So this post is super late considering Wordstock happened on October 5 but here is my recap of my day there! Better late then never!
My sister and I were originally supposed to volunteer but we decided not to because we just couldn't pass up the experience of actually attending Wordstock. Once we arrived, we got our tickets and bought lots and lots of books! My sister doesn't usually read YA but she even found some that she thinks she will like! While buying said books, I happened to turn around to look at the author check in booth and there was Jessica Brody! I went over and said hi and introduced myself and she even knew who I was! So cool! And she was sooo nice!
After we roamed around and checked out all of the booths, we found our 8th grade teacher (!!!) Paul Martone and got to visit with him! (Embarrassing picture alert! And yes, I am a twin :))
Then we met up with Angie from Disquietus! I was so happy to finally get to meet her! We went to the Crossing the (Genre) Line panel together. This panel featured Jessica Brody, Jennifer Bosworth, Francesca Lia Block, and JR Johansson. It was a really cool panel! Jessica Brody is hilarious! (I'm so disappointed in my picture taking skills.)
We then went to the singing right after and I got my books signed. While I was waiting in line to get everything signed, Angie found Stephanie Perkins (!) and Gayle Forman (!) so I got most everything signed right then, too! I was so happy to get the chance to tell Gayle thank you for writing the character of Allyson because I finally found someone I could relate to!
I made bookmarks of Jessica Brody related items and one for Gayle Forman and had them sign those as well. Jessica even took a picture of it and posted it on her instagram! :)
Afterwards, my sister was like 'You should ask Jessica if you can interview her or something for your blog!' and I was all 'No, I don't want to go back up there again. I'll look stupid.' But I went back up and Jessica said she would love to and even autographed some little booklets that way I can do a giveaway and pick THREE winners! (I haven't had very much time to actually come up with something fun for Jessica to do but I am working on it!)
Here is me and Jessica! :)
Here is JR signing my book!
We then went to the Captivated by Contemporary panel which had Gayle Forman, Corey Haydu and Miranda Kenneally which was hosted by Stephanie Perkins!
This time I actually took notes and here are some of the things that was said/discussed in the panel:
- Parental relationships (personally I'd prefer if books didn't have them!)
- What will the YA section look like in the future
- Love story versus Romance (what's the difference)
We stood in line for the signing because I forgot to get one book signed by Gayle and I needed to get some swag for Angie. Also, I almost forgot, while we were in this particular panel, Robin Wasserman was there as well and so I got her to sign some books for me, too. You can see the pictures up above!
Here is me and Stephanie Perkins! HOW CUTE IS SHE?! I LOVE HER DRESS!
After all of this, my sister and I went and watched two of the stars of the tv show Grimm (filmed here in Portland) read their favorite Grimm stories! It wasn't something I was particularly interested in but my sister is a fan so I'm glad we went.
I also met Jacob Tomsky who wrote Heads In Beds and got him to autograph my book! That picture is above as well! I love Jacob and I love the book so far! I can really relate since I've spent most of my time working in the hotel industry and it's what I want to do for my career!
Lastly, while we were waiting for our mom to come pick us up, we went and sat in on some of Maggie Stiefvater's panel as well. This one wasn't anything special to me and Maggie is a little too 'in your face' for me but it was kind of entertaining.
Overall, it was a great day and just so much fun!!! I was really happy that my sister got to experience something book related with me and she thought it was so cool to see that Jessica knew who I was!
Wordstock was so much fun! And yay for my author stalking skills, amiright?
ReplyDeleteJessica Brody is freaking amazing. I adore her and hope she comes back to our city often.
I'm still sad about missing the Captivated by Contemporary panel and Maggie's panel. So many of my favorites and what I saw at the end of Maggie's was hilarious. She cracks me up.
PERKINS IS THE CUTESTS. I want to steal her dress. I wish I could pull off clothes like that.
We are so making this a yearly thing. I'm just sad that we have to wait until 2015 for the next one.