Gayle Forman, Nina LaCour, & Deb Caletti at University Bookstore

The lovely set-up of books. Sadly, it didn't even occur to
me that I ought to take pics of the actual authors.

Hearing authors talk about their writing styles and their books has always been fascinating to me. I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember. And writers, like most who aspire to go into creative professions, view authors a bit like celebrities. In a lot of ways, they've made it. We long to absorb anything they say that might help us get closer to that very same goal.

Last night, I went to University Bookstore in Seattle to see Gayle Forman, Nina LaCour, and Deb Caletti have a chat as a part of Gayle's book tour for I Was Here, the story of a girl whose best friend commits suicide and is left to deal with the aftermath, trying to piece together how something so terrible could have happened. Despite the sad beginnings of her newest book (or maybe because of how intriguing that premise is), I was thrilled to see these women, especially Nina, who has been a favorite author of mine since I stumbled upon Hold Still (a book which has a similar premise as Gayle's newest book) at the library when I was about 18 or 19.

Every one of the authors was as delightful and hilarious as I expected them to be. Granted, I haven't yet read any of Deb Caletti's work (that will be changing soon, since I purchased one of her books even though I shouldn't be spending money). All three women were absolutely wonderful.

They opened up with a "dramatic reading" from Gayle's newest book, I Was Here, where she voiced the main character, Cody; Deb voiced Ben, the love interest and best friend; and Nina voiced leather-clad "Stoner Richard." It was hilarious. Nina seemed to really enjoy pretending to throw back beers, while Deb seemed thrilled to yell the word "fuck" in the middle of a bookstore. What doesn't sound fun about that?

About half of the time was dedicated to questions, which all turned out to be pretty good. Q&A time tends to usually be hit or miss, but I thought the ones I heard were pretty good. A lot of people asked about structure. Nina LaCour talked about how she tends to jump around in the writing of the book, while Deb Caletti seems to favor starting off and seeing where the story takes you, discovering how the story unfolds as you write it. Gayle Forman talked about how she's in the middle of three different projects right now and is waiting to see if they will all pan out or take each other out "gladiator-style" (her words, not mine).

Afterward, I waited until the line died down before getting in line for the signing. I had brought two books each for Gayle and Nina to sign, then bought one for Deb because I just couldn't resist. At the last minute, I left Where She Went in my bag so I wouldn't be the one who brought all the books. I regret that a bit now, because I actually liked it better than the first book. I was fairly awkward, as per usual, in getting the books signed. Gayle complimented my typewriter necklace and it took me a good ten seconds to realize what she was talking about. I don't even want to talk about how red my face probably got while talking to Nina.

All in all it was a pretty awesome event. I have to say, though, that it's quite a different experience going to these sorts of things as someone who intends to be an author in some far off future versus someone who has three-fourths of a manuscript typed up on the laptop sitting beside her. It adds this extra level of both fear and excitement. It feels like that dream profession is finally attainable, but just out of reach at the moment.

Anyway, if you can see any of these lovely author's while they're on Gayle Forman's I Was Here tour, I highly suggest it. They keep the audience laughing and engaged from start to finish. And if you can't make it, pick up one of their books. I've read many of them and I'll be the first to tell you, they won't disappoint.

Neil Gaiman: The Ocean at the End of the [Majestic Theatre]

My phone died, so I never managed to get any pictures of
my own. So I borrowed this one from Google Images.

When I heard that Neil Gaiman was going to be making a stop in Dallas on his "Last U.S. Book Tour," you had better believe I was scrambling to get myself a ticket. I talked to all of my friends, trying to see if one of them would come with me, but only my Whovian friends were very familiar with him and even then, didn't really care to see the guy who had written a few of the episodes, no matter how fabulously done they agreed those episodes were.

So I went by myself. It was worth it to me and it wasn't like it would make much difference. Besides, this meant I could stay as long as I wanted afterward and not inconvenience anyone but myself. (This turned out to be incredibly valid, as I  actually waited 5 1/2 hour to get my book signed. More on that later.) However, this also made it incredibly difficult when I had no one to talk me down when the panic attack started. After all, it's usually not the greatest idea to set a single claustrophobic girl who battles social anxiety pretty regularly in the midst of over 1500 people. I've battled enough public panic attacks that I did manage to calm myself before making a scene. I regulated my breathing and did myself to lose myself in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (a reread), which are two things that I've found immensely helpful in calming my anxiety. By the time the event began, I was chill enough to focus and stop freaking out, so I'd say I was pretty successful.

Neil started out the event with a reading from the second chapter of his new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It was beautiful and masterfully written, as every work I've ever seen (or heard) of his usually manages to be. He told us the book had started off as a short story he had decided to write for his wife, Amanda Palmer, who was recording an album. However, the more he worked on it, the longer it managed to become. Soon he was calling his agent to let them know that he had somehow managed to write a surprise novel and they would probably want to take a look at it. Thus The Ocean at the End of the Lane was born.

Next, he brought out a stack of cards about four inches thick, each bearing a question a member of the audience had written for them. He joked that he had taken a larger stack out of it that was all the same question: "What was it like to work on Doctor Who?" By the loud cheering that came from the audience (as well as the fabulous array of Doctor Who shirts I saw on my way in), I'd say it wasn't much of an exaggeration. 

While he only managed to answer a few of the questions posed to him, there were some pretty fun and interesting ones among those he did get to. One person asked why he always wore black. His answer?: "Because I have no imagination." I'm sure you can imagine the chortling response of the thousand attendees who were all there because of how deeply they idolize his creativity and imagination. 

One father asked what advice he had for raising a daughter. Neil has three children, two of them girls. His answer was that he always thought that as long as he didn't do anything majorly wrong (ie. beat them with coat hangers or lock them in closets), then they would probably turn out alright. He also suggested that fathers read to their children. And always do all the voices.

One of my favorite bits was when a ten year-old girl asked him just how many books he had written. "This is a horrible example of adult fallibility," he answered, "But I don't actually know." He went on to explain that he had lost track and, besides, he couldn't really pin down what exactly counted and what didn't. 

Closing with an impromptu reading from his upcoming children's book, Fortunately the Milk, he claimed he had only decided to read it when he saw how beautiful the Majestic Theatre was. He thought it was so beautiful that it required a second reading. As you can imagine, the audience was ecstatic. I, for one, cannot wait for its release. You had better believe I will be shelling out my hard-earned money for that gem.

When the reading ended, the signing commenced. Mr. Gaiman had previously pointed out that, though this particular tour has been deemed his "Last U.S. Book Tour," he imagines he will probably have plenty of other tours in the U.S. After all, he does live here. This just happens to be the last book tour where there will be signing. This is because of how late into the night they go. Admittedly, I had originally thought this was an exaggeration. However, when I ended up in the last row for the signing and didn't actually make it out of the Majestic Theatre until 2:15am, I fully understood what he meant. He looked ready to drop. I know I sure was, and I hadn't been signing 2+ books per person for the past five hours.

My signed copy of Stardust! :)

I'm deeply thankful I had the chance to see Neil Gaiman and have my copy of Stardust signed, though it did take a while. It was worth the wait (and, of course, I did get a good chunk of reading done). It was fun to spend the time watching 4/5ths of a packed theatre pull out books and spend hours reading together in silence or talking about everything they admired about one of their favorite authors. And how could I resist the fact that standing in the lobby of the balcony, one could overlook where he was signing. 

I'm sure I wasn't the only aspiring author who leaned over the railing, picturing what it would be like to be in his place, having created worlds that had so perfectly impacted the lives of so many wonderful people.

Teen Book Con 2013: A Picture is Worth the Power of Closing Speeches

My Teen Book Con book haul. Honestly, I'm surprised I
managed to limit myself to eight. 

[Click here to check out Part 1 of my Teen Book Con coverage]

Continuing on from where we left off on Friday, my group split up for the next panel. My  best friend's brother and I headed to the graphic novelists' room while my best friend and a friend of hers who met us there headed to the "Take Me Away" panel.

We got the better end of the stick. The girls agreed that they enjoyed their panel, but that it wasn't great. (Particularly because one author was claiming she could write a book in one draft and the others were looking at her as if she were insane and then going on to explain how writing works in the real world.)

We met up and went to the rest of the panels together, and all of the ones I attended were fantastic.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words-Faith Erin Hicks, Mark Nasso, M.K. Reed, Bruce Small
Q: What gave you the ideas for your stories?
Faith Erin Hicks answered first, explaining that she found the material for her stories through experiences she had growing up and personal things she's working through. She added that many of the more fantastical elements of her stories come out of things she wonders about or wants to explore. For instance, one of her graphic novels stemmed from her wondering why people in zombie movies seem never to have seen a zombie movie.
Mark Nasso pointed out that the longer you live, the more your experiences feed into the stories you have to tell. The battles you had to fight growing up give you new perspective and new experiences from which to draw.

Q: What made you choose comics as a medium?
Mark Nasso had always been an artist, but as he grew older, realized he had something he wanted to say and new things he was passionate about. He had a story to tell, so he started to speak.

Q: How do you develop an art style that is all your own?
Bruce Small made the argument that you generally have to get over things looking similar. Your art naturally reflects the art you surround yourself with, at least at the beginning. Most artists begin by copying and that's okay. As you develop your art, your style will present itself and will morph into something that is entirely your own.
Faith Erin Hicks added, "You want your style to reflect your voice." Increasing technical skills is important, but you also want what you do to say something about who you are.

Q: Can you give some advice for those who want to create?
Faith Erin Hicks suggested that you simply start creating. She explained that she had literally cranked out over one thousand pages of comic work before she got anywhere. In fact, she suggested that everyone do the same and every one of the other artists agreed wholeheartedly.
M.K. Reed added that there is no set path. Everyone makes their own way toward becoming who they want to be and making their art what they want it to be.
Bruce Small and M.K. Reed agreed that artists need to practice drawing everything, but they should especially work on backgrounds. Backgrounds are intensely important and can be vital in going anywhere in the comics industry.
Faith Erin Hicks finished off the answer by adding that meeting deadlines is also crucial. You can be an extremely talented artist, but if you can't meet deadlines, you won't get the jobs you're looking for. "It's art, but it's also a business."


The Power of Memory- Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Brody, Bethany Frenette, Claudia Gray, Dan Krokos, Lisa McMann

Q: Is it difficult to write a story from the perspective of the opposite gender?
Both Dan Krokos and Lisa McMann agreed that it was extremely difficult and that both constantly had to refer to teens of that gender in order to make sure things were accurate.
On the other hand, Leigh Bardugo and Claudia Gray disagreed somewhat. They suggested it was more a matter of what type of person the character was. In their experience, some men were extremely difficult to write, while others were easy. The specifics of the character made the difference.

Q: What made you decide to be an author?
Leigh Bardugo claimed that she had always known she wanted to be an author. She was always talking to herself as a child and making up stories. She simply had to make the decision that she was going to finish something, even if it killed her.
Bethany Frenette told us that she had been terrified of the dark when she was a child. To remedy that, her mother told her to make up stories until she fell asleep. She did and she's been doing that ever since.
Dan Krokos added that, for most writers, real life just isn't enough. He has always gone off on adventures in his head and wanted to live in a story. His choice to become an author was simply because he wanted more from life than to live just one.

Closing Speaker-Sharon Draper

In the closing speech, Sharon Draper talked about being a writer and being a reader. She told us that being able to write is a gift and not everyone has it, but if you do, you ought to hone it.
(Dan Krokos immediately refuted the first part of that by responding on Twitter: "Don't listen to her--anyone can be a writer #TeenBookCon.")
She went on to encourage writers to go into writing because they love it, not because they want to be famous or want to be millionaires. J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer are exceptions, they are not the rule. Many great authors are never appreciated during their lifetime and you have to be prepared for that.
In closing, she reminded the audience that putting a book together should be just as engrossing as reading it. You should enjoy what you write. If you don't, you're doing something wrong. And she finished by reminding us that the things that scare us are often the things that need to be talked about.

Probably my favorite signed book from Saturday. She really
liked my new tattoo (Gates of Moria) and was eager to show
me her own Lord of the Rings inspired tattoo. 

When everything was finished, the authors were split up into the two school gyms so that they could sign peoples' books. It was really fun getting to interact with each of the authors on a one-on-one basis, even if only for a short while. I was able to tell Amy McNamara how beautiful her book was and how I had started reading the poet Philip Larkin after reading it, which she was really excited about. Francisco X. Stork complimented me on my name, which was really cool because he had mentioned in his earlier panel that he gets names for characters through events like this. (Look for a Kirsten in his next novel! I'm joking, though it would admittedly be pretty awesome.)
Maureen Johnson told me she liked my "fancy tattoo" and had a staring contest with my shirt (which happened to be the STARE shirt with her face on it). My best friend told Robin Wasserman that she thought her hair was awesome and Robin complimented her hair in response (both Robin and my best friend have intensely curly hair--think Merida from Brave).

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and one I'm so grateful to have been a part of. I left feeling so inspired and excited about the path I've chosen for myself. (For those of you scratching your heads in confusion, I fully intend to be a published YA author one day.) It was wonderful to see such a diverse and eclectic group of people all having chosen that same path and loving every second of it. It was deeply refreshing and I can't help feeling more inspired than ever to follow my dream.

Teen Book Con 2013: Making the Best of Murder, Mayhem, and Keynote Speeches

Maureen Johnson and I after she signed my book. You'll
notice she's making the same face as the image of herself on
my shirt. 

 Created with the purpose of letting teens interact with their favorite authors and teaching them that reading is both fun and worthwhile, Teen Book Con was a great event that I am so grateful to have received the chance to attend.

I found out about this lovely event through Maureen Johnson's blog. I saw that she, and many other awesome authors I've read, were going to be in Houston and immediately called up some friends so that we could make a road trip out of it. 

Upon our arrival at Alief Taylor High School, we were quickly swept away with the crowd of teens that had turned out for this event. They were everywhere! Now I love teens, but not necessarily when they gather in droves. Then again, being a socially anxious person, I don't do humans gathering en masse. I should mention that there were plenty of adults there as well, including teachers, librarians, booksellers, and the rest of us who were just there to see our favorite authors and promote something we all believe in.

However, I couldn't help loving everything about this event, even as I warded off panic attacks while navigating the hallways. The panels were engaging and fun to be a part of, so many students were eager to ask questions and pick the brains of the very authors who had inspired them, and those authors were extremely personable and willing to share as much as they could in hopes of connecting with their young audience. 

Whenever I attend book events, I tend to take a copious amount of notes on nearly everything the author says. This is partially because I know I'll be writing a blog post on it later and partly because I want to remember everything they say. During this particular event that lasted from 9am to 5pm, I took ten pages of notes, front and back. I won't type all of those little notes here, but I'll give you some of the more interesting details below. Please note that the panels were done entirely in a Q&A format, thus the reason I present it as such below. 

Keynote Speech-Chris Crutcher

To start off Teen Book Con, the event moderators asked Chris Crutcher to give the opening speech. He  was a very entertaining speaker, who kept us laughing and engaged throughout his time onstage. He spoke about how his time working with mental health services and dealing with Child Protective services gave him the drive and the inspiration for many of his stories. Seeing the desperation of teens and the difficult situations they had to navigate in a cruel and unfair world encouraged him to create something that could make a difference. 

Inspired by his deep love of To Kill a Mockingbird and the way Harper Lee speaks so plainly yet beautifully through the voice of Scout, he set out to become a writer and hasn't looked back since.

Memorable quotes from his speech:

-"Human freedom is about being able to think what you want." 

-"Storytelling is looking around for interesting people and interesting situations."

Murder & Mayhem-Kate Brian, Sharon Draper, Maureen Johnson, Barry Lyga, Robin Wasserman

Q: Do you plot out the murders in advance?

Barry Lyga makes spreadsheets of info about victims because serial killers have signatures and patterns. He needed to capture that and make sure the details were all in order when it came to the specific content of his books.

Q: Where do you draw inspiration?

Here Robin Wasserman and Barry Lyga got into a quick, friendly argument about whether or not TV can be helpful to coming up with good material. He argued that while it can stimulate the desire to create, it also stilts that originality and creativity the author wants to capture. Robin  disagreed, claiming that TV is a great source of narrative art and should be considered as such.

Kate Bryan finds that eavesdropping is a pretty convenient way to tackle writer's block. There are plenty of crazy people and conversations that can inspire your work.

Q: How do you create personalities?

Maureen Johnson: "It's like building Franken-people. You collect little bits of real people and distribute them among your characters."

Sharon Draper emphasized the fact that the writer must make their characters real people. They have to have depth and substance. The author wants the reader to become attached to the character and view them as a friend.

Kate Brian begins by determining what the character wants most in life and then starts throwing obstacles in their way. She also pointed out that a very great way of getting to know your characters is to interview them. It's time consuming, but is amazing at helping to shape and layer them.

Q: Why are mental health issues so prominent in YA and how does it play into writing in that genre?

Maureen Johnson was quite eager to answer this, explaining that she believes mental health disorders are becoming more prominent throughout YA because they are becoming more widely accepted and understood. In fact, there are a great number of people dealing with mental health issues of some sort and it is important to show teens and adults alike that they are not alone. She went on to explain that mental unhealthy is something that fluxes and changes in nearly all people. Most of us deal with it at some point or another. It's natural and it isn't necessarily a fixed diagnosis, but something we have to deal with in order to make it through.

Making the Best of It-Jen Calonita, Chris Crutcher, Amy McNamara, Lauren Morrill, Francisco X. Stork, Kay Honeyman

Q: What keeps you motivated to write?

Kay Honeyman immediately answered with "the story." The desire to make the story that has woven itself within her mind live up to its full potential is what keeps her manically typing away at her keyboard as often as possible. 

Francisco X. Stork added that there is a part of you that hurts when you keep the story inside of you too long. It's simply a relief when the writer is able to get everything out of his system and let the story be told.

Q: Do you ever have trouble writing the story you have in your head?

Amy McNamara pointed out that she often finds that if you have to wrestle the characters into doing something, it's probably not meant to be. You're probably trying to force the character into doing something that doesn't fit with their personality and you need to do something to change that.

Lauren Morrill jumped in to let us know that playacting is very helpful, especially when it comes to figuring out the physical dynamics of a scene.

Q: How do you battle writer's block?

Francisco X. Stork had the most inspiring answer for this question in saying that he asked himself what he was afraid of. Almost any time he truly hit a wall in his writing was when he was afraid of something (ie. not being good enough) and needed to work through that before he could continue on.

Q: Were there people who discouraged you?

Chris Crutcher: "You mean, everyone?"

It appears that my coverage of this event is going to take more than one blog post to present. In order to keep from boring you to tears or giving you way too much to read in one sitting, I'll be posting the second part of this on Monday. Stay tuned and feel free to let me know what you think about this event and everything the authors have had to say!

[Click here to check out Part 2 of my Teen Book Con coverage]

LeakyCon Lit 2012

Maureen Johnson, Lev Grossman, Stephanie Perkins, Robin
Wasserman, Megan Whalen Turner, and John Green
discussing Boy Books & Girl Books and whether there is
 a legitimate distinction.

This past week I had the privilege of being able to attend LeakyCon, a Harry Potter convention that was held in Chicago, Illinois, this year. The convention was fantastic and gave my brother and I the opportunity to meet plenty of others for whom the Harry Potter series has been a treasure and somewhat of an obsession.

One part of the convention that I was very excited about was LeakyCon Lit. LeakyCon Lit is a particular set of panels and events that only those with Rockstar or Lit passes can attend. Headed up by Maureen Johnson, LeakyCon Lit gave those who signed up for it the opportunity to sit in on panels between a select number of Young Adult authors who were scheduled to appear, as well as receive the chance to talk with them or go to signings.

These panels proved to be both informative and highly entertaining. The authors assembled were an eclectic and intelligent bunch that, for the most part, know each other well and deeply enjoy discussing the finer points of books and their own work in the literary field.

Because I enjoyed this particular part of the convention, I thought I would give y'all a little rundown of the panels and what I learned from them. So here we go:

Come to this Panel if You Think You Hate Romance
I don't happen to be a hater of romance, but I thought this would be an interesting panel to attend and it was. The panel was made up of Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Margaret Stohl.  We learned that most romances that people hate are the campy ones with overused phrases and gag-worthy dialogue. When a romance is fresh and new, there is something that draws you to it. Everyone enjoys a good love story, it just has to be done right.

Notable quotes from this panel: 
"Romantic love is the closest thing to magic that we have in real life." -Stephanie Perkins
"Literature is escape, but it's also emotional truth." -Daniel Ehrenhaft

Bad Books and Why We Love Them
In this panel, we discussed what makes a book bad and whether or not we really have the authority to label a book "bad" or not. John Green, Holly Black, Margaret Stohl, Robin Wasserman, Megan Whalen Turner, and Maureen Johnson went back and forth on the difference between books with bad writing, books with bad morals, and books that were so off-the-wall terrible that they turned around and became favorites because of how hilarious it made them.
One very interesting point that was brought up was the fact that we should do our best not to be sticklers about what others are reading because they're doing just that: reading. We should be doing our best to encourage that, even if we aren't very fond of their book choices. Instead of bashing the ones they're already into, we can suggest our own favorites and let them make the choices from there. We don't want to discourage others from reading, and chances are they'll find the really good books on their own if you let them wade around in the water a bit.

Boy Books and Girl Books
This panel may have been the most interesting I attended all week. Hearing from Megan Whalen Turner, Robin Wasserman, Stephanie Perkins, Lev Grossman, John Green, and Maureen Johnson on whether or not there really is much of a distinction between girl books and boys books was simply intriguing.

John Green & Maureen Johnson at a signing. He looked up
just as I took the picture. He wasn't actually glaring at me.
Haha. :P

As an aspiring YA author, I was fascinated and horrified to learn more about the sexism involved in the  book industry: both buying and selling. For years we have been operating under a system where "boy books" are normal books and "girl books" are chick lit. Why is that? What really separates the two? Why are girls encouraged to read whatever we can get our hands on, while boys are told that only these books over here are acceptable?
It isn't fair. Not to authors, not to boys, not to girls. This stigmatizing of certain literature causes boys to think there's something wrong with them if they want to branch out from "boy books" and causes female authors to be set aside in favor of male authors because it's unthinkable that a woman could write something that would interest a man.
Stephanie Perkins referred to an incident when she worked at a bookstore in which a father actually put Harry Potter back on the shelf though his son wanted to read after she casually mentioned that J.K. Rowling was a woman. He actually said "She?" and placed it back on the shelf as if it were suddenly detestable because of the gender of its author.

Notable quotes from this panel:
"I'm not kidding. I would've punched you and then I would've called you a liar, and I would've set fire to your house." -Maureen Johnson [describing her reaction if someone would have told her that she would be writing "girl books" when she was in high school]

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Every Single Harry Potter Novel
This panel was open to everyone, not just those attending LeakyCon Lit. John Granger, known for his in-depth analysis of the Harry Potter book series gave a series of lectures on Christian symbolism, postmodern morality, ring composition, and many other literary devices implemented in J.K. Rowling's books. I only attended one, but it was simply mind-blowing.
Honestly, I walked out of the room both dying to write and never wanting to pick up a pen again, because how could I even come close to the masterful work Rowling did in her series?
Theres no way I can rehash what I learned in only an hour of his class, but I can suggest getting any of his books. If those lectures are any indication, the man is brilliant and should certainly be heard by as wide of an audience as can comprehend what he has to say.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for his books and now have even greater respect for one of my favorite authors, J.K. Rowling, for her masterful work.

I Was a Teenage Writer
Maureen Johnson is always telling those who want to be authors that one of the key factors is to "learn to let yourself suck". By that, she means that no one is great from the beginning and sometimes you have to put out a lot of bad writing in order to improve enough to make something great. In this panel, John Green, Margaret Stohl, Holly Black, and Kate Schafer Testerman supported her statement by producing some work they created in their teenage years. The result was hilarious. Needless to say, many were comforted by the end of the meeting. They saw how far these authors had come in only a decade or so and knew that if they worked at it, they would likely be able to do the same.

Ask Me Anything: Book Editors
My brother and I chose to attend this panel last minute, but it was definitely worth it. In fact, the panel convinced him to consider becoming a book agent because of how excellent the job sounded and how much the agents present were passionate about what they did.
Rebecca Sherman, Jennifer Laughran, Kate Schafer Testerman, and Daniel Ehrenhaft answered questions that ranged from "What does your job entail?" to "Should I follow book trends and try to produce something along those lines?" Hint (on the second question): a book is generally bought three or four years in advance of it being put on the shelf, so unless you can predict the future, you won't have much luck trying to ride on the coattails of current trends.

My LeakyCon swag. It includes 3 new books I can't wait to
read: Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman; Geektastic by
Holly Black and Cecil Castelliucci; and Wizards, Wardrobes
and Wookies by Connie Neal.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. I look forward to attending more book events in the future and learning even more about the books and craft I adore so much.

I would go again in a heartbeat.