Fun with a Favorite Author

I know I have said this before, but I love author events. They tell you a little something about themselves and their work, they answer questions (which are generally intelligent and/or thoughtful),they hold autograph sessions, and they clearly love their readers.

Yesterday turned out to be one of these author days. My Sunday was supposed to be lazy. I planned on a leisurely morning, and then lunch with my best friend. The rest of the day was going to involve me slowly making my way home back up the 405. My first look at Facebook changed those plans...as it turned out, Maggie Stiefvater was in town, and it was the very last West Coast event of the year for her! So, I texted my friend from high school, the Hippofairy herself (a.ka. Mrs. O.), and she wanted to make the drive out to Redondo Beach to see Maggie.

I should confess right now that I had second thoughts about going to the event while I waited to hear back from Mrs. O. It has been no-life-busy at work, and I could seriously use down time, but I told myself I would only skip it if Mrs. O. was not interested. Thankfully she was, because I really would have regretted giving in to my exhaustion.

Back to the event.

The event actually featured two other authors, Cecil Castelluci and Jeff Hirsch, and now I have even more reading. For some reason, there was a serious lack of questions (um...I found out about this too late to think of something intelligent). In other words, the autograph portion started relatively quickly.

This was the highlight of my experience. When it was my turn to have Maggie sign my book, I mentioned to her that I had been at another one of her events about a year ago. She remembered that it was July 2010, in the San Francisco Bay Area! Holy crow, I thought that was so cool of her to remember. I tried to play it cool, and hopefully I did because on the inside I was one giddy little girl. Not only did Maggie sign my book, but she doodled in it this time.


The funny thing is that I was wearing a plaid shirt yesterday, like I was the last time I met Maggie. The funnier thing is that when I packed my shirt to take with me to my friends' place, I thought about how I wore a plaid shirt when I met Maggie Stiefvater. It seems like the Universe likes to give me little hints now and again.

By the way, the event was put on by Mysterious Galaxy Books as a part of the This is Teen experience. And, if you have not ever attended an author event, you are missing out! Look at your library calendar, or follow your favorite author who most likely blogs, tweets, or facebooks. They need our support, and many of these experiences are free to attend, and it is great for your brain!