Authors; Here, There, and Everywhere.

Hey Guys!
So today I have a blog post for you all about the author events that I have been to in the last few weeks! I still feel a little mind-boggled when I realise how many author events there actually are. I never went to any author events before blogging and now it seems like I go to them left, right, and centre, and yet I STILL get nervous about it all. But I never take these events for granted, and doing these write-ups is just my way of thanking all of the publicists and authors for all their hard-work in making these events happen.
Here’s hoping that you all enjoy the posts as well.

---

The Oathbreaker’s Shadow Launch

The first event I am here to tell you all about is The Oathbreaker’s Shadow launch with Amy McCulloch. This was such a great event that I really enjoyed, and probably the biggest debut launch that I have ever been too. Amy was incredibly happy about it all and just seemed to be so thankful to everyone that came along and I just found that to be so lovely. You can read her post about the event here.

One of my favourite things about this event was the fact that Amy had bought one of her own books and had it set up on her table for everyone to sign for HER. She, of course, was also signing copies of her book but she also just wanted something to help commemorate the day even more and I just found that to be such a lovely and creative idea. I think it was also really successful which is great! It was really lovely to see Amy again at this event, but I also got to meet a few other authors including Kim Curran, James Dawson, Laura Eve, Liz de Jager, Tanya Byrne and Will Hill. I also met some lovely people who worked in publishing, an awe-inspiring agent, and fellow bloggers! It was just such a fantastic night and I just really hope that Amy had an amazing time and really enjoyed it.

(And the cakes were decorated by Amy herself, aren’t they amazing?)

---

Making It, Losing It, Faking It Party

The second event to tell you all about is the Making It, Losing It, Faking It party! This was a really wonderful event that started with a talk from the wonderful Cora Cormack. She told us all about her journey as an author and how she got to where she is now and why. It was really interesting to hear her story, and to compare it to the different stories from so many other authors! It is true that every published author got there in a very unique and interesting way. Then Cora read an extract from Losing It and then one from Faking It. Both extracts had me giggling in my seat and I cannot wait to read the books completely! Finally there was a q&a which was really great.

But the party did not stop there! After all of this we were taken into a different room where there were drinks, food, goody bags and different activities as well! There was a Faking It booth where you played a game similar to Never Have I Ever, only it was Never Have I Faked. Some of the answers were really funny and it was really great to see so many people getting involved in it all! And there was also a re-design the Faking It cover activity! Caroline from Big Book Little Book and I both got creative for this and made our own covers, what do you think?

Finally, we were able to get our books signed and during this we managed to have a really nice chat with Cora and it was absolutely amazing to get to know her better. She is such a lovely person and someone that I am so glad that I got a chance to meet. I always love knowing that authors are so nice as it makes me feel more compelled to read their books! I even got to talk to her about my own writing which is always really nice to do with already published authors!

---

Malorie Blackman & Melvin Burgess Signing

The final event that I went to recently and have to tell you all about is the Malorie Blackman and Melvin Burgess Signing. There are actually no words to describe how amazing this evening was. It will most likely go down as being one of the best moments of my entire life. Malorie Blackman has been an author that I have idolised for a large proportion of my life. I read her Noughts & Crosses series when I was about twelve years old and have been hooked on her writing ever since. Every single book she writes is absolutely fantastic but it is her ability to really write stunning characters that has me bowing down to her so often. She is just an incredible writer who has inspired me to pick up the pen myself and for that reason, I am so happy and glad I finally got to meet her, but also incredibly proud and pleased that she is the Children Laureate for the next two years.

The event started with a panel for the two authors and they went through a vast majority of topics and it was really great to be able to listen to both authors talking about their books and books for teens in general. It was such a good event that I just really enjoyed. Melvin is such a wonderful character and he makes his books seem really interesting – but I unfortunately haven’t read any of his! – and Malorie is such a lovely person as well. She seems really funny but also really kind and came up with some really interesting points during the discussion that I really just agreed with completely. At the end of the panel there was also a Q&A with the audience which was lovely to be a part of as well.

Finally, it was time to get my books signed and I have never ever fangirled as much as I did for this. I was absolutely fine at the back of the queue, but then I got a book signed by Melvin and Malorie was sitting RIGHT THERE, she was RIGHT NEXT TO ME, and I got a little shaky and it got a little hard to breathe. And then it was my turn to get my books signed. And a part of me wanted to just get all the books signed, saying nothing to her at all and then just WALK AWAY but then another part of me realised this may be my ONE CHANCE to talk to her, and I didn’t want to blow it. So instead I told her how amazing she was and how she had inspired me to write myself. Which lead to me telling her I’m in the process of approaching agents and she wished me LUCK and told me not to GIVE UP. And then I told her how I liked to dabble with genres and how nice it is that she does the same thing and she seemed really pleased with that and we spoke about readers for a bit and it was just amazing. And then it was over and I was REALLY SHAKING again. Caroline asked if I was okay and I nearly CRIED right there because MALORIE BLACKMAN had spoken to me.

It was an AMAZING experience. Honest. Can you tell?

---

So those are all the events I have been too lately! Have you been to any events recently? Or do you have any really good tales of author meets?