Event Recap: PPL YA Author Fest

July 27, 2015     erinbook     Event, Feature

It’s that time again! Laura, Mia and I went on another author adventure.
This event took us into Pickerington, OH, in a giant high school that could have fit 5 or 6 of my own inside of it. I couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like going to school there. This was probably one of our worst planned events. We missed the keynote altogether and maybe the first few minutes of he first panel. Oops. I blame traffic and construction.
Our first panel was sucker punch reads, books that come out of nowhere and grab you by the feels. On the panel was the amazing Natalie D. Richards (Gone Too Far, Six Month Later, My Secret to Tell), hybrid author extraordinaire Liz Coley (Pretty Girl-13, Tor Maddox), and new favorites Kristina McBride, SX Bradley, and Colleen Clayton.

 

Each one had a lot to say on various topics: are you worried about people stealing your ideas? (No) What do you say when asked if your book is appropriate for a certain age? (They’re probably more prepared for the content than the parent) And a few other goodies that I’m not allowed to share with you. Shhhh.
This event actually gave us time for lunch! Yay! We each had some delicious food and wandered into the field house to buy books and get ready for the first signing. No, I had only intended on buying 2, maybe 3, books.  And at first that was pretty easy. The one I really wanted was sold out (but I got a signed bookplate for that baby when I get it) so I picked up Colleen’s book and one of Edith’s.
Somehow I walked away with all of these, plus the six I brought with me. To be fair, I did not buy the first 4 from this pile. They were a gift from a lovely person who shall remain nameless, but I appreciate them so much!
We wandered around and chatted with the authors. Once again, I am under a gag order on some of what we talked about but I will tell you as much as I can.
Mindee Arnett was so lovely, as she always is. We talked about Robin McKinley and the story of my name which worked it’s way into the personalization of my book. She always finds the coolest jewelry to wear, this tie she had some really cool steampunky gears on her necklace and earring. I have something similar at home and it made me smile.
Liz Coley talked with us about her Tor Maddox series and we made some plans. If you’re a fan of Liz you’ll want to keep an eye out, we’ll be having her around with a fun little thing soon. Lorie and Carey and I chatted about their covers (dude, they’re gorgeous) while they signed you guys some book plates. Yes, you guys. After all, our blogoversary is coming up next month!
Then it was time for the second panel. The theme: Twice Told Tales, moderated by Natalie. It began with her introduction of each author.

 

We had Lorie Langdon who was Carey Corp-less for the first time on a panel (Carey was moderating something else). With her were Edith Pattou and Lisa Klein. Lorie talked about getting the rights to publish Doon, as the musical Brigadoon is not in public domain. Lisa and Edith didn’t have such issues as Shakespeare and fairy tales fall into public domain and are fair game for retellings.
There were only a few people in the room so when it came to a few new tibits being spilled, I was told I couldn’t reveal them to you dear reader. And as I told them, I was hearing that a lot that day. I wonder if they know how much torture that is! So once again under a gag order, I promised not to say anything.
I asked then whether they, like so many authors, refused to read their finished books for fear of finding the one big error in the whole thing. All but Edith said yes. Edith had been listening to the audiobook of East in preparation for writing the sequel. That was the last question, so we strolled back toward the field house for the last signing.
This was went we did our best to get as many pictures as possible. Lorie and Carey were giving away an arc of Shades of Doon and I snapped a quick pic of them with the winners.
We had a lot of fun catching up with everyone.
As is tradition every time I get the chance to see her, Natalie and I took our goofy photo.

 

We were hanging around, waiting for my fiance to get his butt there, when the organizers got everyone together for a group photo. I was lucky enough to snap one or two of my own.
Goofy.
Serious.
And a photo of the smaller group that took one as well. See, hanging around til the end has its merits!
And so, we come to the final count. This haul does not include swag and other fun things we managed to grab. Penguin Random House had a nice table of fun set out and I snagged some thing for the blogoversary. Keep your eyes peeled for that. But, without further babbling, the final count.
17 Books.
 
What should I tackle first? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Keep Reading!

2 responses to “Event Recap: PPL YA Author Fest

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.