Last Wednesday was a whirlwind day. I awoke early that morning to get ready, go to breakfast, and take my last final of freshman year. As soon as I finished that test, I hurried back to my dorm where I proceeded to pack everything and move out of my dorm room with the help of my mom and a couple friends. Once I said my goodbyes, my mom and I hit the road so we could make it to the Fierce Reads event at Vroman’s Bookstore.
Once we made it to Pasadena, we stopped for dinner before heading over to the store. Even though we were 45 minutes early, the first few rows were already filled and the store had to add more chairs to fit everyone.
The event started right at 6pm and the authors came out for a panel moderated by Sarah from First Draft Podcast. The biggest topic discussed was their writing and just writing in general. Each author gave a little bit of different advice. Harriet’s advice was to finish the book and Marie added that you need to find the time to write. Cecelia encouraged budding writers to listen to the voice in their heads and to not follow trends. Lastly, Leigh added that writing has no expiration date. Some authors write and sell books in their early twenties while some do so much, much later. Leigh didn’t even finish Shadow & Bone until she was 35.
After some fun discussion, like slow burn romances and how Harriet loves to keep the characters apart for as long as possible so she doesn’t have to write kissing scenes, it was time for the signing. The four authors were lovely and I had time to talk to each one individually. A huge thank you to Leigh Bardugo, Marie Rutkoski, Harriet Reuter Hapgood, Cecelia Ahern, Fierce Reads, and Vroman’s Bookstore for an awesome event!