Some book events from way back when...

A couple weeks ago, I went to three different and awesome book events three days in a row, but because of all my other scheduled posts, I haven't had a chance to tell you about them until now. So here goes.

On Tuesday, December 6, I headed on down to the Barnes & Noble in Union Square with author Kody Keplinger. We got there at around 3:30 or so because we wanted to be early for an event which started at 7:00. Why so extremely early, you ask? Well, because we knew that tons of people were going to show up because this event was the launch party for The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare.

It's a giant book! 

Sure enough, Kody and I weren't even the first people in the store waiting on Cassie Clare. Fortunately, though, because we were so early, we got amazing seats in the second row. And even though we had to wait a really long time, we were amply rewarded for our efforts.

The fabulous Cassandra Clare herself!

Cassandra Clare and, yes, that is Ed Westwick

Guess who else decided to show up to the event? Only Ed Westwick, better known as Chuck Bass from the Gossip Girl TV show. Ed has done several audiobooks in The Mortal Instruments/The Infernal Devices series and was awesome enough to stop by for a few minutes and introduce Cassandra Clare. Needless to say, there were a lot of squealing girls in the audience.

Here's another pic of Ed Westwick, for your viewing pleasure

As always, Cassie's event was full of fans and fun. She read a little bit from The Clockwork Prince and then took extensive Q&A from the audience. All in all, thoroughly enjoyable and well worth the two and a half or so hour wait. And I even got a signed book for a friend and some swag in the deal.

Then, that next day, I headed down to the NYPL Jefferson Market branch for December's Teen Author Reading Night. Since the weather was rainy and rather chilly, the turnout wasn't quite as good as it normally is, but the event, as always, was still fantastic.

Cecil Castellucci, Delia Sherman, Marie Rutkoski, Margie Gelbwasser,  Julia Mayer, & Andy Marino

Everyone read a little bit from their most recent book and then David Levithan, the organizer and moderator of this monthly series, had some interview questions before opening up the Q&A to the audience. Unfortunately, I had to leave the even early and had to awkwardly duck out during Q&A while saying goodbye to my friends Ruth and Sam from Living Little Women.

The day after that, I headed on down to Books of Wonder for yet another event. This one featured authors Cecil Castellucci, Daniel Nayeri, Paul Griffin, and Anna Godbersen.

Daniel Nayeri, Anna Godbersen, Paul Griffin, & Cecil Castellucci

It was awesome getting to hear each of them read from their newest books, and the audience had lots of interesting questions during Q&A. As a result, I learned that Daniel Nayeri wrote the entirety of Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow on his iPhone, that research is one of Anna Godbersen's favorite parts of writing historical novels, that Paul Griffin has had many dogs and many horrible neighbors, and that Cecil Castellucci ordered a survival guide for contactees to write First Day on Earth. Fun stuff.

I had a lovely time talking to Nancy Mercado, a fantastic editor at Macmillan, and awesome Books of Wonder employee Adam. And of course, I was super excited to get my copy of First Day on Earth signed and chat briefly with the super cool Cecil Castellucci.

So, I hope you remember from my recap of Cassie's event that I picked up some swag. If you were hoping that some of that would be given away in a contest, then your hopes have been fulfilled!

CONTEST CLOSED

(1) lucky winner will receive a Shadow Hunters poster and a rune pin

To enter this contest, please fill out this form:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFlQeUlyVWlPT0FLQ2dneVVtX3U1d3c6MQ

Other details:

• US mailing addresses only.
• Contest ends 1/06/12, at 9 p.m. PST.

Remember, you must complete the form to be entered, and only one form submission per person will be counted. If you have any questions about this contest, see my contest policy, or contact me and ask away.