Meeting Becca Fitzpatrick and Moira Young

                                        Moira Young, Me, and Becca Fitzpatrick

So, it’s kind of been a while since my last entry. I’ve had some time off from work (I finally started working as a school librarian –part time). And what do librarians do when they have time off? Apparently, we re-read Twilight, watch a whole season of Felicity on Netflix, catch up on Glee, Castle, Secret Circle, Ringer, The Lying Game, and The New Girl, and plan to go to author signings.

I knew that Becca Fitzpatrick would be at a Barnes and Noble, not too far away from me. I reviewed her last book here (Crescendo), and she just came out with book three in that series (Silence), which I decided to buy at Barnes and Noble, so I could have her sign it. And when I get to the store, I realized Moira Young would be there too, author of Blood Red Road! There’s noting better than going in for one good thing, and coming out with two! This also gave me an excuse to buy Young’s book, which I had only gotten from my library before.

Along with my little shopping spree, I really did enjoy getting to listen to the two authors. You could tell that Fitzpatrick has been in the author tour game for longer than Young. She just knew all the right things to say, and had some great embarrassing high school stories to share. This was nice because I’m glad I got to see her at her best. And it was also nice that Young seemed to be less schooled by her publisher; she was more out there with her answers, and less afraid of an audience that wouldn’t get her. They are two very different souls who handled their talks very differently, and I ate the whole thing up. Their differences just made the experience that more interesting. I enjoyed hearing what both of them had to say. I loved hearing that Fitzpatrick’s reason for her books was because of a joke of a birthday present her husband gave her –a creative writing class. And I loved hearing about Young’s amazing, artsy life as a performer/opera singer, traveling across Europe. If anything, I walked away from the experience really feeling like these authors were real people that I could definitely relate to.

I even raised my hand and asked a question during the Q&A part. I got to tell Moira Young that one of the reasons I loved her book so much was that it combined so many different themes, and I particularly loved the western themes she incorporated into the story. I asked if there were any particular movies or westerns that helped inspire her narrative. And she told me that first and foremost was The Wizard of Oz, and she listed a lot of other big, historically popular movies like Gone with the Wind. And she also made clear her love of John Wayne films, and I’m so glad I got to ask that question to her because that was the question I had while reading the whole thing.

I got Blood Red Road and Silence signed, and then of course asked their permission for a photo to put on my blog. I met some really nice people at the signing, who chatted endlessly with me about YA books. One was a teacher in Indiana and one was a grad student in Chicago. I wish I had their names, so I could adequately thank them for taking this picture, and for listening to me ramble on about a million YA series. I just love finding other people who share this interest with me.

And I kept finding myself comparing this interaction with my last author moments at ALA New Orleans. While, there were a lot more people to meet in New Orleans, I never really got the amount of one on one time I got here at Barnes and Noble. So, I guess I'm saying Barnes and Noble needs to get more of these author things going!

If you want to see my past review for Blood Red Road by Moira Young, click on the link: http://noriscloset.blogspot.com/2011/07/blood-red-road-by-moira-young.html

And click on this link for my review of Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick: http://noriscloset.blogspot.com/2011/05/crescendo-by-becca-fitzpatrick.html

Expect reviews for more of their books later (particularly Silence because I just got it).