Happy Monday Everyone :)
I hope you all had a great weekend. I planned to have this recap up over the weekend, but unfortunately we had an inspection at work today that took a lot of preparing for ahead of time, and I ended up working extra hours, and on my day off, so I literally had no time to blog. I am here today though, and I'm ready to post my next recap, so I can be on my way to getting these finished.
Here is my day four recap:
Thursday April 14th, 2016:
Today started out a lot later than our previous days. The event I was most excited about for the entire convention was Colleen Houck and Stacey Kade's YA You're Never Too Old For YA reader party that was happening at 11:15. So far all of the YA events had been extremely busy, and so we decided to forego going to the first events, in order to be in line for this one early. I was planning on getting in line about thirty to forty minutes early, but Neil insisted after how bad the lines had been for the previous events, that we get there over an hour early, and I'm so glad he did, because the line was already forming, and I don't think people getting there half an hour early would have even made it into the event.
Rachel E. Carter ended up getting in line right behind us, and the three of us had a nice chat that definitely made the hourish go by faster. While we were waiting in line, two of Susan Mallery's assistants came along with a gift wrapped book for every single person in the area, and I can't even describe how amazing this was. She did so much for her fans over the course of this convention, and she truly seems to be such an amazing lady!
Soon enough it was time to enter the party, and each table was decorated in a different theme, and had a different author host. Of course I would have loved to have chosen Kiera Cass' table, but the room was filling up quickly, and we just wanted to find a seat. Rachel suggested that we sit at the western table, which wouldn't have been what I'd chosen originally, but I'm glad we did cause our author host was Rae Carson, and she was hilarious!
This party was basically a giant game of YA trivia, and it was so much fun! Everybody had a bag on their chair that included three YA books, and a bunch of swag. Plus all the stuff on the table was ours to take as well. I ended up being so glad we were early, as they ended up having to close the line off, and a lot of people didn't even make it in the room. Rae Carson ended up sitting down with us instead of standing like some of the authors did, and she said she'd just divide up the books in the bag among us who wanted them. Well she was asking if anybody wanted the first book in the pile, and I saw that the ARc of Recreated by Colleen Houck was the bottom book in the pile, and I was like that "Can I please have that one?" I really wanted that book, and I got it, but I think I embarrassed Neil in the process haha.
Everybody at the table had a quiz sheet with which we were to answer the questions that were going to appear on the screen at the front. Each author at each table picked a category in turn, and everyone tried to figure out what it was. Rae had our whole table cracking up as she told us that she was fine with cheating to win, and while our table did amazing at all the YA books, and book to film questions, we weren't quite so good with the movie quotes, and every time we didn't know it, she'd pencil in the answer from the screen and say go team we sure got that one. It really didn't matter as it was all just for fun, and it's not like we were taking prizes we shouldn't have been or anything, but it was super funny, and I seriously thought she was amazing.
Soon enough, the hour was over, and it was time to clear out, but Colleen Houck announced that the authors would be hanging around to sign books and take pics if anyone wanted, so I asked Rae if we could get a pic.
I hope you all had a great weekend. I planned to have this recap up over the weekend, but unfortunately we had an inspection at work today that took a lot of preparing for ahead of time, and I ended up working extra hours, and on my day off, so I literally had no time to blog. I am here today though, and I'm ready to post my next recap, so I can be on my way to getting these finished.
Here is my day four recap:
Thursday April 14th, 2016:
Today started out a lot later than our previous days. The event I was most excited about for the entire convention was Colleen Houck and Stacey Kade's YA You're Never Too Old For YA reader party that was happening at 11:15. So far all of the YA events had been extremely busy, and so we decided to forego going to the first events, in order to be in line for this one early. I was planning on getting in line about thirty to forty minutes early, but Neil insisted after how bad the lines had been for the previous events, that we get there over an hour early, and I'm so glad he did, because the line was already forming, and I don't think people getting there half an hour early would have even made it into the event.
Rachel E. Carter ended up getting in line right behind us, and the three of us had a nice chat that definitely made the hourish go by faster. While we were waiting in line, two of Susan Mallery's assistants came along with a gift wrapped book for every single person in the area, and I can't even describe how amazing this was. She did so much for her fans over the course of this convention, and she truly seems to be such an amazing lady!
Soon enough it was time to enter the party, and each table was decorated in a different theme, and had a different author host. Of course I would have loved to have chosen Kiera Cass' table, but the room was filling up quickly, and we just wanted to find a seat. Rachel suggested that we sit at the western table, which wouldn't have been what I'd chosen originally, but I'm glad we did cause our author host was Rae Carson, and she was hilarious!
This party was basically a giant game of YA trivia, and it was so much fun! Everybody had a bag on their chair that included three YA books, and a bunch of swag. Plus all the stuff on the table was ours to take as well. I ended up being so glad we were early, as they ended up having to close the line off, and a lot of people didn't even make it in the room. Rae Carson ended up sitting down with us instead of standing like some of the authors did, and she said she'd just divide up the books in the bag among us who wanted them. Well she was asking if anybody wanted the first book in the pile, and I saw that the ARc of Recreated by Colleen Houck was the bottom book in the pile, and I was like that "Can I please have that one?" I really wanted that book, and I got it, but I think I embarrassed Neil in the process haha.
Everybody at the table had a quiz sheet with which we were to answer the questions that were going to appear on the screen at the front. Each author at each table picked a category in turn, and everyone tried to figure out what it was. Rae had our whole table cracking up as she told us that she was fine with cheating to win, and while our table did amazing at all the YA books, and book to film questions, we weren't quite so good with the movie quotes, and every time we didn't know it, she'd pencil in the answer from the screen and say go team we sure got that one. It really didn't matter as it was all just for fun, and it's not like we were taking prizes we shouldn't have been or anything, but it was super funny, and I seriously thought she was amazing.
Soon enough, the hour was over, and it was time to clear out, but Colleen Houck announced that the authors would be hanging around to sign books and take pics if anyone wanted, so I asked Rae if we could get a pic.
I am definitely going to be reading her books ASAP cause she's such an amazing person! Cinda Williams Chima, who is Neil's all time favorite author, was hosting the table next to ours, but he didn't feel comfortable bothering her when he didn't have a book or anything else for her to sign, and he said he'd meet her at the Avon party tomorrow instead. So we went and got Colleen Houck to sign the arc we'd just received, and then it was finally time to meet Kiera Cass!! She only had one person waiting to meet her, so I decided just to meet her now and that I'd get her to sign my tote bag. I was literally so excited and fangirling so hard, and I got to tell her that I'm a Christian too, and I always love reading her inspirational posts on twitter!
She was literally the sweetest person alive, and I'm even more proud to be a big fan of hers after having the chance to meet her! From here, we parted ways with Rachel, and made plans to meet up for the YA genre bending panel at 2:45.
Neil and I headed for lunch, and then decided to get in line for the panel about 1:30 or so, since the YA events had proven to be so popular, and this particular panel had a huge lineup of big name authors that included: Amanda Hocking, Tamora Pierce, Brendan Riechs, Renee Ahdieh, Alexandra Bracken, Victoria Aveyard, and Julie Kagawa. We ended up being the first ones in line, and ended up meeting an amazing lady behind us in line, who told me there was a table a little ways back that was giving out a free ARC of their upcoming book to anyone who went up to them. She told us to run get one, and she'd save our place in line. She was there to pitch her novels the next day, and I wish for the life of me that I had written down her name, because her novels sounded amazing, and I honestly hope to get the chance to read them someday! She also was such an amazing lady, and she definitely deserves success!
Here unfortunately, was one more experience we encountered with rude people at this convention. There was a huge group of us waiting in line to get into this panel, but some girls decided just to duck into the New Adult Panel already going on, for the strict purpose of having a better chance at a good seat for this panel. Now it maybe wouldn't have been so frustrating if they'd sat through the whole panel, but they walked in with ten minutes left of it, just to get a seat for this panel, and because of that, a lot of the people that had been waiting in line for an hour, ended up not even having a seat! Rant over, I promise!
This panel was definitely worth waiting as long as we did though, because the authors were fabulous, and had some really amazing things to say about crossing genres in YA fiction. Andrea Kremer was moderating, and she did a fantastic job. We were all laughing at the things that Brendan and Tamora had to say, but everyone made some really awesome points, although I noticed that Amanda Hocking was quieter than the other authors, and I would have loved to have heard a little more from her, but overall this was an amazing panel, and I'm so glad we went!
About halfway through the panel, I happened to look around and noticed that Alys Arden was sitting with ALI NOVAK!!! Right behind us!! I was so excited, and I knew when the panel was over I was definitely going to try and meet her today, since I'd missed her yesterday. It was find of funny, because after the panel was over, everyone else ran for the authors who had appeared on it, and I beelined for Ali! She was literally the nicest person alive, and I had such a good talk with her about her upcoming projects, and how much I love My Life With The Walter Boys. If you have not read any of her books, honestly please do so. Her contemporaries are some of my absolute favorite books, and after meeting her, I can honestly tell you that now I'm even a bigger fan of her. In fact, as a bit of spoiler, an interaction with her ended up being my favorite moment of the entire convention :)
I also got Alys Arden to sign the copies of her books that I had gotten at an earlier party, since I happened to have them with me, and then Rachel and I decided to stay for the next panel, while Neil opted to head back to the room for a bit. Rachel and I were lucky enough to catch Victoria Aveyard and Alexandra Bracken on their way out, and we took pictures for each other with them. They both complimented my blazer, which I had to fangirl and text my bestie about.
The next panel was a YA panel that was more for authors about promoting your books, but I decided to stay anyways, because C.C. Hunter was one of the authors speaking on the panel, and I'm also a big fan of her books. Unfortunately, about half way through this panel, I could feel that my asthma was acting up, and I needed my puffer. I really didn't want to interrupt anyone else, so I decided to duck out, as not to make a scene, and I just whispered to Rachel that I would get in line for the Kensington party, and save her a spot.
Thankfully after my puffer I was feeling a lot better, but honestly all the cigarette smoke in Vegas was starting to make me feel really awful, and I was just hoping to make it through the weekend without it getting worse. I got in line for the Kensington party about an hourish early, and the line was already humongous! With these parties, the lines could get out of control really fast, so if you were interested in any of them, you honestly ended up having to miss out on other things, in order to get in line, unless of course you had someone that could save your spot in line. Rachel, and Neil ended up getting in line with me a little bit later, and the RT staff made an announcement that there would be no pushing, no shoving, and no grabbing books off the tables. You might have thought it was a little ridiculous to be giving grown adults these spiels, but considering the behavior we'd seen so far, I was not exactly surprised to say the least.
We were let into the room, and met a few authors like Mary Jo Putney, Pintip Dunn, and Kate L Mary, all of who were super sweet, and then we got some of the free mini cupcakes they were passing around, that were honestly the best cupcakes I'd ever had, and they also gave everyone playing cards that had their books on them, which was a really fun memento to take home. After that, we decided that neither of the evening parties interested us, so we decided to get changed, and take the shuttle to the strip for the first time!
When we had been looking up Vegas, it was always Caesar's Palace, and the Venetian that interested me the most, so we decided to head to Caesar's tonight, and then go from there. Unfortunately neither one of us ended up liking the strip, as I found it tacky, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright scary with the people right in your face begging for money, and so we ended up having a pretty short visit. We went to Serendipity 3 for dinner, and were both horribly disappointed. It was super expensive, which we knew going in, but our food was cold, and so salty neither of us could barely eat it.
We finished here pretty quick. and then decided to peek around the forum shops before heading back.
This was gorgeous to see, but we ended up not buying anything as nothing I saw really stood out to me.
On our way back to Bally's to catch the shuttle back to the Rio, we saw the Bellagio fountain show, which was beautiful, and I'm glad we got to see it. We also happened to spot the Alex and Ani store on our way back to Bally's, and I got to go in there, and finally get my first bracelets. I loved this store, but the rest of the strip not so much.
We had had an awesome day, with me getting to meet two of my all time favorite authors, plus a ton of other amazing people, and we got to attend some super fun events, but we both were of the opinion that Vegas just isn't for us, and especially with my asthma, I don't foresee us returning here in the future. From here, it was off to bed as I was planning on attending the breakfast party the next morning!
Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you're all having a great start to your week, and I'll be back on Wednesday with a new Top 5 Wednesday Post.
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The photos were taken by me with an Iphone.
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