The Children's Book Festival: Or the one where I meet Shannon Hale

This post is a long time coming. But, better late than never.
A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to go to The Children's Book Festival at the Provo Library. My main motivation in going was to see Shannon Hale. You see, I'd been wanting to have her sign my Books of Bayern series forever now, and she's pregnant with twins. So, I knew this would be her last signing for awhile.

My friend Julie and I headed to the library with my baby Abigail in tow. We went to the book blogging panel first. I have to be honest, I don't remember much of what was said in this panel. Abigail was being a little bit of a brat and I had to take her outside for most of it. By the way, the place was an absolute circus. Kids. Everywhere.  But, after the panel, she fell asleep and stayed asleep for the rest of the trip.

I made a bee-line for Shannon Hale's line. I was about number 20 in line. As I got closer, I got more excited... and more silly.

You want to know something totally pathetic? That last picture I was trying to make a sexy face. How in the world did I ever get married?..

So, I finally made it to the front of Shannon Hale's line. I told her that I was her biggest fan. For realz. And I told her how much I appreciated her coming out to the event even though she was probably pretty sick. Her husband Dean was sitting next to her, what a nice guy! It was really fun to meet them.

Look at how captivated she looks

I can't remember what Dean was saying, but it must have been weird

All of us together. Best day ever.

Next stop was to Brandon Sanderson's line. Julie had a paperback copy of Mistborn that looked like it had been on a very long journey. It was actually her classroom copy. She debated about whether or not to have him sign it. I said go for it, because well-read books are flattering. Am I right authors? Then, I got a picture with Brandon even though I have yet to read one of his books.

Then I had a copy of Princess and the Snowbird signed by Mette Ivie Harrison. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with her. I'm really bummed about that. I just had a moment and completely forgot. But, I did mention my blog, and we had a good discussion about relationship in YA fiction. That woman knows her stuff.

Then we went to the fantasy panel. I took notes on it, but I forgot to write down the names of all the panel members. #facepalm. The ones I remember are Mette Ivie Harrison, Brandon Sanderson (moderator), J. Scott Savage, and Clint Johnson.

A few things mentioned by the panelists that really stuck out to me:

• In YA you have to grab your reader quickly. You don't have time to set up a backstory like in adult fiction. If they aren't hooked by the first couple chapters, you may have lost them.
• Fantasy writers are all about plot. But, a character driven story can help advance a plot.
• Your world is only as interesting as the characters in it. In a fantasy, nothing is taken for granted.
• In YA, your characters learn with your readers. They are average kids with a good heart.
• Apprentice-type characters are accessible to readers because they are learning about the world at the same time as the MC. This is part of the reason why Harry Potter was so big.
• A good way to write YA fiction is to take a normal world and just change one thing in it.
• The "control" in a YA novel are the human characters. The "experiment" is what happens to them.
• Ender's Game = Hoosier's in Space

 Thanks to the Provo Library for such an awesome event. Also, it was fun to see (briefly) Natasha from Maw Books and Suey from All About Books.

And I will leave you with two photos of celebrity sightings....

Wild Thing... You make my heart sing...