Meeting Alice Oseman!

If you know even the slightest thing about me, you’ll know that I absolutely adore Alice Oseman. I’ve been a fan of their stories for so long now, they’re practically part of me. There hasn’t been a single other author who has made me feel as seen as Alice has. There’s just so many aspects of their books and characters that I relate to on a personal level. 

So when I found out they were going to be doing a book signing at my favourite bookshop, Queer Lit, I got a ticket immediately. 

my copy of heartstopper volume 5 with adorable freebies from the shop

As I’ve already established on multiple occasions, I am an anxious mess. I’ve gotten better over the years, and meds have helped enormously, but I’m still way more terrified than the average person when it comes to events and speaking to people – especially people who’s books have quite literally changed my life. 

But one thing I was determined to do was take the Heartstopper jacket I painted a few years ago and ask them to sign. 

i spent most of yesterday painting a #Heartstopper jacket! i’m going to be wearing it everywhere for the foreseeable future 💕 pic.twitter.com/NweHEB3LLv

— katie ♛ (@KatieBookQueen) July 29, 2021

My sister and I arrived early as the bookshop is also a café, and they stock some of my favourite tea. So we sat with some drinks for a while before the signing time started. We were also given the opportunity to write out our favourite Heartstopper moments onto a postcard, to potentially be shared on a podcast by The Proud Trust.

the gorgeous pride fan we given after handing in our postcards

When the time came for the signing, of course everyone wanted to chat to Alice, so things ended up running behind. Even though I’d arrived early and wasn’t that far back in the queue, they had to start limiting the amount of books people got signed to three instead of the originally planned five. 

It was completely fine by me because I’d only brought two other books with me – I don’t live locally, and I have a back injury at the moment so I wouldn’t have been able to carry more anyway! Since a copy of Heartstopper Volume 5 was included with our tickets, I decided not to have that signed in order to ask about my jacket instead. 

When I got to the front of the queue, even though the lovely assistant told me that they were only doing books today, Alice had already seen the jacket at that point and had decided to sign it anyway since I only had two books - I was so unbelievably grateful! 

so i took this jacket with me to meet @AliceOseman and they signed it for me 😭 https://t.co/TOOrWOgSq7 pic.twitter.com/oR8l7D3YVT

— katie ♛ (@KatieBookQueen) February 14, 2024

I also got my US hardback edition of my favourite Alice novel signed, I Was Born For This, and my original copy of Solitaire. It’s a bit of a throwback, but I still adore this version. It’s a book that’s been through the wars with me and I’ve annotated it too, so it means a lot. To have it signed makes it even more special!

Alice was super lovely, which put my anxious self at ease. The shop was running Heartstopper episodes on the screen behind the signing desk, and my picture with Alice was perfectly timed, don’t you think?

I’m so incredibly grateful to Queer Lit for organising the signing and doing their absolute best, even when things got stressful. I had such an amazing time and I will treasure my books and my jacket!

Have you ever met a favourite author?

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EVENT RECAP: An Evening with Leigh Bardugo

As a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo, I was able to meet her back in 2016 during her Worlds Collide tour with Rainbow Rowell, just after the release of Crooked Kingdom. Obviously, much has changed since then! With her first adult novel and a show adaptation for the Grishaverse, I was eager to see Leigh talk about all of the exciting things that have happened over the past few years. So when I found out she was coming to Liverpool on her tour for Hell Bent, I just had to go. 

I decided to wear the Shadow and Bone jacket I painted just before the release of the show last year! 

First of all, the location for the event was absolutely gorgeous. It’s commonly used as a wedding venue and there were fairy lights dotted around all over the place. On our way in, we got given our signed copies of Hell Bent that came with the ticket. We were allowed to bring one item to have personalised, which I loved because it gave people the choice as to what they wanted signed. 

The event itself started with Leigh speaking a little about Hell Bent and how it came to be, and the rest of the time was a Q&A so she could answer as many reader questions as possible, which I completely adored. It was a very relaxed and casual event, and though I wasn’t brave enough to ask a question, I enjoyed hearing everyone else speak! 

Leigh made it clear that no questions were off limits – it could be anything about any of her stories and projects. There were quite a few people who spoke about what Leigh’s books meant to them and I actually teared up a few times! 

One of the stand-out questions for me was when someone asked if she’d consider writing short-story updates for Six of Crows, to which she said no. She explained that she didn’t see that format working for the story and it would take a full sequel off the table if she ever did want to return to that world in the future. I couldn’t agree more! If we were ever going to get a continuation of SoC, I’d definitely want it to be a full-length novel. 

Taking questions about Ninth House, Leigh told us a bit about her experience in Yale and how that helped shape the story. She recalled how she got criticism when the book was first released due to its themes, but she stuck by why she included them and told them in the way that she did. 

Of course, there were questions about the Shadow and Bone TV show. Someone questioned whether the Crows would be getting their own story told, without the plot being weaved into S&B. Leigh couldn’t tell us anything other than to keep supporting the show as best we can. 

When it was time for the actual signing, I asked Leigh to sign my painted jacket, which she adored! She told me I was talented, and I nearly burst into tears right there, but I managed to hold it together. 

I’m SO happy to have my jacket signed! It was the first time I’d attempted denim painting on that scale, so it was quite the challenge and it paid off. 

It was such a wonderful event and I’m thrilled that I had the chance to go!

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EVENT RECAP: An Evening With Cassandra Clare

You don’t have to look too far around my bookish platforms to know that the Shadowhunter Chronicles are a huge part of my life as a reader. The Mortal Instruments was one of the first series that really pulled me into YA fantasy and encouraged my descent into the online book community. For over a decade, Cassandra Clare’s novels have been a constant for me. 

I’m lucky enough to have met Cassie twice before. The first time was back in 2012 and it was my first ever book signing so I was absolutely petrified. The second time was during the promotion for the City of Bones movie, which was a much bigger event. I had a wonderful time at both events, so when I found out Cassie was returning to the UK this year and visiting a city nearby, I just knew I had to go! 

Chester is one of my fave photography spots

The event took place in the Storyhouse Theatre in Chester, one of my favourite cities. If you ever get a chance to visit, then you’re in for a treat. Before the talk started, I was able to pick up my exclusive copy of City of Gold, which is absolutely gorgeous. 

My seat was quite near to the back, but I still had a perfect view of the stage. There was even an adorable cardboard cutout of the characters featured in The Last Hours, which is the series Cassie was focusing on during this tour. 

The atmosphere was so welcoming, and everyone was making conversation with each other before the talk started. As someone with social anxiety, it’s always great when I’m in an environment I feel relaxed in, and I was able to chat to the people around me. 

The first half of the event was an interview with Cassie, discussing the series and what may possibly happen to the characters in the final book. She also spoke about her inspiration when it came to locations and fashion within the story. 

During the second half, she answered questions submitted from the audience and online viewers. Cassie also spoke a bit about her upcoming adult novel, Sword Catcher. If I wasn’t sold on it before, I definitely am now. Hearing her describe the story left me desperate to read it because the concept sound so fascinating. Needless to say, I’m excited for it to be released! 

After the event, there was an opportunity to take a picture with Cassie in a Covid-safe way, using a book-like structure for The Last Hours, which I absolutely adored! It’s such a fun way to take a memorable picture. We were also given signed bookplates for Chain of Gold. 

I’m so glad I was able to meet Cassie again. I’m just starting to dip my toes back into book events post-pandemic, and this was organised in a way that helped me feel safe and kept my anxiety at bay. Here’s to hoping I get to make it to more events this year!

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EVENT RECAP: An Evening With Simon James Green

From the moment I first picked up Noah Can't Even back in 2017, I've been an avid fan of Simon James Green's novels. I can't recommended them enough to literally every reader I come across. I've said it time and time again, but his books are ones I desperately wish I'd had back when I was in high school, but I'm so happy that teenagers today get that opportunity. 

With how little I manage to travel, I've never been able to make it to any of Simon's events or signings before, so I was over the moon when I found out he'd be stopping by my favourite local bookshop, Bear Hunt Books! I even ended up painting a little window display for the shop to celebrate. 

For the event, we got given a fascinating presentation from Simon that covered a range of LGBTQ+ topics such as a brief history on Section 28 and discussions about how even though we've come a long way, we still have so much more we need to do. We also spoke about the recent pushbacks Simon has faced after being banned from giving a talk at a Catholic school. 

I got the chance to chat with Simon and get some books signed after the presentation. I showed a lot of restraint and only took three books with me to the event, something my shoulder is immensely thankful for. But I absolutely had to take my beloved copy of Noah Can't Even, and my personal favourite You're The One That I Want, which was my top book of 2021. Simon also kindly signed the tote I painted of the cover last year!

My copy of Gay Club! was already pre-signed signed from the preorder, but it was given the adorable Gay Club stamp!

I had such a fantastic evening and I'm utterly grateful to Simon for being so lovely, and to Bear Hunt Books for making it happen. It was my first book event since pre-pandemic times so it was great to get back out there! 

Bear Hunt Books has signed copies of Simon's books available in store, so pop in if you can!

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EVENT RECAP: Worlds Collide Tour with Leigh Bradugo & Rainbow Rowell

As you probably already know, I am a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell. Her books have literally set standards for everything else I read because they’re just that amazing. I’ve been part of the UK Fangirls group set up by the fabulous people at MyKindaBook for over a year now and there’s nothing I enjoy more than discussing Rainbow's amazing stories. After hearing a lot of buzz about Six of Crows from my fellow bloggers (making me pick up the book which subsequently ruined me emotionally) I’m now also a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo. So when I found out they were both coming on tour TOGETHER, to the UK, it’s safe to say I JUST HAD TO GO. Last night I was lucky enough to attend the final tour stop in Manchester, and here’s what went down!

I arrived at the library where the event was being held quite early and spent a little while curiously wandering around, not knowing where to go, and generally being too anxious to ask a person and find out (great start, brain). But I ended up meeting the lovely Sarah from Sarah’s Chapter and we started our own little queue outside that luckily ended up being in the right place. When it was time to be allowed in, I managed to grab a seat on the front row! 

Rainbow and Leigh started off the event with a little bit of background info on how they became friends. Leigh told us that she questioned Rainbow on why she was writing about a vampire with the name Baz, but not because she didn’t like the name. It was actually because at the time she was writing a story about a character named Baz Brekker. Yup, Kaz was originally named Baz!

Then we were all treated to a reading from both Carry On and Crooked Kingdom, and it was pure gold. From Carry On we got the scene between Simon and Baz down in the catacombs, and let me tell you, Leigh as Baz was utterly hilarious. From Crooked Kingdom we had the scene between Nina and Matthias whilst they’re undercover, and Rainbow as Matthias had everyone laughing.

After the readings, there was time for audience members to ask some questions. We found out that Leigh has been asked if she’ll write an epilogue or a short story about the future of the characters from SoC but she doesn’t want to do that because it would prevent her from returning to that world in the future. (Which she seems keen to do a few years down the line!) Both authors were asked to choose their favourite of each others characters from. Leigh said that Lincoln from Attachments is her ideal guy, whilst Rainbow’s favourite is Nina because she’s a woman who embraces everything about herself. Whilst talking about the publishing industry and dealing with rejections, Rainbow told us that Fangirl had a rocky start in the UK because she was told ‘fangirl’ wasn’t a term that was used over here and wouldn’t work as a title, which caused us all to giggle a little.

When the Q&A was over, we were then taken in rows to queue for the signing. Despite the large amount of people in attendance, both authors took the time to sign plenty of books and chat to everyone. As someone who gets very nervous at signings, it was great that the event was so relaxed. At one point, when I was quite near to the front of the line, the library accidentally turned the lights off on us, which turned out to be quite hilarious! Both Rainbow and Leigh were super lovely when I was having my books signed and it was a lovely ending to a wonderful event.

 

I was thrilled that we were allowed to take one of the gorgeous Six of Crows art cards. They were faced down on the table so we couldn’t see which one we chose, and I ended up actually getting the one I wanted the most!

My actual child, Wylan Van Eck Sunshine

We also got to take home one of these gorgeous tour badges. Isn’t the artwork beautiful?

Before I left, I was able to meet the lovely Beth from Words From A Reader, and there was some running for a train which may have almost killed us, but we lived to tell the tale. Was the event worth almost missing our train home for? Most definitely!

The Worlds Collide Tour is honestly one of the best author events I’ve been lucky enough to attend. Rainbow and Leigh are completely brilliant together and I hope they decide to do events together in the future. I’m so glad I had the chance to go - I had the best time! A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this tour happen.

Extra thanks to Kat from MyKindaBook for sending out one of the tour shirts, isn’t it gorgeous??

Were you lucky enough to attend one of the tour dates, or have you met either of these fab authors before? Let me know!

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EVENT RECAP: An Evening With Maggie Stiefvater

Anyone who knows me will know how much I adore The Raven Cycle series. Those books have consumed a part of my soul. I attempt and most of the time successfully convince people to read them. I basically live and breathe that series. So when I found out that Maggie Stiefvater was coming to Manchester for an event, I just had to go!
 

I live a fairly long train journey away from Manchester and I don’t get to visit the city very often, so I saw this as my chance to go early, make a day of it, and go exploring. But the rain had other plans. So I spent most of my day in Manchester Central Library, where the event was being held. However, that did mean that as soon as I was allowed into the performance area, I was able to grab a seat at the front! How did I spend that hour and a half wait, you ask? I caught Pokémon, obviously. 

A Poliwhirl lurks close to the stage

Just after 6:30 Maggie was finally introduced to the stage and the event got underway. Let me tell you, Maggie Stiefvater is hilarious. She spent some time talking about her career before she became a writer, and her stories about her portrait painting had everyone laughing. She also told us how her typical working day as a writer varies and we learned that writing on planes is not something she’s fond of! We were also treated to a delightful story about the time John Green invited her to go racing and he ended up on fire. Twice.

Later on people in the audience got the chance to ask Maggie some questions. One of the most stand out ones was when someone asked how she plans her novels. She told us that she thinks of them like a road trip; she knows where she’s starting from, where she’s going, and why she’s going there, but she does various fun things along the way in different places. 

Maggie telling us about the time her research trip to Scotland didn't exactly go to plan...

The last question of the night was about Maggie moving on from The Raven Cycle. She told us that she’d had a six-month book hangover after she finished writing it, during which she found herself wanting to go back to the magic system that she’d spent so long creating. To help herself get out of it she reminded herself that after writing four books in this series with readers wanting certain things to happen before the end, she was now free from expectation and could work on something totally new.

After the talk, we were then allowed to get our books signed so I joined the exceptionally long queue! It was a sold out event and definitely the biggest turn out for a signing that I’ve been to in a long time, and the organisers did a great job of helping everyone. We were also offered a choice of super cute badges to take home! 

I was able to meet Maggie and have my copies of The Raven King and The Dream Thieves signed, my two favourite books in the series. I also told her just how much her books had ruined me in the best possible way. I'm generally rather nervous and mostly awkward at book signings, but Maggie was super lovely! 

 

It was such a fantastic event with a great atmosphere, and if you ever have the chance to see Maggie in person – do it. She is one of the funniest and most engaging authors I’ve had the chance to see! Thank you to Waterstones Deansgate and Scholastic for such a fab night. 

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An Evening With Rainbow Rowell!

Hey, everyone! So yesterday, I was lucky enough to attend an evening with the fabulous Rainbow Rowell in Liverpool. It was a sold out event, so I was glad I managed to get my ticket back in May! 

The place was already crowded when I arrived half an hour early. Rainbow is definitely one popular lady. I was a few rows away from the front, though, so I had a good view!

Rainbow started the event by showing us the gorgeous heeled shoes she was actually planning to wear for the evening, but couldn’t because she’d hurt her ankle! The shoes were totally cute, so I could understand the disappointment.

She then went on to talk a little bit about her books and how she was supposed to write Landline before Fangirl, but decided to switch it around. We were then treated to a reading of a scene from Fangirl.

Then the Q&A got underway and we learnt a lot about Rainbow’s book and how she came to write novels after being a journalist for many years. We also discovered that she’d like nothing more than to right a screenplay for Benedict Cumberbatch to play a romantic role!

After the questions, we were than allowed to go and get our books signed. It was lovely to meet Rainbow, she was so fun! She told me she loved my outfit and I was stupidly happy.   

It was an amazing evening and since Fangirl is one of my favourite reads in a long time, I was thrilled to get my copy signed! Rainbow is wonderful and made for a greatly entertaining evening. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of her events, definitely do so! You won’t regret it. 

Have a great weekend!

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