Heartbeat Weekly (3): YALLfest!

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on November 10, 2013 | 20 Comments


Hweekly
 
photo-2
          
signings
 
For review:
The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard (Netgalley)
The Taking by Kimberly Derting (Edelweiss)
Talker 25 by Joshua McCune (Edelweiss)
 
Purchased for Kindle:
The Moth in the Mirror by A.G. Howard
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken ($1.99 on Amazon)
Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano ($1.99)
Possess by Gretchen McNeil ($1.99)
Burn for Burn by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian ($1.99)
Sanctum by Sarah Fine ($3.99)
Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton (free)
Everblue by Brenda Pandos (free)
 
From YALLfest:
(Sorry for the ugly books, I took the dust covers off to keep them safe!)
Signed copies:
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Infinityglass by Myra McEntire
Shatter Me x2 by Tahereh Mafi
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Virals by Kathy & Brendan Reichs 
Seizure by Kathy & Brendan Reichs 
Vicious by Victoria Schwab
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
Legend by Marie Lu
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Timepiece by Myra McEntire
Signed swag from Veronica Rossi & Victoria Schwab
Swag from Alex London & C.J. Lyons
ADORABLE Vicious trading cards! Look at Victoria’s card with the red hair!
Siege & Storm buttons
Copies I bought and didn’t get signed:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Beta by Rachel Cohn
 
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We started off the day by driving around for a half hour looking for a parking spot before finding a parking garage. Then, I drove around the parking garage for another 10 minutes because the spots were TINY and I couldn’t fit my G6 into any of them. By the time I finally found a place I could fit, I was so frustrated that I didn’t even want to stay! I was afraid I was going to be late for the first signing, so I was kind of freaking out (okay, I was really freaking out). Thankfully I have a supportive and understanding boyfriend that didn’t get annoyed by my craziness – rather, he thought it was cute because I was so passionate about it (I really love him!). 
I learned very quickly that there was no possible way to see everyone. The schedule was completely crammed – 3 panel discussions and 6 to 8 authors per hour. Very poor scheduling! I really think everything should have been split up into two days. 
 
   11 am – We both waited in line for Rae Carson. 45 minute line! After we were done, we went down to Marie Lu’s line to try and get to her before the next one. The line was all the way down the street! Ken waited in that line for me, but ended up missing her because she had to leave for a panel.
   12 pm – I waited in line for Veronica Rossi while Ken went to Stephanie Perkins for me. Veronica was super nice!!! I felt kind of bad because we held up the line chatting. Oopsie. I really enjoyed meeting her though! After I left, I stopped by next door to see Brendan Reichs. Thankfully there were only 2 people left! I missed Gayle Forman and Cinda Chima :( I went back to the car with Ken to drop off all the extra books…a choice I would soon regret.
   1 pm – I came late to the Tahereh Mafi line and waited while Ken went to Alexandra Bracken’s signing. I stood in line for nearly 40 minutes when a guy came on the microphone and said Tahereh would no longer be accepting any pictures or personalizations because she had to leave for a panel in 25 minutes. I was almost to the table. My hopes and dreams were crushed like a grape. They rushed the line so that she could get to her panel, and I barely had time to say hi to her. I asked if she could spare a few minutes later to meet up, she said no, she was too busy. I gave her my business card and asked if she could email me because I’ve been dying for a ‘defaced’ copy and I can’t get ahold of her online anywhere to get one. I told her she was the ONE author I was most excited to meet very badly and she said she was sorry. That was the end of it. Disappointment is too mild of a term for what I felt. I wasn’t lying when I said she was the main reason I was there. You guys, I have been DYING to meet her for months, and I finally had the chance…I was so excited for it. I wanted her to personalize my books, sign my tote bag, get a picture with her, fangirl for a moment over Warner, and maybe have her deface my copy of Unravel Me if she had time. I got none of that. I was so upset I was nearly in tears! I am very disappointed that it’s so hard to get any face time with her. She (or her publicist) never answers emails, twitter, or facebook. I can’t even get a minute in person! It makes me feel pretty awful. I understand that she’s busy, really I do, but what about Julie Kagawa? She’s an extremely popular and busy author (with 3 published series and an unpublished series optioned for film), yet she still finds time for her fans. Anyway. Rant over. I missed Rachel Cohn to get into Lauren Oliver’s line early.
   2 pm – Ken and I waited in line for Lauren Oliver, and a girl (I believe her name was Miranda!) that was right behind me said she loved my hair. I said I loved her lip ring (because I don’t have the balls to do it), and we ended up launching into a half hour discussion about everything bookish. She was awesome! I should have gotten her email, or found her on Facebook right then, but I gave her a business card so hopefully she’ll find me! Oh yeah, and I found the Epic Reads ladies!! They walked by while we were in line so I grabbed them for a picture :)
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Me, Aubry, and Margot!
At 2:30 Ken went to save me a spot for Myra McEntire. Lauren was very nice, too! I told her how much I adored Before I Fall and she graciously thanked me. Turns out Ken didn’t have to wait for Myra because there wasn’t a line, so I went over and met her. She was awesome!! She was super sweet…I told her I’d just finished Infinityglass and we talked a little bit about parts of it and if there would be a spin-off series. We joked about a certain pairing of characters and if they would have a future, and how much I loved what happened in the ending of the book. She said there’s not a spin-off (yet), but she’s looking to release a novella next year!
   3 pm – We finally got a break! I haven’t read anything by Rainbow Rowell or Libba Bray, so I didn’t bother getting anything signed by them. On our way back to the car, we passed Marie Lu on the street and she signed my book. Woot! I was kinda bummed because they were sold out of Champion, so I couldn’t get that signed. But Marie is adorable and such a sweetie! (She even agreed to a second signing after her last panel for people who missed the first! That’s dedication to her fans! <3) Then we ate lunch at a little cafe and ditched the giant suitcase of books. When we came back at 3:45, Rainbow’s line was still wrapped all the way around the tent! 
   4 pm – Went to see Victoria Schwab. I told her I’d met her before at YA2U, that I finally got a chance to read The Archived, enjoyed it, and couldn’t wait to read Vicious. She said to let her know what I thought of it! After that, we stopped by Charleston Music Hall to see the end of the YA in Hollywood panel, in hopes of catching Gayle Forman and Rachel Cohn (no such luck)…but surprise! Veronica Roth was in there (she wasn’t scheduled to be), so I got to see her for the first time all day. They showed the full trailer for Divergent – it looks awesome! 
 
Recap: Authors I got to meet
  • Rae Carson (second time seeing her)
  • Veronica Rossi
  • Brendan Reichs
  • Tahereh Mafi
  • Lauren Oliver
  • Myra McEntire
  • Marie Lu (second time seeing her)
  • Victoria Schwab (second time)
The sad part is, the least friendly and personable author was the one that I wanted to see the most (Tahereh Mafi). All of the rest were super friendly and actually showed interest in their fans, engaging them in conversation. Oh well…
 
All in all, it was insane but awesome! Would I go again? Despite my frustration in the beginning (involving lots of cursing and ‘I don’t even want to be here’ and ‘I’m never doing this again’), I probably would if the authors were worth it. I hate crowds, and I hate waiting, but it was a good kind of chaotic! I do, however, want to make a post of tips for future attendees sometime this week, because there were probably many things that could have made the day easier! Mainly if I could calm down, haha.
 
More pictures to come on my Facebook page!

  RECAP

 onblog
 
 otherposts
 
 news
Nothing to report!
 
personal
Vacation! Ken and I drove down on Friday…10 hour drive. The hotel we stayed in – Home2 Suites by Hilton – is super swank! Our room was very nice and comfortable. We went out to dinner Friday night at Chili’s – it was my first time ever eating there, and the food was delicious! Then YALLfest on Saturday, of course. After YALLfest we found a little used bookstore called Mr. K’s (Miranda told me about them!) and checked it out. It was a pretty cool place, but their YA section was very lacking. After that we went to a local cupcake shop! ;D
We may do a little exploring today, but sadly we have to head home, back to the cold. Sad face!
 

What’s in your mailbox, loverlies? Link me up!

Jessi (Geo)

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20 responses to “Heartbeat Weekly (3): YALLfest!

  1. Your boyfriend is super awesome to come with you! I’ll LOVE to drag a friend to stand in line for me. ;D
    And despite the whole Tahereh Mafi troubles, it sounded like you had fun! Marie Lu sounds super duper nice (I met her once but barely had any time to talk to her) and man, Myra McEntire should have a LONGGG line! She deserves it.
    Waiting at BEA would be fun, if you have someone to talk to. :D

    • Definitely bring someone! If you don’t, there’s NO way to get everything. I did have fun! I think the only reason there was no one for Myra was because we went 45 minutes after it started. But still, hers wasn’t as long as Tahereh’s =/
      And yes, it makes the time go SO much faster if you’re engaged in conversaton!

  2. Wow — sounds like quite the bookish adventure! That’s really too bad that your encounter with Tahereh Mafi was so disappointing though, but I’m glad it didn’t ruin the entire experience. We rarely ever get bookish events up here, but if we do it’s usually just one author. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet read Cinder when Marissa Meyer was here (and still regret not going to the signing anyways — I was pretty sure I’d love it anyways), but I DID get to meet Maureen Johnson a few years ago, and she was just as funny in person as she is on Twitter! I’d love to go to one of these big bookish events one day (like BEA) but part of me is also terrified to do so. I’m pretty shy, and the thought of all those crowds and line-ups is a little terrifying to say the least. But it sounds like you have an awesome boyfriend … that’s so great to hear that he waited in all those lines for you and calmed you down like that. If it had been me, it would have been the reverse … just yesterday, I was the one reassuring my hubby that everything would be okay when we got caught in some awful construction traffic!

    • Up until this summer, we didn’t have anyone come to Ohio either! We’ve just now started getting people. But all of the SUPER cool stuff (like this one) we usually have to take a road trip for. But it’s worth it!
      And yeah, Marissa Meyer is really nice! I’m kind of nervous about BEA because it’s an unknown for me, but I reaaaally want to go! You should too :D
      It’s so nice to have such a great companion that will be understanding!

      • Omigosh — how much fun would THAT be?!? I already told my hubby that we just HAVE to go to BEA one day … he can take our boy and go play chess in Washington Square, while I geek out on books. So it WILL happen one of these days, I promise you that ;-)

          • I asked my hubby what he’d think of me taking off to NYC for a few days next year, and he was totally on board! I’ll decide for sure next year, maybe March-ish, once I know for sure that I can leave my little guy for a few days, and I’m settled in back at work, but the wheels are turning for this idea already! I, too, would love to meet YOU!

  3. Oh no! I’m sorry you had such a bad experience at first (and the whole Tahereh Mafi situation), but it sounds like it was a great time all things considered! I might go next year, but it sounds so intimidating and nerve-wrecking that I probably would chicken out. lol

    I can tell Ken is a great guy! :) He seems really patient. (My boyfriend would have complained the whole time I’m sure *sigh*)

  4. It’s a bummer you didn’t get time with Tahereh! I wanted to meet Richelle Mead at the RT Convention but the same thing happened, super long line no face time it was a bummer. Hopefully you get to meet her in the future! I’m sure she will be on tour for the third book in the Shatter Me series =)

    Also awesome signed book haul!

  5. Whew! YALL fest sounds busy! Yikes! Sounds like a lot of fun and a lot of stress. I’m sure, with your determination, you will get a defaced copy of Shatter Me! Someday…. But look at all the pretties you got signed! Yay! Great haul that I am envious of.
    Cheers!

    Millie

  6. I wish that there were events like this were I live! I’m going to try to go to BEA this year, but that’s the only bookish event I can find that’s even remotely close to New England. I’m sorry that you had such a rough time with Tahereh Mafi…that really sucks. But it sounds like all of the other authors you saw were awesome! You’re lucky that you had your boyfriend with you to wait in line for you!

    • Ohh, if you go to BEA let me know! I’m planning to go too :)

      And yes, I’m SO thankful that he was there! It’s really something that 3 or 4 people should go to as a group so they can get everything. Lesson learned for the future!

  7. OMG, this all looks so fun!! :D You’re so lucky, girl! But Singapore is like 1001 miles away from YALL Fest and BEA, which can totally suck >< But never mind, I'll scheme to get there one day or another! xD
    I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself, Jessi! You have such a fantastic haul, and WOW! You met so many brilliant authors :O But it's sad the author you wanted to meet the most wasn't all that nice :(
    I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself, Jessi! <33

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