Meeting Josie Angelini, Stephanie Perkins, Natalie Whipple, Kiersten White, Sarah J Maas, Gretchen McNeil and Anna Carey!

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014Leave a comment

Also, prostate an appropriate title for this blog post would be “I’ve Neglected my Blog and I’ve Done a TON of Author Events in the Past Week…”

September has been quite a busy month for me, cost personal stuff aside. It feels like EVERYONE has released a book this month and decided to come to California. Which I’m not complaining about at all. I love when authors come here, patient especially ones that I’ve seen before, like a lot of the ones you see in the title above. Authors make me happy!

First, last week, I met Josie Angelini again. She’s SUCH a sweetheart and she totally remembered me from ALA and Fierce Reads in Vegas back in July. Her newest release, Trial By Fire, is out now and its absolutely incredible. It blew me away and I loved being able to finally tell her that! When I saw her at ALA, I had just started it so I didn’t have much to say. She brought us cupcakes (OMG Sprinkles…) and signed our books and looked so absolutely adorable with her preggers belly.

Josie Angelini!

Mini cupcakes from Sprinkles!

SO fun.

Then a few days later, I headed down with my friends Alex and Cassie to Oceanside, about an hour drive away, to see Kiersten White at her book launch for Illusions of Fate with special guests, Stephanie Perkins and Natalie Whipple. We headed down early, grabbed some lunch and spent WAY too much money on books.

All of the authors were incredible. I haven’t read anything by Kiersten or Natalie but they just blew me away. They had great advice and they talked a lot about writing. I had actually just gotten a rejection from one of the agents I had queried and was feeling kind of crappy. But they talked so much about writing, the struggle, the up and down emotions that come with it, and all of that. It meant a lot to hear all of that.

I got my books signed, chatted up the authors, talked about writing and books and we headed home. I fangirled just a *little* bit when Stephanie asked about my book and what it was about. Maybe, just maybe, one day she’ll read it!

Stephanie Perkins

Natalie Whipple

Kiersten White

Oh yeah, and I got carried away and bought two other books. Not that I needed them but pssh, I’ve been dying to buy lots of books lately. Book shopping is fantastic therapy. I’m just saying.

Then this past Saturday, I met Sarah J Maas for the third or fourth time. I’ve honestly forgotten how many times I’ve met her. Probably because we always laugh and joke about our names because they’re the same except for one small letter. She was doing a signing at a Costco nearby and also at the Barnes and Noble, the Americana. I’ve been avoiding the Americana since the Gayle Forman event, because they’re just so massively unorganized so I decided getting my Heir of Fire signed at Costco was the best way to go.

Probably laughing at how much crap we give each other for our names haha. I love this picture so much.

Then last night, I headed down to the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles for a launch party. If you’ve never been to the Last Bookstore, its a must when you hit LA. Its such an incredible indie bookstore and its just straight up beautiful. I love it. Gretchen McNeil and Anna Carey were having a launch party for their new releases, Get Even and Blackbird, respectively.

There were free drinks, cupcakes, and laughs to be had. I chatted with lots of authors that I know and love like Jessica Brody, Leigh Bardugo, Morgan Matson, Jennifer Bosworth, Ann Stampler and more. I adore them all. I love how many author friends I’ve made and I love that I see them so often, supporting each other.

I’ve already read Gretchen’s new book and I grabbed a couple books by Anna, including her new release, because I’ve heard she’s great.

Anna Carey and Gretchen McNeil :D

Me and Anna Carey

Me and the absolutely adorable, wonderful and unforgettable Gretchen McNeil :)

My books PLUS a sneak peek of Get Dirty, the sequel to Get Even. After stalking Gretchen at WonderCon to get my hands on an ARC of Get Even, I am anxiously awaiting the sequel with much impatience.

So that was the craziness of my last week and a half! LOTS of authors and it only gets more exciting in the next couple weeks, including RJ Palacio, Kami Garcia, and more. Check back soon for more and thanks, as always, for reading, and supporting me!

Hope to see some of you at some events soon!

******

Fierce Reads Blockbuster Event!

July 24, 2014July 24, 20142 Comments

Can you guys believe that its been about three weeks since I’ve done a book event? Yeah! Three weeks! Insanity! Ever since I got back home from ALA in Las Vegas, link I’ve been overwhelmed with work, abortion and my novel, that I just haven’t had much time for blogging or going to book events.

Luckily, that is about to change VERY soon. I had an awesome time tonight at the Fierce Reads event at The Grove in Los Angeles, and will be attending a James Dashner and a Maggie Stiefvater event in the next few days and I’m very excited for those. Things are picking up guys.

Tonight I headed down to one of my favorite bookstores for what was sure to be an awesome event. I love Barnes and Noble in general, but I love going to the one at The Grove because they always have such great events and the event coordinator, Lita, is just a doll. I got there early, grabbed my wristband, and had lunch at Veggie Grill (yum yum!) before heading back to the store for the event.

The authors attending this event were four total YA all stars:

Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles series, including Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and soon to be, Winter. Winter hits bookstores next year, but before that, a prequel story about Queen Levana will hit bookstores. Yay!

Leigh Bardugo, author of the Grisha Trilogy, including Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising. She’s currently working on another series, which takes place in the same Grisha world, not long after the end of Ruin and Rising.

Anna Banks, author of the Syrena Legacy, including Of Poseidon, Of Triton and Of Neptune. She also has a new book called Joyride heading to bookstores next June!

and

Ann Aguirre, author of the Razorland trilogy, including Enclave, Outpost, and Horde. And soon to be a TON of other books! This includes a new adult trilogy whose titles are Backstreet Boy’s songs. I call that a win.

I was SO excited because I love all of these authors so much, and I always have a good time going to these events.

We took our seats, and Lita talked up the event and the authors, and even talked about the moderator, Anthony Breznican and his debut novel, Brutal Youth. She talked it up so much that I immediately went downstairs to pick myself a copy of it. He was so awesome, a great moderator and was fun to talk to after the panel. He seemed happy that some of us grabbed copies of his book; it must be SO nerve wracking to have your debut novel out there!

Then Lita and the fantastic people of Macmillan Teens had a surprise for us early arrivals: ARCs! You know me, I can NEVER get enough of books :) I immediately went forward to check out what they had. I had most of them, from ALA, but they had a copy of Caragh O’Brien’s Vault of Dreamers, which I hadn’t managed to score at ALA. That was exciting. I also had my sister with me, and she was kind of my assistant for the event, so she grabbed a copy of Josephine Angelini’s Trial by Fire. Now, if you guys pay attention at all, you’ll know that I already have a copy of Trial by Fire so this one is going to be up for grabs very soon!

Then the event! Yay!

All four ladies were so much fun in the panel. I honestly haven’t laughed so hard in so long. Leigh was her usual hilarious self and Marissa had a quirky little sense of humor. Ann Aguirre had a sort of awkward sense of humor, which remind me so much of myself that I just couldn’t stop laughing. And ohmygod, Anna Banks’ dry sense of humor was KILLING me. I could NOT stop laughing. It was too much.

They talked about their books, their inspirations for them, how they tackled them. They talked about books they loved, and what books inspired them. What I really loved is how they dove into the appeal of YA to adults and the growing diversity in YA books. Those are two very important topics and I was eager to hear what they had to say about it!

Then was the signing, of course. I got books signed by all of them, because I’m spoiled that way ;) I got Mortal Danger signed by Ann Aguirre, Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, and my extra copies of Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.

Because I already have my entire Lunar Chronicles signed (so far), I bought an extra copy of Cinder (and also Shadow and Bone) and those will be up for grabs soon as well!

I think I cleaned up pretty nicely after this event!

Not a bad haul from the event!

I also managed to get my hands on some extra stuff! Check it out!

I bought extra copies of Cinder and Shadow and Bone and those are both signed by the author. I got my hands on that extra copy of Trial by Fire, which doesn’t hit bookstores until September! I also got an Of Poseidon sneak peek booklet signed by Anna Banks and a bookmark signed by Ann Aguirre, and ton of other cool bookmarks and pins. Keep an eye out because a giveaway is coming VERY VERY soon!

Leigh’s mom was there, and I’ve met her twice before, at the Siege and Storm release party and the Ruin and Rising release part, and she’s such a doll. She remembered me and gave me a big ol hug and sat next to me during the event. She’s such a sweetheart :)

I also met a “fan” of What A Nerd Girl Says today, named Laura! She was SO cool, and I always love meeting you guys so NEVER be nervous to say hi. I’m kind of a weirdo so please do! Also, she read my excerpt that I posted the other day of The Awakened, and loved it, and that gave me SUCH a boost! Thanks for that, Laura :)

All in all, a super great night and I’m always so glad to go to the Barnes and Noble at the Grove and to go to Fierce Reads events. I ADORE Macteen and they put out so many amazing books and I will go to every Fierce Reads event that I can!

Until next time, folks! And keep an eye out for that giveaway!

Vlog: My Adventures in Las Vegas for the ALA Annual Conference 2014!

July 2, 20146 Comments

WHEW! I am SO exhausted everyone. I just had one of the most incredible weekends possible, price and yeah, I’m fairly pooped.

For those of you who don’t know, or don’t follow me on Instagram or Twitter, I just the previous Friday through Monday in Las Vegas, NV for the American Library Association Annual Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Now if you’re not sure what that is, I’ll explain. The ALA AC is basically a conference for librarians to come together and talk about books, libraries and all sorts of things. They talk about banned books, ways to get children, teens and adults to read, what programs to bring to their libraries…all sorts of things. It’s literally an entire weekend about books. Its sort of like a BEA convention except way more professional, because its through ALA and its centered on librarians and publishers and that sort of thing.

Now, outside people are invited to go, of course. There is a badge that is designated just for those people, that can get them on the exhibit floor, where they can mingle, talk about books, meet authors and grab ARCs.

Now, Courtney, who you may know as one of my good friends and the youth services librarian behind the epic Ontario Teen Book Fest, has been encouraging me to attend for awhile. I didn’t think that I had a place, as a blogger, and not a professional but she disagreed. Then at TBF, Jessica Brody jumped into the conversation as well, pointing out how passionate and hard working I am and that I definitely should go.

Because here’s the thing: bloggers don’t have the best reputation at ALA. They have a reputation for being fangirly (there’s a time and a place, people) and grabby. I guess a few years ago, a blogger went to ALA and while all the librarians are busy in panels and such, grabbed a TON of ARCs…over 100, easily. She had also brought her sister, and her sister grabbed doubles of everything. An exhibit hall badge is a mere 35 dollars, while librarians and such pay over 200 for theirs, plus travel expenses and hotel and all of that. And a lot of librarians were left hanging on ARCs that they genuinely wanted.

So I was nervous about going but I was encouraged to go, and Vegas is only a 4 hour drive for me, so I booked a hotel, started saving all my tip money from work and decided to go.

And I’m SO SO SO SO glad that I did. It was an absolutely incredible experience. I only experienced the blogger negative attitude a few times, but for the most part, people were nice and welcoming. Honestly, I think a lot has to do with the fact that I know when to be professional about What A Nerd Girl Says. I also made sure to grab only books that I knew I wanted or that really sounded great. I knew people who left with 80-100 books but I only left with 40 and I’m very pleased with that.

But anyway, I met a ton of amazing authors, librarians, writers, bloggers, all sorts of people. It was INCREDIBLE. I’m blown away by the fantastic experience I had. I learned that next year’s conference will be in San Francisco so I’m definitely planning a trip for that because I just feel like I can’t miss this again! I also did a ton of networking and handed out SO many business cards!

But enough of that. Now its time to check out my official vlog video for the entire event! Enjoy!

Don’t forget, you can also see all the photos from my “crazy” weekend in Vegas here in this album on the official What a Nerd Girl Says Facebook page.

Thanks for reading and watching!

Happy Reading!

Ontario Teen Book Fest 2014!

May 27, 20142 Comments

I know. I know. I know.

I’m awful! This was almost two weeks ago and I’ve just been SO incredibly busy and I kept meaning to vlog about it, sildenafil but that never happened so I’m just going to write about it quickly because all I have to say about this awesome event is that it was awesome.

Last year’s Ontario Teen Book Fest introduced to me to a multitude of amazing authors, a lot of whom I’ve since then become friends with. Which is incredible to me, both as a book blogger and as a writer. It means the world to me.

So I was most definitely looking forward to this year’s fest. I organized the blog tour, held a giveaway and did all kinds of promotion for it, because I love this event SO much.

I was asked back again as an official blogger, with my best fangirl friend, Sylvia from Fangirl Feeels, and we attended the official Author Breakfast, and started meeting the authors, getting to know them, and interviewing them for our vlog, which you can check out now!

[YouTube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MpjOfZXNfw]

It was a blast, like always, and I really enjoyed meeting all the authors and talking about fictional crushes and great teen books they wish they’d had as teens. I feel like I made a lot of connections and a lot of friends that day.

There was the opening keynote speeches from Jessica Brody (LOVE her), Lauren Kate (seriously, she was so pregnant and IN HEELS, much props!) and John Corey Whaley (who seriously should be my best friend). They all had wonderful things to say about life and writing. They made me laugh, and they made me think, and they all made me feel a lot better about being a struggling writer. Lauren talk a lot about the struggles of getting through a book, and it felt good to hear that even a published, seasoned author can feel that sort of despair where you want to throw your computer across the room. Jessica and Corey both talked about finding the right path to writing, and emphasizing that it can take time, and it can take making the wrong choices and making mistakes to get to where you need to be.

We then split up to go to our first panel, and I made sure to attend the debut author panel with Katherine Ewell, Livia Blackburne, Ava Dellaira and Catherine Linka. They had so much to say about writing and reading and getting into the world of publishing and writing. What struck me as super awesome is that they all had very different backgrounds (high school student turned Stanford student, neuroscientist, screenwriter, bookseller), and were obviously different ages, but they had all accomplished the same goal and that was great. They all had wonderful things to say.

We broke for lunch after that, which was cool, because we were back in the room with the authors again! Yay! We sat near Katherine Ewell, Ava Dellaira and Livia Blackburne and talked about writing and books and Disneyland and all sorts of fun stuff, and that was just an awesome experience to have.

After lunch, we headed to the newest addition to the Teen Book Fest schedule: author speed dating. Basically there were tables for all the readers to sit at, and every 8 minutes or so, the authors would switch to another table. You basically got some personal time with about…six or seven authors and it was SO great. Sylvia and I, along with my sister Jessica, sat a table together and had some great conversations with Lauren Miller, Catherine Linka, Jessi Kirby, Jessica Brody, Ava Dellaira and Katherine Ewell and it was awesome. A GREAT addition to the Fest, for sure!

Photo Credit to: Sylvia from Fangirl Feeels

After that, we had the final panel for the day, and we headed to a panel with Jessi Kirby, Elana K Arnold, Ava Dellaira and John Corey Whaley, all about relationships and I’ve read most of their books so that was cool. Talking about the dynamic of relationships, whether family or friends or love interests, is important and the title of the panel was “It’s Complicated” so the authors tried to insert “complicated” into as many answers as possible!

After the last panel of the day, all the authors gathered at their tables to sign their books, and we finished gathering interviews for the vlog above, and got all our books signed. It was awesome meeting ALL of the authors, and getting to know them. I am glad I’ve read some of their books and can’t wait to get my hands on the others!

I have to throw out MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR props to Courtney Saldana, the Youth Services librarian, for putting on another fantastic event and for letting me be a part of it. Much thanks to her partner in crime, Aly, and all her volunteers as well, and the Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair Company. You guys ROCK.

I canNOT wait until next year, to meet all kinds of awesome authors and to be a part of it once again. Plus I heard from an inside source that my darling Andrew Smith will be there, so I’m ready for it!

Remember, you can check out all the pictures from the Ontario Teen Book Fest (at least the ones I took), on the official What A Nerd Girl Says facebook page here.

Lastly, congrats to Peyton, Jasmine and Stephanie for winning the prizes in the official Ontario Teen Book Fest blog tour giveaway!

OH! And it felt SO awesome being in the program. I felt important, and helpful!

Happy Reading!

Ontario Teen Book Fest Tomorrow + Giveaway!

May 16, 2014Leave a comment

Well, recipe we’ve reached the end of the Ontario Teen Book Fest blog tour and I am SO happy and excited that it went SO well. Thanks to each and every single blogger that participated and to all the authors that ROCKED their spotlights.

If you’d like to check out all the spotlights and interviews, they are all linked in this schedule so definitely check them out!

May 2nd: Spotlight on Jessica Brody — What A Nerd Girl Says
May 3rd: Spotlight on Elana K. Arnold — Nite Lite Book Reviews
May 4th: Spotlight on Catherine Linka — Fangirl Feeels
May 5th: Spotlight on Livia Blackburne – The Thousand Lives
May 6th: Spotlight on Lauren Kate — She Reads She Blogs
May 7th: Spotlight on Katie Alender — Movies, Shows and Books
May 8th: Spotlight on Lauren Miller — A Bookish Escape
May 9th: Spotlight on Sarah Skilton — Read Now Sleep Later
May 10th: Spotlight on Lissa Price — Recently Acquired Obsessions
May 11th: Spotlight on Jessi Kirby — What A Nerd Girl Says
May 12th: Spotlight on Katherine Ewell — iFandoms Collide
May 13th: Spotlight on Mary Pearson — The Windy Pages
May 14th: Spotlight on John Corey Whaley — Read Now Sleep Later
May 15th: Spotlight on Robin Benway — Adventures of a Book Junkie
May 16th: Spotlight on Ava Dellaira — Fangirl Feeels

Don’t forget as well, to enter the Ontario Teen Book Fest Blog tour giveaway! There will be three winners of three really great prizes. The giveaway is going on until May 20th, so make sure to get your entry in!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But most importantly, is the AMAZING event that is taking place tomorrow! This is what we’ve spent two weeks promoting and I hope to see all of you Southern California readers there to meet these fantastic authors.

Where:

Colony High School
3850 E. Riverside Drive, Ontario CA

What:

15 incredible young adult authors gathering together to talk about their books and sign them as well! There are some keynote speakers, several panels to choose from AND a speed dating game with the authors as well!

For the full schedule of events, please visit the official Ontario Teen Book Fest website here.

Books and Stuff:

Mrs. Nelson’s Bookfair Company will be onsite, selling books for all authors! You most definitely will be able to bring books from home, in fact, we hope that you do!

We also encourage you to purchase a book or two from Mrs. Nelson’s, to show support for them. They are the main sponsor of the event and its because of sponsors like them that events like this can happen! Mrs. Nelson’s will be accepting both cash and cards!

There will also be official posters ($5) and official t-shirts ($10) on sale, through the Ontario Library. The profits from these sales will go towards TBF 2015! Please note that these will only be available for purchase using CASH!

Social Media:

Don’t forget to RSVP “yes” if you’re attending on the official Facebook event here.

Also! If you are there, make sure to tweet and instagram your experience and use the hashtag #OntarioTBF!

* * * * * * * *

I hope to see all of you there!

If you have ANY questions, any at all about the event, feel free to comment below or to tweet me at @anerdgirlsays and I will get back to as soon as possible!

And don’t be afraid to say hello! I’ll be running around all day in an official Ontario Teen Book Fest t-shirt and am looking forward to hanging out with the authors and meeting all of you!

Happy Friday everyone!

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Authors Announced!

March 5, 2014March 5, 20143 Comments

I can hardly contain my excitement and the list went up HOURS ago.

HOURS.

I love this event, clinic I have a blast every single year that I go and as I dive deeper into this world, the more I fall in love with this event, because of all the authors I get to meet!

And they’ve finally put up the list of authors that are going to be there. If your’e in the Los Angeles area, you HAVE to be there. Pssh, even if you’re not in the area, you should find a way to GET to the area because its going to be amazing.

Here’s the list of YA authors that will be at the fest. Plus some commentary by me, of course ;)

Katie Alender

She’s going to be at Ontario Teen Book Fest. Not sure of her yet, but I gotta try her books, of course!

Laurie Halse Anderson

I’ve only ever read Speak (I know, I know) but that book is amazing so I hope that I meet her soon.

Carrie Arcos

She’ll be at Pasadena Teen Book Fest and I’m excited to see her because she’s awesome.

Kelley Armstrong

Leigh Bardugo

Always beautiful to meet. I’ll worry about her once Ruin and Rising comes out haha.

Robin Benway

I’ll see her at Ontario TBF. And I just saw her at Disneyland in January. That was awesome.

Francesca Lia Block

She is so sweet! I met her at Los Angeles TBF

Ann Brashares

I hope that I can meet her. The Traveling Pants books were huge to me in high school.

Deb Caletti

Words cannot explain how excited I am about her coming. I can’t handle it.

Cecil Castellucci

I’ve met her so many times, I’ve lost count haha.

Stephen Chbosky

Lovely lovely man. I’ve met him already but I don’t have a signed copy of Perks so that would be awesome.

Heather Cocks

Eoin Colfer

Lovely man, and I’m so glad I was able to meet him and interview him. I know my sister will be happy to see him again.

Andrea Cremer

Melissa de la Cruz

I hope to actually see her this year haha. I missed her last year because I hadn’t read any of her books.

Ava Dellaira

I will be seeing her at Ontario TBF

Huntley Fitzpatrick

I LOVE her book, My Life Next Door, so I’m SO excited to meet her. This is a MUST.

Maurene Goo

I met her at LA TBF and she was a doll, and she had an awesome dry sense of humor.

John Green

I literally cannot handle this. I was shaking when I saw this. I need to tell him how amazing Abundance of Katherines is and I need to just love on him forever. Is that awkward? I don’t even care. Its like a fangirl’s dream come true to meet him.

Daniel Handler

Bill Konigsberg

I met him at LA TBF but I have no books signed by him so hopefully I can do that here.

E. Lockhart

Sarah J. Maas

Always a blast to see her :) I’d love to see her again!

DJ MacHale

I keep seeing his books all over the place so I gotta give him a try. If I can squeeze him, that’d be cool.

Tahereh Mafi

Oh I’ve seen her so much haha. And I’m sure I can see her again, easily.

Marissa Meyer

No words can describe. I MUST see her. I cannot go the weekend without meeting her.

Jessica Morgan

Lauren Myracle

Lauren Oliver

If I can squeeze her in, that’d be great. I’ve met her before but getting Panic signed would be a full and complete collection.

Ridley Pearson

Joanna Philbin

Mimi Pond

Ransom Riggs

Have already met him, of course

Veronica Roth

YES! I was so hoping she would be back so I can get Allegiant signed! Which means I’ll have the WHOLE collection and I’ll be excited.

Rainbow Rowell

Ohmygod I have to meet her. Even though Cassandra got me Fangirl signed, I need Eleanor and Park and Attachments and Landline if its out by then. And I need to write her a letter and tell her how amazing Fangirl was and how it changed my life, seriously.

Rachel Shukert

Neal Shusterman

I’ve met him! Yay!

Sarah Skilton

She’ll be at Ontario TBF

Holly Goldberg Sloan

Andrew Smith

He’ll be at Pasadena TBF so I’m going to try and get his books signed then. But I want to say hi to him at FoB because I adore him and I want to say hi, of course.

Sonya Sones

Amy Spalding

Ann Stampler

I think…Pasadena TBF? I think so. I’ve met her before though. Such a sweetheart.

Margaret Stohl

I will meet her at Pasadena TBF. I am excited because I haven’t met her yet.

Tamara Ireland Stone

I won both of her books signed, but it’d be cool to get them personalized, or even just to say hi because I like her books.

Jonathan Stroud

Laini Taylor

I really need to read The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And then I can meet her, without feeling like a fool.

Maya Van Wagenen

John Corey Whaley

He’ll be at Ontario TBF. WOO!