Book Festival 2019 Recap

Instead of doing a book review this month, I'm doing a recap of this year's National Book Festival. This year they had a great line-up, especially in the YA and kid's books department. V.E. Schwab, Holly Black, Rainbow Rowell, and Raina Telemeier to name a few. I only got to hear one author speak this year, due to the way things worked out, but I'm thankful for that one.

We arrived around noon so we would have a little time before the first talk. It turned out to be good we did, because when we went upstairs, the line for Holly Black was already down the hall and around the corner. By the time they let people in, it was doubling back on itself.

But everyone got in and we got good seats to hear her speak. The moderator kept her moving from topic to topic a bit faster than I would have liked, but I still gleaned some interesting information from her talk.

One of my favorite things about her talk was that they discussed and were asked a lot about writing, so I was able to gain some tips. Some of the things she said were-

• When she adapts folk lore for her fairy worlds, she picks and chooses what she wants and sometimes it takes a lot of research.

• On collaborating, she made the point that neither of you can tell the story you want. She suggests when you can't agree on a point, to pick a third option instead. That way, you can tell the story that neither of you could have told separately. She also suggested that you work on a solo project at the same time, so that way you have something all your own to work on.

• You have your personal story and your plot, and they overlap with each other. The tension between those two is what fills the middle spaces where action isn't and creates more personal tension.

• And lastly, probably my new favorite editing quote- Editing is like cleaning the toilet; you're not going to make it any worse.

After her talk was over, we went down to the convention floor to check out some of the booths and the bookstore. I found a cool black paper notebook that I picked up and then we had to run over to the Holly Black book signing line for my sister.

It was a pretty long line and we had to wait well over an hour, but in the end we did make it through. My sister got two of her Spiderwick books signed and Holly was very nice in person. Those two things took up a lot of our day, but I was happy to help my sister.

Then we tried to get in to see Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks talk, but the line was so long, we didn't feel like it. So my sister and my brother and I went to Safeway to get something to eat.

And that was pretty much our day. My mom took my younger sister to hear some of her favorite graphic novel authors speak and she got two of her Babysitters Club books signed. My mom also managed to find a Downton Abbey photo op that I never saw, which I wished I could have had my picture with.

I don't think the booths were as good this year as they have been in the past, and the free books they gave away weren't as nice either. I did have a good day and I can't wait to go back next year.

Have you ever been to a book festival? Do you have any signed books? Tell me in the comments.

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National Book Festival 2018 Recap

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