Ontario Teen Book Fest Recap

I love going to author events! It’s always fun to be able to meet the voice behind the book ;) A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend this year’s Teen Book festival which was held in Ontario, CA :) My cousins and I drove out (only about a 35 min drive from home) and we were able to meet some awesome authors; Anna Carey (EVE), Josephine Angelini (STARCROSSED), Jay Asher (13 REASONS WHY) and Alexandra Monir (TIMELESS).

The event started off with some introductions and an apology…. Tahereh Mafi was supposed to be joining us on the author panel, but something came up last minuet and she had to cancel. After the intros each author read a bit from their books. Here’s a short clip of Jay Asher reading from “13 Reasons Why”, which I learned that day, is in the works to becoming a movie, YAY! Can’t wait to see it on the big screen. I apologize in advance for the bad quality, I recorded this with my cell phone because my camera was acting up :\

 

After each author read from their books, we went into the crazy discussion on how each author started writing and how they got published. Did any of you know that Alexandra used to be a teen pop singer? Also, it took Jay almost 12 years to finally sell the book "13 Reasons Why"... Talk about never giving up on your dreams. Anna mentioned that she always knew she wanted to be a writer, even though the idea itself terrified her, she thought authors spent their days at home in sweat pants eating spaghettio's out of the can :)haha! She mentioned that through her job at an editorial, she met other authors and got inspired to finally write her book. "There came a time when I knew that I would never be satisfied with just reading other people's work. I had to write my own." Anna shared with the audience. We heard some pretty admirable stories!... 

Gorgeous, I tell ya!

Out of all four authors, I have to say that Mrs. Angelini's publication story was the funniest and craziest! It practically happened overnight. "After I was done writing it (referring to Starcrossed), I didn't know what to do next." she said during the panel talk. "I went back to my husband, handed him my first draft and said, 'here, read it.'" :) I was literally laughing out loud! Speaking of which, can I just say how absolutely gorgeous Mrs. Angelini is… like seriously, HOLY WOW! Her author picture, which is totally beautiful, DOES NOT DO HER JUSTICE! Plus, she is probably one of the funniest, most down to earth authors I have ever met.

Afterwards, there was Q&A with the audience, followed by my favorite part; the meet and greet book signings :) Since I'm not such a social butterfly, I don't really mingle after an event, but I am so glad I was able to attend this signing. Thank you so much for the Ontario Senior Center for having hosted this event <3 Hope to attend next years event as well.

blurry.... darn phone!

Me and Jay Asher! *squee*

She was so sweet!

Thanks for stopping by! Have you been to any author events lately? Share your stories with me :)