Teen Scape Author Event plus Giveaway!

Hi all! This past weekend I had the pleasure of not going to one book signing, but TWO book signing events! The first event was held at the Central Library in Los Angeles. Let me tell you, I have never been there before and that library is HUMONGOUS!!! It's at least 3 stories high and just ginormous. It also has such beautiful art work displayed everywhere. Okay back to the event. I met a blogger named Nina from The Sea of Pages. She was really the nicest person and I hope to see her again! There at the event was the lovely Victoria Schwab, Gretchen McNeil, Melissa De La Cruz, Anna Carey, and Margaret Stohl. Robin LaFevers was supposed to be there also, but couldn't make it *cue sad face*. I didn't quite catch much of the conversation as the microphones were low, so bare with me. (That and I was busy fangirling and flailing to see Victoria Schwab!)

The authors introduced themselves. Let me tell you, if you have not met Margaret Stohl you are missing out! She is absolutely hilarious and so kind! They spoke about their books.
Margaret said that Melissa is a brutal author. They were talking about their characters one day, and Margie told her no she couldn't do something bad to a character! Melissa's reply was, "I just did!" Margaret said to beware of her writing because she will do anything to her characters lol.
Anna Carey has a new duology coming called Blackbird. It's about a girl in modern day (L.A. I think), waking up in the middle of the city with no recollection of how she got there. She can't remember who she is or how she got there. The only thing she has with her is a bag full of clothes. She soon realizes there are many people who are out to get her. Dun dun dun!

Victoria has 4 books out. She's very proud of herself because she got to put her own tagline, "Every body has a story" on the paperback cover of The Archived. She never got asked to do that before and was just ecstatic!

Question was asked how they became writers and was it difficult?
For Margaret it was more of a dare that got her writing. Her teen daughter at the time didn't think they could write a book and get it published. So she and Kami wrote Beautiful Creatures. BAM, at 40 years old she was published! She told her daughter, "In your face!" Lol.
Melissa said she was at a party in NY when the idea came to her. She was using the restroom when Paris and Nikki Hilton came in. They were 14/15 at the time, and they were talking to each other about their 30 year old boyfriends! She couldn't believe what she was hearing from them, but out of that came the Blue Bloods novels.
Victoria said it was a bit of a struggle for her. She was an art major at 19, but felt like something was missing. She decided to write a novel and send it in. She was very happy that she actually wrote a novel, but in the end it didn't get pitched. When she was about to graduate college her friends told her to give up on writing. She couldn't because that was when she felt happiest. At 21 she pitched another novel. Three months later an agent picked it and it became her first published novel which is now known as The Near Witch.
Gretchen was a total different story. She came from the ground up. She was 30 at the time, had gone through a nasty divorce, lost her job, and her opera singing was coming to an end. At the time she thought, "what the hell am I supposed to do now?!" So she decided to write since she had nothing else to do. She wrote a novel and got rejected by 134 agents! They told her she wrote too much as a young adult/teen and that she should start writing for them. It gave her some ideas, she did research on other YA books, and wrote a horror novel. That's how Possess got picked up.

They did a raffle for all the authors books. Margaret had an ARC of Idols that I wanted so bad, but I didn't win it. Melissa also had an ARC of her new book The Ring and The Crown. That cover is gorgeous! However, I did win Rise by Anna Carey! Since I had the book I gave it to my friend who was with me. Then it was time to sign! As usual I choked and didn't say much haha. Victoria was a delight though and I'm glad I finally got to meet her because I missed her last year at the LA Festival of Books. Also, her agent was sitting right in front of us and she had her baby with her. That little boy was sooo cute! I love babies and he just brightened my day when he smiled at me hehe! I had a great time getting to meet new authors and meeting new friends. I do not like downtown L.A. but I would go back to see awesome authors again ha! Hope you enjoyed my recap!

 

 

But wait I'm not finished! To show my appreciation to you for welcoming me so kindly, I am giving away a signed hardcover of Vicious! Isn't that great?! Now there are a few rules sadly. I can only send this out in the US due to high shipping costs. I'm sorry. You have to be at least 13 years old, and once the book leaves my hands and ships, I cannot unfortunately replace the book. Also, please no cheating. I check for cheaters and if you cheat I will eliminate your entries. Once the winner has been notified, you will have 48 hours to reply or else I pick another winner. Thanks again and good luck!  

 



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