Book Signing Recap- Maggie Stiefvater & Jackson Pearce, Richmond, VA

Let me just begin with this: I had pretty much the best Halloween ever. Who wouldn't when you're getting to see both Maggie Stiefvater (Lament, Ballad, Shiver, Linger) and Jackson Pearce (As You Wish, Sisters Red) plus a bunch of blogger friends?

I drove to Richmond in the morning with my friend Elizabeth who wanted to join me on this trip and we had a fun time listening to Shakira and Madonna and of course joking around and laughing. We arrived with no trouble (which is quite the feat for me, especially when it comes to going to Maggie Stiefvater events) and parked in the lot near the bookstore. In fact, a GOOD thing happened! I didn't have to pay for parking! There was no attendant there at all, and I checked back a few times during the day in case they were there because I did fully intend on paying. I also arrived early for once- WAY early! Because I was having lunch with my blogger friends.

However, my good fortune may have cursed some others, but we'll get to that soon. We were having lunch at City Dogs, which mainly serves hot dogs but they have other items there too. Liz and I waited outside and soon enough, Andrea and Melissa showed up, then Susan and Meaghan (and Meaghan's husband, who IS real and not someone she made up in desperation) shortly after. We all went in and had to split up because the place was small and couldn't accomadate a 7 person party at one table, so Meaghan, her husband, Liz, and myself sat at the bar while Susan, Andrea and Melissa sat at a table nearby.

I split my attention during lunch between Liz and Meaghan and it was a fun meal, though Susan made fun of how I eat and I pouted. I'm sure Meaghan's husband was out of his element with all the bookish nerds around him (Liz isn't as bookish as us, but she is still bookish), but luckily there were football games playing on the TV screens so he watched those.

After lunch, we made a small pitstop at Fountain Bookstore and gained an angel to guide us to the event space. Obviously not a real angel, but rather Tess, a bookstore employee dressed up as an angel (the owner Kelly was dressed as a devil). She was bringing over books to be sold at the event and we caught her as she was making her final trip over. Meaghan pushed me in front because she didn't want to be the leader, even though the angel was our leader. We went into Sam Miller's, a restaurant that's a block away from the bookstore where the event was being held, and paid for our tickets and bought the books we wanted. I bought an As You Wish and Shiver to be given away at a later date.

We sat down and waited for the event to start. Here's where the curse part comes in. A few minutes after sitting down, we hear that Maggie's awesome car Loki died 3 miles from the signing and so she and Jackson were stranded with no way to get to the event. Susan was sent on a mission- to get the awesome authors to the event as quickly as possible. While we waited, Meaghan read off REALLY BAD werewolf jokes that she found on the internet using her phone. Yes, we were that desperate. Meaghan and Susan also had a fun text exchange-

Meaghan- Where are you? The people are starting to revolt!
Susan- We're thinking about driving by and throwing the door prizes out the window to appease them.

This was paraphrased from my horrible memory. Maybe Meaghan or Susan can provide the correct exchange? Anyway, they finally arrived at about 2:20 and the event started with Maggie joking that the keys to her dead car would be the first door prize to be given away.

The bookstore presented a wine bottle to the authors and Jackson immediately snatched it up for herself. Jackson and Maggie quickly introduced themselves, talked about why they wrote about werewolves as well as why they wrote their werewolves a particular way. Lots of teasing and joking ensued. Jackson and I also share an aversion to horror movies, though for different reasons- Jackson thinks about what happens after the kill and how someone will have to tell that person's family about the death, whereas my imagination just gets away from me and makes the scary stuff even worse and I also jump at every little thing that happens in my house.

They also talked about author anxieties, Maggie told her UK tour story about how English schoolchildren love her accent and want to know how her flight went, and Jackson almost danced atop a table. After that, they read a bit from their books and did a short QnA and also gave away a ton of prizes (I didn't win anything, but Liz won a copy of Blood and Chocolate, which she is so far enjoying), then it was time for the signing.

I stayed seated for a while and decided to wait until the line had died down a bit before going up. I wasn't in a huge hurry to get home, so I figured I could wait. Eventually I got up and into the line with Liz in tow to take my picture with Jackson and Maggie. I got my ARCs of As You Wish and Sisters Red signed to myself, and got As You Wish and Shiver paperbacks for a giveaway.

I also became a mute loon at this time! YAY! I had hoped I was getting over my shyness a bit with authors now that I've been to BEA and ALA and many author events but no, I'm not, at least not when it comes to beyond awesome and hilarious authors like Jackson Pearce. Jackson and I exchanged enthusiastic Hi's and I told her how I wanted the books signed and then I promptly went quiet (but most likely grinning like a crazy person) the whole time she signed my books. Le sigh- why can I never think of anything to say once I'm in front of an author?! Jackson probably thought I was weird. I handed off the Shiver to Maggie once the person in front of me left and Maggie signed and doodled in it. Once Jackson was done, I asked if I could get a picture with the two of them and my friend Liz took it. I really like it. Don't you?

I thanked them and wandered off to get my stuff ready but then hung around for a few minutes until Susan and Meaghan were ready to leave. The four of us walked down to Fountain where Jackson and Maggie signed stock, and I looked for Going Bovine (no luck) and chatted with Meaghan while Liz wandered off and amused herself. Around 4pm, I decided it was time to go and I finally departed after a long hug from Susan (who I'm sure was contemplating just stealing me and taking me with her to the Kelly Creagh signing in Baltimore that night but since I had a friend, this would not work). Then we walked with Meaghan to the parking lot where our cars were and went our separate ways.

And that was my Halloween! YAY!


All pictures except the last one were provided by S.F. Robertson, who is much better at taking photos and documenting events than I am.