The Readventurer
  • Home
  • YA Reviews
  • Adult Reviews
  • Contests and Giveaways
  • Policies
  • About Us
    • Flannery's Challenges
    • Catie's Challenges
  • Contact Us

Event Recap: Melina Marchetta, Kristin Cashore, and Gayle Forman at Books of Wonder

7/19/2012

50 Comments

 
Melina Marchetta Kristin Cashore and Gayle Forman
Tuesday was a complete whirlwind and I am still recovering!  I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to the glamorous bus depot near Union Station in Washington, D.C. to meet my chariot to NYC.  Unfortunately, there was construction all around the station and D.C. already has notoriously tiny street signs, so I got pretty lost, had a panic attack on the phone to my husband, cried, and then stumbled upon the parking garage completely by accident.  I sprinted down two non-functioning escalators to meet the bus, got in the wrong line, and finally, finally made it into my bus only two minutes before it was supposed to depart.  And then I waited there for forty five minutes because the driver was late.

It was a horrible start to the day, ameliorated somewhat by a cheeky Brit up front who called out loudly for some “common courtesy” and then called the driver a “twatter.”  I’m pretty sure everyone on the bus appreciated it.

The drive up was largely uneventful, except that I had completely forgotten how quickly I can read when I’m not constantly being interrupted.  It’s a good thing I came prepared, book-wise.  Everything else…eh, not so much.  This was my first time in NYC and it was hot.  And loud.  And crowded and dirty and most of all, draining.  It was also fun and exciting in a frenetic way.  Granted, I only saw a tiny part of it, and what I saw was most likely the touristy-est part.  But still…I think I could have been more prepared.

Here is what I wish I had brought to New York with me:
-   Sunscreen
-   Personal shower
-   Change of clothes
-   Make up
-   Comfortable walking shoes
-   Cattle prod

Here is what I actually brought to New York with me:
-   Seven books

Being Friends with Boys Dragons of Darkness and Finnikin of the Rock
My loot.
Luckily, the very lovely Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks agreed to meet up with me right off the bus, so I at least had someone awesome to walk around with in the hot, evil sunshine.  Heidi was really fun to hang out with and was a great guide to NYC – we never got lost and we made it to the event an hour and a half early.  Books of Wonder is a beautiful store with titles for children, middle-grade, and young adults.  I found a really nice hardcover copy of Antonia Michaelis’ Dragons of Darkness in their sale section for only $4.00!  I also bought Finnikin of the Rock, because I didn't own it yet and Heidi brought me Being Friends With Boys!

Their meeting room was quite tiny, however, so Heidi and I ended up standing behind the measly 15-20 seats they provided.  (Yes, in answer to your unspoken question – we were there an hour and a half early and still somehow managed to not get a seat.  I blame the heat exhaustion.)  The event itself was amazing.  It was clear from the beginning that these three women are all fans of each other’s work and friends as well.  Instead of each giving a talk/reading, they decided to interview each other.

Kristin Cashore started things off by bringing up the interesting fact that all three of them wrote companion novels and not necessarily sequels.  Even more interesting is that all three of them wrote the first novel in their respective series intending it to be a standalone.  This actually happened twice for Melina Marchetta, both with Saving Francesca and Finnikin of the Rock.  Melina said, “I didn’t like Froi; I used him as a tool.”  It wasn’t until later that she realized he had a story of his own.  However, Quintana of Charyn was always intended as a sequel.  As Melina put it, she realized that there was a problem when she was five hundred pages into the book and the pregnancy (no spoilers!) was only five months along.  She contacted her publisher, feeling very stressed but as soon as her publisher heard the word “trilogy” all was well.

They then spoke about some of the decisions they made in their first books that impacted their second books in frustrating ways.  For example, Kristin Cashore mentioned that in Graceling, she wanted to slow down the pacing a bit and so decided to add in the impenetrable forest and impassable mountain.  However, when she was writing Bitterblue, she wanted the pacing to move more quickly but found it difficult because of the forest/mountain sitting there, in the way.  Melina Marchetta brought up that in Saving Francesca there’s a part where Tom and Justine are said to have similar musical taste and both enjoy musicals.  However, in The Piper’s Son, there’s a scene where Tom thinks “it can’t get worse” than Jesus Christ Superstar.  Melina Marchetta laughed, saying that she was all prepared to explain that inconsistency by saying that Tom had grown out of his love for musicals over the years, but that the question has never come up!  She also said that she never expected Froi to lead the companion novel for Finnikin of the Rock, based on his actions in that book, but also because he has a “dumb name.”  Then Gayle Forman piped in, saying that if there were one thing she could change about Where She Went, it would be Adam’s band name!  (Ha!) Kristin Cashore then mentioned that “Po” actually means “butt” in German so the name had to be changed in the translation.  And apparently Katsa is somewhat similar to a word for the male anatomy in Italian.

Book event at Books of Wonder
This is how small the room was!
The topic then changed over to (dun dun dun!) reviews.  Kristin Cashore was frustrated by some reviews that made assumptions about her beliefs about marriage, saying, “I’m apparently anti-marriage and I hate children” – all based on her decision to write one character who doesn’t want to get married or have kids.  She then said that if we could all see her phone, we’d know how wrong that assumption is, saying “my phone is full of babies!”  She eventually decided that she couldn’t just brush off the bad reviews or negative emails anymore.  She doesn’t ever visit her goodreads page and she doesn’t allow comments or emails through her blog.

Melina Marchetta said that she doesn’t often read reviews and that she’s come across some good ones and some bad ones.  She said that she tries to keep in mind that she’s “not the audience of the review” and that mostly, she stays away.  Gayle Forman then interjected, saying, “the opposite of love is indifference, right?”  She said that a lot of readers got upset about Adam’s swearing in Where She Went, but for her, his swearing didn't feel like a big deal.  She said that swearing doesn’t connect to morality.  They all agreed that they write for themselves as readers and for readers like themselves.  Not everyone will like their work, but that’s okay.

Gayle Forman led the next question, saying that in her opinion both Kristin Cashore and Melina Marchetta write some of the “most delicious sexual tension.”  Melina Marchetta, using the example of Taylor and Jonah (from Jellicoe Road), said that for her it’s about letting the insecurities and damaged places come through.  She said it’s about “the belief that they [the characters] are the only two people who could put each other back together again.”  Kristin Cashore then expanded on that, saying that for her it’s also about equality in power – “the only two people who could take each other on” – an even match.  They both agreed that what you don’t say is often more evocative than what you do say.  Gayle Forman said that she also loves that in both Melina Marchetta’s and Kristin Cashore’s novels, the love interests often start out as adversaries which creates immediate tension between them.

Then they were each urged (by each other) to read scenes laden with sexual tension, which I thought was hilarious.  Gayle Forman wasn’t going to read, but after Kristin Cashore went, they convinced her to.  Here are the videos:

They went on to speak about why they felt the need to continue their one-novel-standalone-stories.  Melina told a very funny anecdote about two of her students who would sort of tease her by blaring out “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban whenever she would ride with them in a car, simply because they knew she disliked it.  They would also call her on the phone and hold up the receiver whenever that particular song was played at their Catholic school assemblies.  One day she was listening to that song and reading the scene where Froi gets hoisted up on someone’s shoulders in Finnikin of the Rock.  “That dumb song” (“it’s not really dumb” – she later corrected) made her realize that Froi was a major player in the story.  Also, after writing Tom Mackee, she looked forward to tackling another unlikable, antagonistic character – someone who was difficult to like at first. 
Kristin Cashore said that it was fun to see Katsa, a character who is very much not in tune with herself, through the eyes of Bitterblue, someone who is.  She then struggled a bit to describe exactly why that was interesting for her, and Melina Marchetta suggested it might just be that she’s getting the opportunity to see her character through a brand new perspective.  Gayle Forman said that it’s very interesting to her as a writer to explore the exact same timeline but from a new perspective.  And Kristin Cashore added that changing perspective can actually change how you see your own characters.  When she was writing from Leck’s point of view in Bitterblue, she found that she had to keep going back to his words again and again, to make them “more creepy.”  She only realized then just how disturbing he really was.

They moved on and spoke a bit about point of view.  Melina Marchetta said that Quintana of Charyn will have multiple points of view, just like Froi of the Exiles, but they will all be introduced at the beginning so that the reader knows what she’s getting into.  Kristin Cashore suggested that sometimes simple boredom might be an issue with point of view – it’s more interesting to change perspective when she’s writing.

Gayle Forman gushed a little bit and said that Melina Marchetta is her favorite contemporary YA author and then went on to express some anxiety about how difficult it must have been for her to switch over to fantasy – to which Melina Marchetta replied, “It’s not that dramatic.”  Apparently, Kristin Cashore is also switching gears and writing a contemporary novel next.  I didn’t know this, but her first and third novels (unpublished) are also contemporaries. She said that for her, it's the character who leads her to contemporary vs. fantasy.  Katsa appeared to her with powers, so she wrote a fantasy.

Melina Marchetta spoke about what motivated her to write a fantasy, telling a “New York story” about a two month period where she had switched homes with “Justine and Scott” (ie, Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld) and stayed in NYC.  She was riding the train and saw a poster showing a camp in Africa.  Then she noticed that everyone in the carriage was speaking a different language and she thought about how “so many people are not in their home lands.”  She said that she feels very strongly about refugees and people who lose their homes, and she feared that a contemporary novel would feel too political.  She sent an email that day, asking her editor to “talk her out of it.”  But when she asked if her editor thought she could possibly write it as a fantasy, her editor replied, “of course you can.” 

Some highlights from the audience Q&A (abbreviated):

How do you create characters that are abrasive and difficult to like and then make us like them so much it hurts?
Gayle Forman said that it was quite easy to write Adam, because he's so much like herself.  Kristin Cashore said that difficult characters are the most fun to write, and if you (the writer) are having fun, then the reader will enjoy it. Melina laughed and said that she gets a bit sad when people say they "hate Georgie" because that's the character she thinks is the most like herself.  Melina Marchetta went on to say that it was important to her that Tom Mackee was genuinely unlikable at the beginning, but that she slipped in little hints, like "a promise to the reader" that he was a decent guy.  For example, in the email exchanges between Tom and his sister, his address is "annabelle'sbrother" which is a cue that he's not all bad.  Kristin Cashore then piped in to say that she gave Death a cat in Bitterblue with much the same intent.

What was the most helpful advice you've received from your editor?
Kristin Cashore: after handing in her 800 page draft that took three years to write, her editor said "would you consider starting from scratch?"
Gayle Forman: couldn't think of a simple piece of advice but said that her editor often "gives her the key to unlock the book."
Melina Marchetta: "The word 'said' is a good word.  Use it."  And, "don't be a thesaurus; use a thesaurus."

On reviews:
Melina Marchetta: doesn't let any of her books go to print unless she's 100% happy with what's inside.  If she's 100% happy, then anything negative a reviewer might have to say won't affect her.  Also gave this sage advice: "stop reading the review after the words, 'I really wanted to like this book but...'"
Kristin Cashore: doesn't like when reviewers try to speculate about what she was trying to do with the book, or about who she is as a person.  

On writing:
Melina Marchetta: the characters are just there, in her mind.  She begins by listening to her characters and waiting to see who they bring along with them.  She waits for them to come to her and she spends a lot of time listening to their dialogue before she commits anything to paper.
Kristin Cashore: is somewhat the same.  She listens to her characters' dialogue and waits for them to reveal themselves.
Gayle Forman: her characters often surprise her and she doesn't always know where they're going to go.  Sometimes as she's writing, a scene will come out completely different than she initially pictured it.  Her characters sometimes seem to have a mind of their own.

Melina Marchetta then spoke a bit about Quintana's dual nature in Froi of the Exiles.  She was confused because Quintana would sound one way in one scene, and then another way a few scenes later.  She couldn't figure it out until Quintana finally revealed her secret - it was a big surprise.  

On world-building in fantasy:
Kristin Cashore said that with Graceling, she let the world develop more as she wrote it and didn't really pre-plan it out.  She said that she regrets that now and she thinks that planning it out before-hand works the best for her. Melina Marchetta said that she does a bit of both - planning and just going with the flow.  She uses a lot of her real-world travel destinations as inspiration for her fantasy worlds.  They both agreed that making up swear words or using the more "quaint" swear words is really fun.  I think Melina Marchetta said "swiving" about five times during that conversation, haha.

Where's Jimmy Hailer? (this from an audience member who called Melina Marchetta "her goddess")
Melina Marchetta: "three words: I don't know."  She went on to say that Jimmy was based on a student of hers who was very angry at the time, but has since gone on to become very happy in his life.  She said that she feels content to leave him there, to let him be happy.  She also thought that Jimmy's absence in The Piper's Son would speak more loudly than his presence.
Picture
After the Q&A, we all lined up to get our books signed. I felt bad that I only had books for Melina Marchetta (and also that I'd been walking around all day and was a sweaty mess) but I made it to the head of the line and they were all so wonderful!  Melina Marchetta gave me a hug (poor woman) and I got a picture!  I look like complete hell and my eyes are like half closed, but Melina looks gorgeous.  And isn't that all that really matters?   In fact, I'm just going to warn all of you right now that every picture of me from this day is pretty rough.  But I'm gonna share them all, because I know you guys love me for my heart and not my (usually) not-so-sweaty face.

Picture
Of course, Sash and I had to take our customary photo at events such as these.  I was really hungry, so you'll have to excuse the excessive baring of teeth.  Watch out Sash!

And look, more awesome people!
Picture
Picture
Picture
On the left, the lovely Janice from specificromantic.  With me in the middle and wearing the absolutely stunning knitwear is my tour guide Heidi.  And on the right with me is the goddess of goodreads - Karen!  Karen was amaaaazing and heroically walked with me through what I can only describe as several million blocks to drop me off at Port Authority safely at 9:30 at night.  Not only did she save my life once on the journey (true story!), she left me with the very wise advice that I probably shouldn't just stand on the street corner waiting for my bus and looking "directionless."  I took that advice, and I'm happy to say that I survived New York City.  I had a blast, but I have to be honest - seeing the national mall all lit up in the distance as I picked up my car in the middle of the wonderfully dark and silent night was one of the best feelings I've ever had.  
Readventurer C Signature
50 Comments
Sash link
7/19/2012 01:48:53 am

YEEEEEEEEEES. <3333 our picture!

Also, when she said swiving, I feel like I was the only one who laughed EXTREMELY loud. Like..did no one else get it? Or was I the only one who was immature and laughed? HA. I thought she'd have gone with "SAGRA!" for her curse word - it's all I could think about. :)

Love yall! xoxo

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 02:18:11 am

I totally cracked up when she talked about the different pronunciations of swiving...because I completely used to say it the other way too. That picture of us is so perfect, LOL. I love that you always look super cute no matter how much of your face gets cut off.

It was great seeing you!

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 06:11:10 am

How else can you pronounce swiving?@o@

Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 08:42:32 am

It's the short 'i' vs.long 'i' question. Like, swih-ving vs. sweye-ving.

Keertana link
7/19/2012 02:47:55 am

I'm so excited you got to go to this event Catie! Melina Marchetta, Kristin Cashore, and Gayle Forman are some of my favorite authors and I wish I could have met them! I live just an hour away from NYC by train, but I wasn't able to go for this event, so thanks for the lovely recap! It looks like you had a great time!(:

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 03:51:34 am

Oh, that's too bad Keertana - I wish you had been able to come! Maybe we'll meet up at some other event someday. All three of the authors were so interesting in person. The format of the talk (where they interviewed each other) was especially entertaining.

Reply
Heidi link
7/19/2012 03:28:04 am

Yay!! This was such a lovely recap, Catie! I had such a fantastic day hanging out with you and at the event, I hope (and am pretty sure) it was worth the long bus trip and crazy hot/tiring day in NYC. Coming home with 7 new books didn't hurt either. =)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 03:54:05 am

Yay!! x 2 :) I am so excited to see all of your updates for those books. It was definitely worth it! I would do it again in a heartbeat! The bus trip home really wasn't that bad. a giant bag filled with books is actually a more comfortable pillow than I realized before. ;)

Reply
Sam link
7/19/2012 03:42:49 am

Melina Marchetta AND Gayle Forman? I wish I could have been there! It sounds like a good event and I'm glad you had a blast, Catie. Thanks for the great recap! :)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 03:55:06 am

I wish you could have been there too, Sam! It was a great event!

Reply
Noelle link
7/19/2012 04:06:26 am

Okay I legitimately LOLed at Gayle Foreman's "change the band name" because yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

I also loved Marchetta describing herself not being the audience for reader reviews. And basically everything else she said. And her. Siiiiigh. I could listen to her talk all day and am so jealous you got to see her in person! (And who hates Georgie?!!?!)

Such a great recap Catie!

Reply
VeganYANerds link
7/19/2012 06:55:32 am

At the talk she gave last week, Melina said a lot of people hate Georgie, her sisters went so far as to say they wanted to slap her in the face!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 08:44:44 am

I have no idea how anyone could hate Georgie.

Wasn't her reading great Noelle? She got the most applause. :D

Noelle link
7/19/2012 09:14:23 am

What! Awww. Although it makes me snicker to think of people telling her they hate Georgie and her replying "yeah? she's based on my personality!" Hahaha.

And yes Catie! SO GREAT!

Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
7/19/2012 08:56:56 am

Noelle, you know I was about to text you when I saw Gayle Forman talk about Shooting Star. LMAO!!

Reply
Noelle link
7/19/2012 09:11:24 am

Bwahahah! I would have totally written in a Behind the Music band name switch between If I Stay and Where She Went. Like, make it a condition of Adam rejoining the band and him having too much angst for SHOOTING STAR. Hehe.

Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 09:41:06 am

I was completely thinking of the two of you, and especially your review of Where She Went, Noelle, when I heard her say that! Haha!

Rosanne
7/19/2012 11:55:09 am

I know!!! Love Georgie so much!

Reply
Ashley @ Book Labyrinth link
7/19/2012 04:28:24 am

Thanks so much for the recap! Those three authors are AMAZING, so I wish so badly I could have gone (you know, if I lived anywhere near there =b).

Reply
Stephanie Sinclair link
7/19/2012 05:43:25 am

I'm glad you had a good time despite the heat and rough start. Great recap!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 08:52:51 am

Thanks Stephanie! I hope you can come next time. We live so close!

Hey, did you see that Leigh Bardugo will be at Bethesda library in August (I think)?

Reply
Maja (The Nocturnal Library)
7/19/2012 06:45:02 am

You are so lucky I love you, Catie, otherwise I'd be dying of jealousy and trying to come up with any number of ways to kill you and get away with it. This way, I get to be happy that you had this day AND enjoy your very detailed recap.
Finnikin was supposed to be a standalone?! B-b-b-ut how would the world work without Froi? I'm pretty sure the earth would just stop spinning! Still, it sounds like he fought his way straight to the surface, and I'm so glad he did. Typical Froi... underestimadet at first, only to prove himself valuable at first opportunity.

And btw, you looked great. You always do. (This is where you need to go back to my very first sentence, haha.)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 08:47:29 am

I'm really glad that Lumatere became a trilogy too. I will never say no to more Melina Marchetta books! Never!

Haha, that picture is so bad. I think you could probably read at night by the shine coming off my face. ;) Doesn't MM look great though?

Reply
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 09:58:33 am

The sad thing is that there are NO new books on the horizon after Quintana. What are we going to do?!

Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 10:05:40 am

Cry, send her some inspirational vibes, and then cry some more. :(

Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 10:12:46 am

And probably some emails full of begging? I might be able to do that:)

VeganYANerds link
7/19/2012 06:57:19 am

And you were worried about writing this recap? This is one of the best I've ever read! And you included photos and videos, awesome!

I really love that Melina, Kristin and Gayle are friends, it would have been great to see them all but now I feel like I was there :)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 08:57:38 am

Wow, that's high praise Mandee - thanks so much!

Reply
Missie
7/19/2012 07:20:46 am

I'm dying with envy here, Catie! But, I'm so happy you got to attend such an amazing panel.

I tend to speculate what an author will do in the next books -- good to know that's annoying. LOL

I would kill to meet MM and GF. Thanks for sharing the pictures and videos.

P.S. They now make some type of waterless shower product that you just have to rub on yourself to clean up. It's supposed to be pretty good. ;)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 09:44:38 am

I totally do that too, Missie. I think she meant that she gets frustrated when reviewers try to speculate about what her intentions were with the book, like what her "agenda" is or why she wrote it a certain way. Which...tbh...I feel like I might do sometimes too. :-\ Oh well!

Oh man, that waterless shower thing sounds like exactly what I wanted on Tuesday, haha. I got home at like 4:30am, exhausted to the bone, but even though I just wanted to fall straight into bed, I took a nice long shower first. Best. Feeling. Ever.

Reply
Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
7/19/2012 09:03:08 am

Catie, you ROCK STAR! We love you and appreciate your blood, sweat, and tears. And SEVEN books?! I can't believe you carried seven books through NYC all day. Such a great recap. I'm going to put You Raise Me Up on my phone right now so I can play it when Melina walks into the library at her LA event next week. :)

Reply
Noelle link
7/19/2012 09:16:14 am

Maggie, please have someone videotape you doing this. Signed, Management.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 09:49:44 am

Haha, if we ever meet up Magsby - I am bringing you AT LEAST seven books. That's like the minimum for a friend. Come on, now.

I really, really, realllllly hope you do that Maggie. DO IT! Also, I can't believe you're seeing her twice in a month!!! I expect a full recap this time! :)

Reply
Rosanne
7/19/2012 10:02:34 am

Beyond grateful that you posted this! So wanted to attend, but the stars were not even close to being aligned. As far as I am concerned this is the YA dream team!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/19/2012 10:12:48 am

Oh, that's great Rosanne! Well, I mean - not that you couldn't come, but I was able to post some videos and stuff so you at least got the gist. I was surprised (and so was Heidi) that there weren't more people there. The place was pretty full, but I expected it to be like...PACKED...for these three. They're very talented ladies.

Reply
Rosanne
7/19/2012 11:46:35 am

I also assumed it would be packed, bizarre that the room was so small! If not for kid related commitments I would have been there......

tommie t
7/19/2012 11:18:34 am

oh i LOVE dragons of darkness!

so glad you had a wonderful time. i wish i could have seen you!!! next visit i hope.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/21/2012 09:55:30 am

It's funny, but it was the ONLY title of hers that they had! And it was randomly 80% off! I was psyched to find it.

Hopefully we can meet up next time there's an author I just *have* to see. :)

Reply
Reynje
7/19/2012 07:50:13 pm

Fantastic recap, Catie. Love this! Shame about the rough start to the day, but it sounds as if it was totally worth it. I'm a big fan of all of these ladies, must have been amazing to be there!

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/21/2012 10:05:08 am

Thanks Reynje! It was really amazing to be there!

Reply
Rachel link
7/21/2012 09:48:49 am

Wow, what an amazing recap, Catie!! I was laughing at the items you felt like you should have brought, cattle prod...probably good idea in NYC!! The scene Melina read it one of my favorites in The Pipers Son! I can't believe some people hate Georgie! I loved her character! I've always thought there was a similar feel to Adam in Gayle Foreman's novels and Tom in Melina's so it's thrilling to see them at an event together. I'm going to see her next week in Los Angeles but she's not appearing with Gayle or Kristen. I think you got the cooler event. There's a bunch of authors appearing at the same time and I don't really care for more than three at a time because it limits the time spent with each one. Oh well, I'm just glad I get to see her at all. And wow, amazing you got to meet these other books bloggers and karen from GR!! I got to meet with Flannery last week when I was up in Seattle and we had so much fun. I hope to meet more of my GR/blogger friends because it's so wonderful talking with someone who's passionate about the same things. Thanks for the awesome post, Catie! :)

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/21/2012 10:09:21 am

That's awesome Rachel - I hope you write a recap for The Reader's Den. And yeah, I know what you mean about a lot of authors at once; I haven't been to too many of these (actually, only two) but I liked the single author one a bit better I think. These ladies had such great chemistry together though. I was so excited to hear from Flannery that you guys met up. If you're ever over on the east coast, you'll have to let me know!

Reply
Brittany
7/22/2012 08:13:52 am

Catie- my music loving friend! I am so excited and jealous that you got to go have this wonderful experience. I read about the event online and I'm so glad someone I communicate with got to experience the amazingness that is these three women. I am a big fan of all three of these authors. Thanks for the recap and the photos. Glad you survived NYC.

Your post got me really excited for more books to come. Especially Quintana.

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/22/2012 11:57:04 am

Brittany! It's so great to hear from you. I wish you and all the other MM maniacs from YA for A could have been with me. :) I am BEYOND excited for Quintana!

Reply
Brittany
7/25/2012 04:28:50 am

For the record, I think I would be just as excited about upcoming projects from any of those authors (I just don't know about them yet). I loved If I Stay and Where She Went almost as much as Jellicoe and Piper's. And Graceling is a little bit like crack for me. I always want more time with Katsa and Po (which could be why I've read the book 4 times). MM just has more books currently published so I know she's always good for a great read.

Kristin Feliz link
7/22/2012 11:30:19 pm

Eeeepp!! FANTASTIC recap.

Is this the part where I admit that *I* am the girl who called Melina Marchetta her goddess?? Because she totally is!! I adore that woman and I may have gone a little fangirl CRAZY when I met her.

Don't judge me. It happens to the best of us...

:)

LOVING your blog!!

Kristin @ Growingupya.blogspot.com

Reply
Catie (The Readventurer) link
7/22/2012 11:37:28 pm

Haha!! I'm so glad you stopped by! I LOVED it when you called her your goddess. I think this is the last place on the internet you'll receive judgment for that, hahaha. We're allllllll crazy fangirls here.

Not to mention - I think we've all been wondering about poor Jimmy.

I'm off to check out your blog!

Reply
Audrey link
7/24/2012 10:08:46 am

I can't believe it took me SO long to finally find this absolutely perfect recap of this event. thank you soooo much for writing it, seriously <3 <3 <3 <3 thank you!! gahh MM is my favourite author, oh how I wish I could have been there :)

Reply
janicu link
7/24/2012 10:51:32 pm

That day you went was a pretty hot day in NYC and thus rather miserable for walking around! The adventure with getting to your bus sounded sucky (and I can't believe the driver would be 45 minutes late!). Anyway, really great recap! You're right -- it's so interesting the details you picked up on that I didn't and the bits where we do overlap. She stayed at “Justine and Scott”'s -- I heard that as she was staying with some friends for a couple of months - completely missed the house switching thing. So, You Raise Me Up is by Josh Groban? I had no idea WTF that song was so I was puzzled. I guess I'll go listen to it now. :)

Reply
janicu link
7/24/2012 10:56:48 pm

OK, meh. Listened to part of the song. Something my mom would like, but not my style. I'm with Marchetta on this one.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Follow Us On:

    Facebook Twitter Feed

    Subscribe:

    Subscribe
    Follow on Bloglovin

    Subscribe via email:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    What We're Reading:

    Blood of my Blood cover

    Flannery

    Goodreads
    Monstrous Affections cover

     Tatiana

    Goodreads
    Rules of Civility cover

      Catie

    Goodreads

    Archives 

    March 2014
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    Author Spotlight
    Book Events
    Book Vs. Movie
    Catie's Adult Reviews
    Catie's Y.A. Reviews
    Contest Or Giveaway
    Flannery's Adult Reviews
    Flannery's Y.A. Reviews
    If You Like This Maybe That
    Library Quest
    Odds & Ends On The Web
    Randomness
    Readalong Recaps
    She Made Me Do It
    Tatiana's Adult Reviews
    Tatiana's Y.A. Reviews
    Three Heads Are Better Than One Or Two
    Year Of The Classics


    Blogs We Follow

    Angieville
    Anna Scott Jots
    Badass Book Reviews
    The Book Geek
    The Book Smugglers
    Book Harbinger
    Books Take You Places
    Bunbury in the Stacks
    Chachic's Book Nook
    Clear Eyes, Full Shelves
    Collections
    Cuddlebuggery
    For the Love of Words
    The Galavanting Girl Books
    Inkcrush
    Intergalactic Academy
    Ivy Book Bindings
    The Nocturnal Library
    Rainy Day Ramblings
    The Readers Den
    The Reading Date
    Realm of Fiction
    Sash and Em
    Stacked
    The Unread Reader
    Vegan YA Nerds
    Wear The Old Coat
    Wordchasing
    Wrapped Up In Books
    Young Adult Anonymous 

    Grab A Button

    The Readventurer
    <div align="center"><a href="http://www.thereadventurer.com" title="The Readventurer"><img src="http://www.weebly.com/uploads/7/8/9/9/7899923/custom_themes/149267861480723643/files/TheReadventurer.png?1321429794244" alt="The Readventurer" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

    Parajunkee Design
    SiteLock
    Since 2/4/2012

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Photos used under Creative Commons from savillent, vue3d, vue3d, ljcybergal