Picture Post- Linger Launch Party in Williamsburg, VA

I went to Maggie's launch party for Linger in Williamsburg, VA this past Tuesday and it was a blast. I left work early to make the 3 hour drive there and sped just a tiny bit to get there. Luckily, on one of the roads, the speed limit was 70 mph, which has now become one of my two favorite roads (the other being the one in WV that was 70 as well). So anyway, I made it there easily and did not get lost at all (the place was like crazy easy to find) but made it there kinda late. The event started at 5:30 and I got there around 5:45.



My first act upon entering the College of William and Mary bookstore was to find and use the restrooms. Having finished that, I went and found the cash registers to pick up the copy of Linger I was buying for my blogger friend Jonathon. Unfortunately, my reserved copy wasn't there but luckily, there was a bunch right nearby, so I just grabbed one and purchased it. After that, I went in search of Maggie who was easy to find since she was using a microphone- her voice was loudly talking all through the store. I stopped at a table with all her books because it had the Linger audio, which I hadn't seen yet.

Then I went upstairs where the event was being held and spotted a TON of people. Loads of fans had shown up and I got a spot at the back; Susan noticed me after a few minutes (she was busy taking pictures of Maggie doing silly things) and we waved but there was just too much of a human buffer between us to actually get together. So I stood and took some pictures that ended up dark because of the flash, or blurry because of no flash. WHY CAN'T I HAVE A HAPPY MEDIUM?!



Anyway, the event had started out with a Q&A which had Maggie telling us tons of hilarious stories which was awesome. Maggie told us how she's most like Isabel in the Shiver series, how one of her memories that she thought was her own was actually from a Ramona book, and how her sketchbook got the name "Sketchbook of Doom" among many other things. When the Q&A was done, they handed out prizes like the Linger tank tops, some tote bags, and foreign editions of Shiver.



After that, it was time to mingle with Maggie and eat some cake. They had made a huge Linger cake; tons of people took photos but I was too far away to get one, so I only got this one of the part they saved. Susan and I chatted for a bit by ourselves, but occasionally we had other people join in, like Purple Shirt Girl (I don't remember her name) and Louise (one of the Twilight Moms who recently branched out to her own blog). Susan pimped my blog because I suck at doing it. At the end of this particular part of the event, Beau (is that how you spell it?) the Bookseller had graded up all the trivia sheets and whoever got the most right won the Sharpie doodle-festooned guitar that Maggie had drawn on. They gave it away to someone and then Maggie went downstairs to get ready to sign a bajillion books. Susan, Louise and I hung back and wandered around the YA section and just chatted while we waited for the line to die down which took probably about 45 minutes to an hour.



We got in line, and I went up first. The first thing out of Maggie's mouth was "You FINALLY read my books! I saw it!" referring to this Maggie Stiefvater week I'm now finishing up and also referring to the fact that I've been to like 10 of her signings and had only read Shiver (and even then, like 6 months after it came out) I told her there was more to come and I'm hoping that it made her happy like I told her it would on Twitter when I hinted at it a few days before it started. I got my Linger ARC signed, then the hardcover that I was getting for Jonathon. She knew who Jonathon was too, and said of him "He writes smart, funny comments on my blog, so I love him.". Isn't that sweet? She also doodled a funny picture in his book, which was awesome. After I was done, Susan came in with her 50 books to be signed (only slightly exaggerated) and it was funny to see Maggie get into Signing Position and looking up expectantly for the name of the person the book was being signed to. It became even funnier when she did this and there had been a sticky note attached to the front of the book saying the name of the person.



Once she was done signing everyone's books, it was picture time. Also, sometime in the middle of us being around her signing, some frat guys came by and asked for a quick picture with her, got it, then ran off. It was quite weird and I had no idea what the hell had just happened. Anyway, I got my picture with her (twice!) with the Sarcasm shirt (see my Lament review for why I specifically mention this), Susan got multiples because Maggie just cannot behave around her, and Louise got one too.

We hung around a bit after that while Maggie started signing all the books that were left. I think she ended up having to buy one because she had written in it "For Diane" when in fact, it was actually for someone else. That and other crazy shenanigans happened. I left around 9 cuz I still had the 3 hour drive left plus I hadn't yet eaten dinner. I stopped by Sheetz on the way home and it was AMAZING (though some of the fries were not good).



And that is my recap of the Linger Launch Party and the conclusion of Maggie Stiefvater Week. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and be sure to enter the contest that was posted yesterday for a copy of Linger!

Picture 1- Maggie answering questions during the Q&A
Picture 2- Maggie showing off the Sketchbook of Doom
Picture 3- A section of Linger cake
Picture 4- One view of the mob that was Maggie's signing
Picture 5- Another view that was maybe taken like half an hour later; still a ton of people
Picture 6- Maggie and I. Supposedly this is her professional look if I recall correctly. Also, notice the Sarcasm shirt! :)