Book Signing with NYC Teen Author Festival's 66 Teen Authors!

This week, I was able to take the train up to NYC on Sunday for the last leg of the Teen Author Festival.  There were symposiums all over NYC all week long and for the final day, the awesome Books of Wonder sponsored an epic signing with all 66 authors.  15+ authors per hour.  It was amazzzzzzzzzzzing.  I wish I could have gone to all the lectures, but since I couldn't, I was glad just to be able to meet everyone!

Full list of all 66 authors!


Here's what I got signed:

YouTube Link

The crazy crowds swarming all the authors!

For the first hour, I visited Sarah Beth Durst first.  I was so excited to finally meet her!  I've loved her books for so, so long.  (ICE was one of the first books I ever reviewed on my blog)  She's super nice in person, though I swear, she must think I'm a stalker now because when I was roaming the store between groups or in line, she was always near me.  (If you see this, Sarah, I swear I wasn't stalking you, lol!)  One of my friends grabbed my copy of INTO THE WILD to read and wound up buying her own, and now she's trying to buy all of her books (And I've been telling her to do this since ICE was out in hardback a couple of years ago...).

Daisy and Gayle!  Stupid column blocking the shot...

Next, I visited Daisy Whitney and got to talk face-to-face, instead of via Facebook and Twitter!  Daisy's as amazing in person as she is online, and I was so sad people weren't mobbing her!  And it made me feel special that she remembered a conversation I had and referenced it.  I love this woman and if you haven't read THE MOCKINGBIRDS or THE RIVALS, you seriously MUST!


Next, I moved on to Gayle Forman, who sat next to Daisy.  She commented on my necklace, and when I reached up to see what I was wearing, she noticed my ring and the way it was the same color as my nail polish, so she signed my book "To Bejeweled Bonnie," which I thought was so sweet!  She also gave me an awesome Team Adam pin!

Sarah Beth Durst is looking away, but there's a good shot
of Elizabeth Eulberg, Kim Harrington, and Stephanie Perkins!

Finally, I went into the Line of Doom with Stephanie Perkins.  I seriously should have gotten into this line first, but I wanted to make sure I saw Daisy and Sarah!  They'd moved Stephanie's time up, so it was a mad rush of people.  She's super-nice in person, though, and was a good sport about staying past the first hour and moving to a special table to get the rest of the line signed.  Later on, when I was sitting in the Books of Wonder Cafe and waiting for the next signing, my friend commented on the awesome red hair of the lady beside me.  I turned around and discovered that I'd been sitting next to Stephanie Perkins the whole time and never knew, so that was super fun!  (And not only does she have crazy-tastic hair, she was also wearing a super-cute dress!  You can sort of see the skirt in the picture to the left, as well as her AWESOME hair!)

I forgot to grab a copy of John Corey Whaley's book, and
they sold out!  No!!!

Later on, I was able to meet David Levithan, but I haven't read most of his books yet, only ones I co-wrote, so I don't have any fun stories there, though I did tell him this would be my first stand-alone and he hoped it lived up to my expectations, which was really sweet!  I also chatted with Charlotte Bennardo for a while, but didn't get anything signed since she'll be at a local signing later this month.  She's really nice, though!  I also got a book signed by Alyssa Sheinmel that I'd just finished reading and asked her questions about her upcoming novel.  Finally, I got to meet the lovely Victoria Schwab, who I've again talked to online since discovering her during THE NEAR WITCH's cover reveal early last year.  I always love chatting with her because she = AWESOME, and I was excited to see her again, though her line was a little busier and I couldn't chat too long.  She did, however, have a lull when I was waiting with Vi from Confessions of a Vi3tbabe for a book she was getting signed, so I chatted a little more with her.  (Plus, Sarah Beth Durst was there at the time, so I chatted with them both!  See?  Sarah totally thinks I'm a stalker now...)

Charlotte Bennardo was lovely to talk to!  I can't wait to
see her again when she comes here!

After the signing, a whole group of bloggers got together and we all went to Pinkberry, which Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner (and also from The Broke and the Bookish) had been craving all morning.  That was another highlight!

Jamie lives so close to me, and yet she always goes to the events I don't get to, and I always go to the ones she doesn't get to.  We've been trying to meet up for the better part of a year now.  When we discovered that we were both going to the same signing--and leaving from the same train station,no less!--we coordinated times and went to NYC together!  And Jamie brought Vi with her, so I got to meet her as well!

Such fun times, guys!  I love hanging with other bloggers because, as my fellow bloggers know, bloggers get us in a way that no one around us does!!