4A2, but didn't catch the book title.  I may have fangirled over it a bit and told him the store probably had signed copies, that he should definitely get one.

After quickly saying bye to Rob, I headed home.  It might have been a small gathering of people to see Suzanne, but it definitely made for an interesting conversation.  I'm not sure I would have wanted it any other way!

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.