The time there were stories

I had planned on catching Kami at her date at The Grove. However, as I was expecting to be driving back from Arizona on that day, I wasn't entirely sure. And then a date was announced at MG a day later, so of course that's where I decided to go.

I met Michelle for a coffee date before hand and we actually behaved ourselves once we got into the store. For every copy of Unbreakable that was purchased, a raffle ticket was given and the grand prize was a $50 gift certificate to MG and swag!

 

As we were sitting down, Jennifer was handing out goodies. We got stickers and keychains and bracelets. And then, she handed me a free copy of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, after I convinced Michelle that I didn't need her to buy me a copy. 

 

The ladies came in around 6:45 and they posed with their books before the event started.

 

Lissa started out by telling everyone that Nancy and she were at the stop to celebrate Kami's launch. And then she gave a synopsis of Starters. 

 

Kami talked about setting up the swag box and how she had a lot of male readers and no one wanted jewelry. She then started talking about Unbreakable, the hot twins and the awesome-not-supernatural-skills they all have. 

Nancy then talked about how she worked at MG for a while and how she has written over 200 short stories. She also writes for Teen Wolf.

 

Kami and Nancy were talking about the blurb that Nancy gave for the book. Kami said that she wanted to blow it up and put it on the wall in her office because she loved it so much.

And then Kami started talking about how she did a segment where they videoed parts of her office. She did a school visit the day before and the video played in the background while she was there. She said it played for way to long...it was about 90 seconds long. Her kids have different views about the office. Her son wants the door to stay closed so his friends don't see the weird things and tell their moms. Her daughter wants to bring all of her Daisy Scouts over so they can see the stuff. 

Kami read from the book. She chose chapter 3 because it used to be chapter 1. Her editor said that maybe it should be changed so the reader can meet the person first. Kami said it didn't matter because they were going to die anyways.

 

And then Q&A started...

Is it different for you writing by yourself?

Yes. It's a lot different. I liked writing this book and I really like this book. I got to draw and design the symbols in the book and my family is from DC. I used an inspiration board this time and outlined a lot. I'm not touring alone, but the big difference is that with a partner you get instant feedback. Someone who will tell you, "ooh, I loved that". This time, I had to write pages and pages wondering if what I was writing really sucked. 

Kami to Nancy: what's the difference for you?

N: The difference is with the deadline. If you're running late, no one can help you on it. With working with a partner, while writing, you wonder if what you're writing will be something the partner likes.

 

Kami to Lissa: have you ever written with someone?

I have. The stuff I've written was tv stuff. I have a writing group that I love and will never leave. If anyone wants to start writing, I suggest getting a group. [Kami: you should talk about your background. Lissa: Nooo.]

Lissa, what is your background?

I've done a lot a traveling. I spent 2 years just going east. I was a kid whose parents never traveled. And my husband was known as cheap in the group of Swiss friends, so it was always a battle between a nice hotel or a crappy one. I use a lot of that in my books. 

What is the most drastic thing you've done for a deadline?

N: It was my turn to work and I slept on the couch and I would set the oven timer for one hour of sleep. One hour of work, then one hour of sleep. 

K: Margie and I always make our deadlines together. No matter how much time you have, it's never enough. For this book, I only had 5 weeks. Mostly, I just stay up. I'll stay up until 4-5am and then sleep for a couple of hours. 

I type with three fingers. My assistant, Chloe, types really fast, so I've been dictating it to her. It works a lot better because I can't see the screen so I can't edit it. She'll only read back 2 sentences before forcing me to continue. 

I don't do word count, I go by pages. So I know some secrets about margins and how to add pages. And I think of the word count like sick days, we've got to have some banked. Beautiful Creatures was 158k words, so they must owe me around 90k.

 

What would your superpower be?

L: Flying. 

K: Flying would be the worst ever. I want to always sit next to the baby. I figure if something is going to happen, God isn't going to take the baby. The best flight I ever had was because I had a baby on one side and a nurse on the other. 

I'm really superstitious and I don't like 13s anywhere. I'd rather have 666 than a 13. [Insert story here about a hotel room ending in 13, rape structures, a man sleeping in the newly assigned room and Kami getting upgraded to the penthouse. I couldn't even get the entire thing down.] 

Kami picked did the raffle just before 8pm [I didn't win] and then we lined up for the signing part.  Michelle was first.  When we got up there, Kami encouraged us to take more swag.  When I handed my stack of arcs for Jaime & Erin, Kami asked if I was the pack mule. 

I didn't get a finished copy for myself because I got a signed arc at SDCC and I'm trying to keep things slightly under control.  But, I did get a copy and some swag for a giveaway at some point.

Kami has always been a lot of fun to see, but she was hilarious tonight.  There were so many stories that I couldn't keep up with to type up because I was laughing so hard.  I can only tell you that you should definitely pick up Unbreakable and if you can, go see her at an event.

The time I went to WonderCon.

When I told people we were going to WonderCon, I got one of two reactions. Either "why waste your time?" or "what's WonderCon?". Admittedly, I fell into the latter category. We've been going to Comic-con for 15 years and never once heard of WonderCon. After seeing how cheap tickets were, we figured why not?

Saturday was interesting. We got up late and with the rain, didn't get to Anaheim until 11:30 or so.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone implied it would be.  It was small.  Extraordinarily small.  Not only in comparison to SDCC, but to the NAMM convention that is also held in Anaheim. However, small crowds made for an excellent time.

The most important goal for Saturday was to locate the Mysterious Galaxy booth in relation to where the entrance door was.  And it took us a while... Turns out we kept going to the booth that was behind MG, but never took 2 steps further.  O_o

As we wandered around, we found ourselves in the Artist Alley. We were walking up and down the aisles and there was a guy standing in the aisle way and he handed me a card.  Usually, I don't take these things, but the card was very brightly colored and had a picture of a bunny with fangs eating a carrot.  I thought it was hilarious, so I kept the card. 

A few minutes later, I saw this on a t-shirt...

Turns out the guy who handed me the card is the artist, Sebastien Millon [www.sebastienmillon.com].  He came over to us and introduced himself.  I was wearing my Time Lord sweatshirt and he started asking questions about Doctor Who and how we started watching it.  He is super nice and I absolutely love his art work.  We bought the above picture in an 18x24 print and I can't wait to get more.

Sunday... oh, Sunday... It was all about YA panels and signings. 

Gretchen McNeil had been tweeting that she was going to have 15 ARCs of Ten to give away at her signing at MG.  Here was my dilemma... She was signing at 11, doors for the convention didn't open until 11 and we still had to go to registration in the morning to pick up our badges.

Thankfully, they had registration open early, so we were able to pick up our badges around 9:30. Security was herding everyone to a massive line in the dungeon [AKA the basement, AKA next to registration]. They swore up and down that the massive line would be the quickest way to get inside.

We opted to go back upstairs and evade security until 11. Apparently we either look completely unassuming or completely pissed off because security didn't once tell us to go downstairs like they were to everyone around us.

At 10:55, people started streaming inside and I was ready to run. Run and throw elbows and bitch slap anyone who got in my way to the booth. Turns out the MG booth was basically around the corner from the door we entered and we were there right away.

Gretchen is adorable. I had bought a signed copy of Possess and brought it to ask of she would personalize it. She did, of course. I then asked if all the ARCs were gone and they weren't!! I was able to get a copy of Ten and she signed that as well.

We left the MG booth and went around the corner, but I ended up going back to see of Gretchen would sign my Nook. While I was waiting, I FINALLY met Lauren and Christina [AKA the ladies of Swoontini]. I've been talking to the two of them for what seems like years, so it was exciting to get tackle hugs from both of them.

I also ran into Ava. She is one of the girls who was gushing about TFiOS at the Megan Miranda signing in HB. She complimented my blog, which I thought was super cool and then we both took a picture with Lauren and Christina. Turns out, I'll be seeing a lot of Ava this year. :D

1pm brought us Kami Garcia and Ransom Riggs, again at the MG booth.

Now, I've been trying to get a picture with Kami Garcia for about a year. She's been sick or busy with her group and I didn't want to interrupt. This year, I was determined to get one.  I asked Kami to sign my Nook [which she did] and then I asked for a picture. And HOORAY!! I got one!!

After thanking Kami, I slid over to Ransom and asked him to sign my copy of his book.

2pm brought me Tahereh Mafi and Veronica Rossi [who hugged me!! *squee*]. Both of them recognized me [really, my chest tattoo]. I told them both that I would be at Vroman's in April, that I was stalking both of them. Both women signed my Nook and I also got a signed bookmark by Veronica for a friend.

3pm brought the YA panel with Kami Garcia, Ransom Riggs, Veronica Rossi, Lissa Price, Gretchen McNeil, and Ann Aguirre with moderation by Andrea Cremer.

The panel started out with the best question ever. Instead of Andrea introducing everyone, she asked them to introduce themselves, talk about their book and then to state their favorite cosplayer of the convention.

I was most excited to see the book trailer for Under the Never Sky. I'm horribly in love with that book, so it was interesting to see how they captured some of the imagery described.

We left the panel early to get back down to MG because at 4, Lissa Price and Ann Aguirre were signing. Annnnd, if you bought Enclave, you got the ARC of the sequel, Outpost, as well. So of course I did that.

Lissa gave out rubber bracelets, pins and light up necklaces to the first 5 people who were in line. She commented on the fact that I was prepared for the signing, by having my book faced and post-it ready.

Ann was very sweet and very soft spoken. She seemed surprised that we were getting ARCs, but asked me to email her and let her know what I thought of the books when I was done.

Even though my time with all of the authors was short, it was awesome to see so many different people in one place. I'm even more excited for SDCC now.