YEAHYA Harlequin Teen Author Fest 2013 & GIVEAWAY!!

I'M BAAAAACK...
from the first and only Canadian stop on the YEAHYA Harlequin Teen Author Fest 2013 Tour...and it was a BLAST!  I think I'm still on Cloud Nine!  

The stormy/rainy and HUMID weather certainly didn't keep fans away from this event (although I personally might have melted some).  The afternoon whizzed by but I think the memory will be forever printed in our minds!

As you might have read earlier, we were all ecstatic here at Reading Lark to be chosen as the Official Blogger at the Toronto (Brampton, Canada) event!  And being local to the area, I was both honoured and super excited (and a bit nervous) to be representing our blog at this amazing event!

So read on for some of my highlights from my afternoon spent with these great authors and their fans - including lots of pictures and some serious gushing!




Big turnout!
A few who got there super early were lucky to have seats.




The store had to start a line of fans meandering around the book aisles!


And once the authors arrived...the place was super-charged!
Five....count 'em...FIVE amazing authors under one roof!  It doesn't get any better than that!
(Left to right:  Amanda Sun, Katie McGarry, Aimee Carter, Michelle Rowen and Julie Kagawa)

The crowd asked some great questions, and afterwards, I got to ask some of my own!  The following are some highlights!

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Amanda Sun, debut author of newly released Ink (Paper Gods series) actually lived for a time in Osaka, Japan and came to love the culture.  She is very passionate about diversity in YA and would like to see more Asian characters in lead roles.  Through both of these desires, along with her background in archeology and studying hieroglyphics, Ink was born.

When asked how she would describe Ink in one sentence, she responded, "Such terrifying beauty."  Intrigued yet?

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Meeting Katie McGarry, author of the highly acclaimed Pushing the Limits books, was a huge thrill for me!  Pushing the Limits was my first foray into the YA Contemporary genre and she paved the way for a whole new class of books for me to love!

Katie has always felt she had a young voice and has always wanted to write about teenagers going through some very real problems.  When asked about her views on Young Adult versus New Adult, she feels her stories tend to straddle both genres, and definitely would be classed as Mature-YA.

We know it's never fair to ask an author who is their favourite, but Katie wasn't shy to admit that Isaiah was her man.

While her new series is still in the planning/plotting stages - she did share with us that her research for it involves her getting on the back of a Harley!

~

Aimee Carter, author of the popular Goddess Test series, made me want to drop all that I am reading and dive into her books right away!

Aimee grew up reading Greek mythology - particularly stories surrounding Persephone and Hades.  There probably isn't anything out there that she hasn't read pertaining to the subject.

We had to ask about the brutal cliffhanger at the end of book 2 (no spoilers)...she apologized profusely to her readers, as she hates them too, but went on to explain that they are sometimes necessary.  At least when I read them, I won't have to wait so long for the resolution!

As for her newest book coming out later this year, Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion), it is her new dystopian series -- and a complete departure from Greek mythology -- and sounds really amazing!

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Us Larks were thoroughly impressed by the diversity and the sheer number of books Michelle Rowen has written to date...young adult, adult, vampires (she specifically mentioned her love for vampires), angels, short stories, guides...what has this prolific writer not done?

While she likes to keep her feet firmly planted in both YA and adult (separately), writing for YA is still her favourite genre.  And she can say that now as her current project is in the adult world and is challenging her at every turn!

Her love of reading and the arts served as her earliest inspiration to be a writer.

~

All my bookish friends know that Julie Kagawa, NY Times Best Selling author of The Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series, is my absolute favourite YA author in the whole wide world.  No disrespect to the other 4 amazing authors I met yesterday...but Julie's my girl!  And I finally got to meet her and to say that I was star struck would be an understatement.  But she was incredibly gracious, and sweet, and I can so see her personality clearly in her books now, having met her.  I think the first words out of my mouth were...'I love you'!  Thankfully, she wasn't creeped out by that but instead gave me a hug!

A lot of Julie's inspiration for her gorgeous world-building in The Iron Fey series can be credited to her love of video games with just a tad of the 'something off' being thrown in.  As for the world-building in her conversely dark Blood of Eden paranormal dystopian series, apocalyptic movies and the Discovery Channel's, "Life After People" served as her inspiration in creating the so vividly dangerous world Allison finds herself in, of which we agreed we would never want to experience in real life!

Obviously, both her Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series couldn't be more different, but that, of course, was very intentional.   And Grimalkin is her favourite character of all her books (but of course, like any good creator, all are special to her.)

Julie had no idea the life that The Iron Fey would take on with her first book, The Iron King.  Originally, it was planned as a trilogy and she would have ended it after The Iron Queen...and broken all of our hearts in the process.  But her wonderful editor convinced her to write Ash's story in sequel to The Iron Queen...for which all of us TIF fans are eternally grateful.  Following the huge success of those Iron Fey books...one voice that she felt still might want to be heard was Ethan's...and The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten was born!

She was very tight-lipped about her upcoming book project with Universal Studios...but I have no doubt we will love it!

~

So...there you have it!  It was an amazing afternoon spent with fellow book friends and five amazing authors!  Lots of happy fans left the Brampton Chapters that Sunday afternoon!  If YEAHYA is coming to a town near you, I don't think you would want to miss it!



And now...GIVEAWAY time!  I managed to sneak in an extra copy of The Immortal Rules amongst my HUGE pile of books to be signed!



We have ONE SIGNED copy of The Immortal Rules up for grabs. The giveaway is open to residents of the US & CA only. In order to win you must:

* Be 13+ years old
* Fill out the Rafflecopter below

The giveaway runs July 9-16. The winner will be contacted via email on July 17.

Good Luck!!


Comments

  1. Awesome Giveaway! To bad it's not INtl:(

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    1. I wish we could have done international, but the shipping costs are expensive! We do international giveaways when we can though.

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  2. I'd love to listen Katy McGarry because I loved "Pushing the limits"!! :)

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  3. Julie Kagawa because she's amazing:)

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  4. Which author would you most have wanted to interview at YEAHYA? Why?

    I think I would have enjoyed interviewing Aimee Carter because I have a great fascination of Greek mythology as well, and feel that it would have been fun to discuss that aspect of her novel.

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  5. I'd love to be able to see all of them! They all seem like such great people and I love their books! However, Katie McGarry is my favorite right now. I just adored Pushing the Limits and the message behind it. I'd love to get to talk more with her about her thoughts and inpiration to write not only Noah and Echo's stories, but also Beth's and Isaiah's. I really hope to get to see her in person sometime in the future! Or any of the authors in fact! I'm glad you had so much fun!
    Thanks for the giveaway! :)

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  6. Definitely Julie!! She sounds like a blast to hang out with with her hitting people with sticks class :)

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  7. I would love to interview/meet Julie! I am a big fan of hers and have read all of her Iron Fey books. Plus she is just plain awesome!

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  8. I actually was at the signing! I just don't have a copy of The Immortal Rules. I would've loved to interview Katie McGarry or Amanda Sun. From the event, they seem like such cool spirits and you need more of those personalities in writing.

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  9. I would love to have met Ms. Kagawa! I have only read book one so far in the Iron Fey series, but I love the Book of Eden series!!

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  10. Would love to meet the all, but would have liked to interview Aimee more about mythology.

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  11. You did SUCH an awesome job for us Michele!! *high fives*

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  12. I am going to say Amanda--i too have studied archeology and would love to talk with someone about it!

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  13. Julie Kagawa! I love her books and am dying to meet her! Jealous you got to!

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  14. Aimee Carter! I am obsessed with Persephone myth, and would love to know what inspired her! :) I got a signed bookplate from her months ago when the release of her most recent book was happening, and I love it!

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  15. Julie Kagawa! She is awesome!

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  16. Thanks everyone for checking out my report from YEAHYA! Good luck!!

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  17. All of them! But I would love to have a chat with Julie. We both love Buffy and Ben Barnes!

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  18. I loved reading your recap of the days event! I am sorry to have missed it....thank you so much for the opportunity to enter a draw for a signed Immortal Rules! I LOVE this series and cant wait for the next book to be released! My fingers are crossed!! :D

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    1. Hey you! Thanks! I'm so sorry you missed it too! You would have enjoyed it, I think! Next time!!

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  19. I would have love to interviewed Julie< because I love all her books!

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  20. Julie because I really liked The Iron King.

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  21. Good luck everyone, and thanks for stopping by the Nest and checking out our YEAHYA recap!

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