I had the pleasure of attending a signing at the Chapters Book Store in Richmond, BC, on July 17th. Touted as a Teen Author Night, my expectations for this event were high. With four amazing authors consisting of Amanda Sun, Elsie Chapman, T. Rae Mitchell and Jeyn Roberts, I was very excited to get the three hour event started. As it happens though, my idea of an event and Chapters’ idea of an event apparently differ. I showed up expecting to hear the authors talk about their books, give future spoilers and maybe even have a reading or two from their books. What Chapters gave fans who showed up to meet these wonderful authors was an awkwardly laid out set up at the entrance of the store with three tables and four authors who had to just stand around for three hours in the hopes that people would wander over and request a book be signed.
The saving grace to Teen Author Night? The authors! All the ladies very graciously talked shop for however long you wanted to hang out and drool over their books. They shared stories and some of them even gave up little tidbits about their work you may be unaware of. Such as Elsie Chapman told me that though her debut novel DUALED was originally written as a stand alone, it is now the first book in a trilogy. The second book in the series will be DIVIDED in May 2014. It is a bit of a wait but one that will be worth it in the end. Remember the old saying, all good things comes to those who wait?
Amanda Sun let it slip that her debut YA, INK, was not a paranormal when she originally began writing it. She had plans on writing a contemporary but then her characters threw her for a loop and before she knew it, there was a dragon in the story. Ms. Sun believes that every story should have at least one dragon and as a fan of all things that involve dragons, I couldn’t agree more.
Did you know you could get T. Rae Mitchell‘s FATE’S FABLE in paperback? Neither did I until I arrived at the signing. If you’re like me and still want a physical copy of your favorite books, then check out her website,http://traemitchell.com/, to see how you can order your own copy.
My conversation with Jeyn Roberts went a little deeper as we debated over the ethics of writing a fan fiction book and then having it published as your own idea. There are plenty of people on both sides of that fence but one question that was brought up while we chatted was in regards to the books being written now that are based on classic works with a zombie or vampire thrown into the mix. Would that not be considered a type of fan fiction as well? What are your thoughts on fan fiction?
All in all, regardless of how Chapters set it up, Teen Author Night was a delightful way to spend a few hours talking to people who love books as much as I do. Getting to meet authors whose books you adore is always a treat and I look forward to meeting these lovely ladies again in the future.
Rosie Bindra, Fresh Fiction Reviewer
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