Happy October to all my readers! One month closer to winter break... Aha. Well guys, I'm super sorry that I haven't been posting as much lately because I am so busy with school work and just in general work. *sigh* And also nothing super exciting has happened to me recently except for the fact that I went to a Lauren Oliver book signing. I know super exciting! I was actually anticipating this signing and discussion meet for over a month and was super excited to go. I love Lauren Oliver and have read almost all of her work. I have literally read everything except Vanishing Girls and half of Replica, the Lyra half. This was also triple exciting because Kendare Blake and M-E Girard were also both there. These three authors are on a teen tour each for their newest book. Lauren Oliver for Replica, Kendare Blake for Three Dark Crowns, and M-E Girard for Girl Mans Up. This was a super amazing experience and my best friend Julia, also a book nerd, came with me so it made everything so much more fun. So now I'll actually go into how it all went down, and since I sadly didn't bring a notebook or take any notes I'll have to rely solely on my memory. Which isn't that great, sorry guys.
Since I live in Canada, the main and pretty much only bookstore in here is Indigo. What I didn't know however is that sometimes at a popular location there are events which could be found here: (if you are interested). I absolutely had no idea that pretty often authors came in and signed their recent books. A different blogger actually told me about this so shout out to her. Well she actually told me about Frenzy which is the Canadian teen Harpercollins acc that plans some of these events. Obviously I was already following it but I didn't actually know what it was. So after that I found out about this event with Lauren Oliver and was patiently waiting for it since.
So when I first arrived at 6:20pm, the event started at 7pm, I was told to go and get a ticket. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but later found out that apparently there were very limited tickets and if you had one you were definitely going to get a seat and the authors to sign your books. Then I had to wait a while for us to be let into the sitting area, which we were at around 6:30. I obviously got two tickets and two seats and then waited for my friend to arrive, she was running late. I am a super book nerd so I knew I had to be there early.
(This is the sitting area and small stage before the event started ^ sorry for the bad quality guys)
At 7, right on time, the event started and all 3 authors came on stage, as well as the Harpercollins Canada representative, who asked all the questions. Some of the question revolved around favourite foods and just about their journey altogether, but most interesting were the questions about upcoming books. We learned that Lauren Oliver is obsessed with pasta, but loves food in general. :) Sameee! And also that Lauren and Kendare were on tour together for a while. They all discussed their latest good read and none of them seemed familiar, but that's probably only because they weren't Ya. Then Lauren said that she was excited for Spindlefire to come out, a book a close friend of hers wrote. (By: Lexa Hillyer, comes out April 11th, 2017) Hey, if Lauren's excited, then so am I. :) Then another book called The Bonesless Mercies was mentioned but there is barely information on it as it comes out in 2018. After all that, the authors were asked what they were working on as well as where they preferred to work. Lauren Oliver said that she literally works everywhere, she even writes books on her phone. She also mentioned that she is currently writing many books at once, Helix (I think that's what it's called, Replica book 2), a new fantasy series that she is releasing soon, and some adult books too I think. Kendare Blake said that she prefers to work at home in a clean space but it's very hard to start working because she feels it's like work. She also said that she works every day because otherwise she feels guilty because she's not being productive, haha. Kendare mentioned that she knows that Three Dark Crowns is going to be more than one book, but she isn't sure how many books there will be. She is currently working on the second book. M-E Girard said that she too can not work just anywhere and she currently isn't sure what she is working on.
After all the Q and A from the representative was over there were a few audience questions. I don't remember two of them but one was "How tall are the characters in your books". This struck everyone as being extremely funny especially since the girl who asked it said that it's kind of her obsession to know the heights of book characters, lmao. Most of the authors were stumped but Lauren, as always, gave a super deep answer, on the spot, about the heights in all her books. Most very average but the main character in Panic was really tall and some were really short. Kendare said that the three queens were all different heights the oldest being the tallest, and the youngest I think, the poisoner being the shortest because all the poisons stunted her growth. After all the questions were done the authors went behind the stage to take a little break and we all got in a line to get our books signed. Honestly I came in there wanting only Lauren Oliver's signature but by the end I also wanted Kendare Blake's too. All the authors were super funny and awesome in their answers and we really got to see their personalities. I could really relate to Kendare though because she seemed very smart but also super lazy. So by the end I also ended up buying Three Dark Crowns, which I actually saw on Bookstagram a lot when it came out, and getting that signed as well.
The signing process itself took a while but we finally made it. We were kind of sorted by whoever got a ticket and then whoever didn't went to the back of the line, and if the authors had time only then would they sign their books. So I'm super glad I got there early. Oh I also forgot to mention that there was also a prize given away at the end of the discussion portion, it was a bag of all their books, and it was super cool. The winner had a sticky note wrapped on his chair, and he was right in front of me. So obviously I was upset it wasn't me but it's okay the event was super amazing anyways! After we finally got to the front of the line, we had to put our names on the inside cover page so the authors could personalise our signatures. Kendare Blake was first for me and she drew a queen be on mine and wrote to Katia. We also took pictures with all the authors, me and my friend took turns. On the table where the authors were sitting there were also two small bins for Lauren and Kendare with buttons for the two books. I obviously got one of each and they're so cute! Then I came to Lauren Oliver's area of the table and obviously right away started freaking out. My friend had to finish some of my sentences for me because I was stuttering and super nervous. But me and Lauren actually had a legit conversation.
First when I gave her my book, which didn't have the dust jacket on it, she asked if I took care of my dust jackets. This was the first thing she said to me so I was super hyped that she actually took interest in me and that we were going to have a conversation. I told her the truth, that I read at school and I take all my dust jackets off so they don't get ruined in my bag. She laughed and asked if I read in class, and I replied that I do because I do lmao. Then I told her I love all her books and Panic especially, because that's my favourite book. I asked her what her inspiration for it was. She said that she loves Panic too and that her inspiration was all the stupid things she did as a kid, which is actually so true and I don't know how I didn't see it. But I'm still a little disbelieving that she climbed a cliff and then jumped off it and walked across a highway blindfolded... Then Lauren asked me if I was a writer, and for some reason I said that I'm not. Then I said that I am a blogger and Lauren said "so you are a writer". Anyways, then my friend Julia came up and she got her book signed and we each took pictures with Lauren and then Lauren asked us how we met and Julia told her ski club, which is true. Then Lauren asked if we both ski and I had sooo much trouble saying I snowboard. No joke, my friend had to finish my sentence for me because I was so nervous to be talking to Lauren, finally. I tried to say snowboarding 3 times before Julia just said it for me. ;) I think that we literally stood up there talking to Lauren for a good 6 minutes before I could tell she was getting tired of us. But if you ever read this Lauren, thank you for spending those 6 minutes talking to us, and I hope you'll remember us for next time, the ski club girls. :)
After that we just got the buttons and went down from the stage. (Because when we went we went one by one onto the stage and actually got to talk to the authors while they signed our books) I got a Gemma button, because that's the half of the book I read at that point, and really liked and a button of one of the crowns. Then for some reason, after we left the stage, we got a magazine called Faze and a highlighter from the Indigo Staff, but I felt so happy and hyped that I didn't question anything. Only after when we were driving home I finally looked at the signatures. Kendare's was the same for both of us "It's not easy, being queen" and a drawing of a queen bee but it's okay because Lauren's was different for both of us! AND, she signed it twice, one on each side, because technically it is two books in one. She also made a joke during the discussion that Replica is a good investment as a Christmas gift because it's technically two books so the person you gift it to will ow you two books. Haha! Anyways Lauren's signature on Lyra's side just said "For Katia - Happy Reading, now + always-" but on Gemma's side (The side I read and loved), she wrote "For Katia - Focus on your school missy! I know you are reading in class, ha!" (and her signature twice obviously) When I read the second one I actually died a little inside, I actually laughed out loud. She remembered something when I was talking to her, and instead of just giving a generic one she actually really personalised it. I was soo happy, but I only read this in the car ride home so I couldn't thank her, But thank you so much Lauren! I love you and all your work! <3
Anyways it was a truly spectacular experience and I highly recommend it! I was also really hoping to go to the next one with Marie Lu. I absolutely loved Legend, even just for the discussion as I haven't read her recent Young Elites Trilogy. But sadly, I'm in Montreal this weekend so I'm not sure I can make, it but I'll try. It's this Sunday. Thank you so much to all my amazing readers for reading and supporting me. Feel free to ask any questions about the event if you're curious or just comment! Love you all! - Kat Hearts <3
(I will attach picture of the event below, and of my books and signatures, and buttons :) )
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