Picture Post- VA Festival of the Book

Here is my recap with pictures of my trip to Charlottesville for the VA Festival of the Book on March 20. It started off with an amazing hot breakfast of hotcakes and sausage at McDonald's, which I haven't had in YEARS. After that, I actually made it to a book signing early (how can that be?!) which was good because they had bracelets to give out which contained a number on it so that the signing was organized and all that. I was meeting Susan of Waste Paper Prose there but she was still on the road, so I just stood around and read a bit of She's So Dead To Us by Kieran Scott, waiting for Susan and also for Kim Harrison, the author we were seeing.

I had my copy of Once Dead, Twice Shy that I had just finished reading like the day before, and I waited in line to get it signed. Susan showed up and I told my idea about picture taking; I asked if she would mind taking a picture of me and Kim with my camera, and I would take a picture of her and Kim with her camera since we were far apart, number-wise. It all worked out very well and I managed not to break Susan's huge paparazzi camera (which she has used to capture Maggie Stiefvater in embarrassing moments).



After the signing, Susan and I chatted a bit before heading off in search of the Omni Hotel. She had a GPS and I just followed her; we went around in circles a bit, but managed to find a parking lot somewhat near where we needed to be. We had to pay for parking, and I found out that I'm stupid and can't read instructions, no matter how simple they are. After a few minutes, we got everything straightened out and Susan and I wandered off to find the Omni Hotel, wherein we promptly got lost. Eventually, Susan asked an employee in a nearby shop about it and they pointed us in the right direction. Then, once we got to the hotel, we had trouble finding the room that the panel was in that Susan wanted to go to. Luckily, it was the same one that held the other two events in the afternoon that we wanted to go to. Toward the end of the panel (which was called Pub Day: Getting Published- Picture Books to Young Adults), we saw Amy Brecount White leave. Now, we were supposed to be meeting Amy before the panel, which didn't happen as we were 15 minutes late. So we got up and went in search of her. During this time, I learned that Amy's text messages are very vague and never reveal any pertinent information whatsoever.



While in search of Amy, we bumped into another author, Jennifer Hubbard, who was coming off the elevator. We walked her to lunch, then went in search of sustenance for ourselves. We tried doing something local called The Nook, but the wait was half an hour and we did not have time for that. So we ended up at a fast food chain, Five Guys, where we enjoyed burgers and I showed off the shiny Will Grayson Will Grayson cover and we chatted about authors and books and blogs and everything literary. It was quite awesome.

We were late to the 2pm panel, which was called Pub Day: Land Ho! Creating New Worlds in Any Genre, which featured P.J. Hoover and Barrie Summy along with 3 other awesome authors. Midway through the panel, Amy joined us as well and we chatted a bit after the panel was over. Amy is so sweet, funny and just all around awesome. We then all split up to do our own things before the 4pm panel. I went to go talk to Barrie and P.J. and they were easy to find, both sitting next to each other at a table. Let me tell you something, those two are absolutely hilarious together. Even though they live far apart, it seems like they're really comfortable with each other and like they see each other all the time. I didn't say too much because they were cracking me up every second. They both signed my books of theirs and we got pictures and everything.



Susan came and found me right at the exact moment that I was telling them about what "we" had been doing all day. I had failed to mention how the other half of "we" was before starting the story; I also failed to properly introduce everybody to each other. But that's ok because after Susan introduced herself, Barrie had a fangirl moment (she even squealed, which I know she'll deny but there were witnesses!) over Susan and her blog (which is very awesome and I suggest you all check it out after this recap). The two of them hugged and we all chatted some more until about 4pm when we went to the panel called Pub Day!: Hot Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction, which featured readings from Amy Brecount White, Jennifer Hubbard, David MacInnis Gill, and Paula Chase as well as a QnA afterwards. It was an interesting panel.

After that, I got Amy and Jennifer to sign my copies of their books, and we all took a picture together with my camera. We all chatted for a bit, but things were starting to wind down and things were getting packed up, people were leaving, etc. It was a wonderful day and I'm so excited I got to do it and also meet and hang out with some great bloggers and friends.



By the way, at some point during the day, we ran into Susan's friends Melissa and Andrea, who are also bloggers and who I now follow. You should all do the same as well. :D

Picture comments:
1) Me with Kim Harrison. I really should have taken off my coat.
2) Me with P.J. Hoover.
3) Me with Barrie Summy. Note the book switch that happens between Pics 2 and 3.
4) Me (front, middle) with (left to right) Jennifer Hubbard, Susan of Waste Paper Prose, David MacInnis Gill, and Amy Brecount White.

Also, P.J. shot video of me explaining the "Book Chic" name. She has posted it on Facebook and her blog. Click here to watch me and learn all about P.J.'s spring break.