HarlequinTeen #YeahYA Signing Wrap-Up: Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry and Aimee Carter

Last night was the night! My sister, Sarabeth of The Next Chapter, and I attended Harlequin Teen's Author Fest at Barnes and Noble in Carle Place, (LI) NY and got to meet a lot of people!
Here's a recap of what happened during the event...

When you first walk into B&N they were all set with a wonderful display of books for everyone to grab! As you can see, the stacks were already low when we got there a whole hour before it started :)

Entrance - So many books were gone already!

Here is the signing table!!!

Waiting for the authors!

While waiting for the authors and their editors to arrive...

Harlequin Teen created this wonderful tee-shirt for the event!
However, my preggo belly did not fit in it, lol! So my beautiful sister got to show it off :)

Front

Back

The crowd!!!
SO many people, of all ages, from near and far!
This is by far one of the best turn outs I have ever seen at this location :)
Shout out to all our booknerds!!! 

The awesome crowd at B&N, Carle Place

Our mom tagged along for the ride...
she was trying to stay out of the way and hide from us and the crowd, but we found her ;)

My Mami patiently waiting on the sidelines, lol

The authors finally arrive!!! 

Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry and Aimee Carter answering questions

Kady Cross, the author of the Steampunk Chronicles, could not make it - she was sick with the flu :(
We missed her and wish her a speedy recovery!!!

A few author Q&A's... 

A few more Q&A's...

I wasn't able to record any more than these two clips...
however, the Q&A continued for quite a while:

A few more Q&A's that were asked/answered:

- Where does your inspiration come from?

Aimee: is inspired by what she wants to read.

Julie: is inspired by video games, anime and manga.

Katie: is inspired by tiny pieces of herself, her own life experiences,

especially from her teen and high school years, are integrated into her books.

- Where do they get their plot ideas?

Katie: from music.

Julie: It is different for every book.

For the Iron Fey series - Meaghan's character came to her first,

and then the rest of the world-building and story revolved around her.

For the Blood of Eden trilogy - Julie has a side of her that loves the dark and doom of a post-apocalyptic world - so the world-building came first and then that inspired her to create a strong main character that can survive this world.

Aimee: One sentence, just one line, or one lyric, can get her plot going in an instant.

- What are you working on now?

Aimee: is working on a new 4-book series called The Blackcoat Rebellion! The first book in the series is called Pawn and it is being released on November 26th, 2013...

the series takes place in dystopian/futuristic America - when a person turns 17 years of age, they have to be evaluated and are placed on a level - I through VII... one being the lowest and 7 being the highest and most privileged since sevens can be 'masked' to take on the roles of high figures that have passed on... {sounds super creative and intriguing! Cannot wait to hear more about this!} 

Katie: is getting ready to release the third book to her Pushing the Limits series called Crash Into You, which is due out on November November 26th, too! {ISAIAH!}

Katie is also working on a new 4-book series, the first book is said to be released sometime in 2014 - this series is being compared to "West Side Story" meets "Sons of Anarchy"...

here is the summary: 

"A teen boy brought up in the rough and tumble world of motorcycle clubs finds love with a girl raised outside of this world, when he’s tasked with not only protecting her for the summer she visits her father (the leader of the group), but also with preventing her from learning the truth about her father’s past and the gang he used to lead."

Julie: is currently working on numerous projects! 

First, the second book to the Iron Fey's Call of the Forgotten trilogy, called The Iron Traitor, is being released on October 29th, 2013! With the last book being released sometime in 2014 - no title or spoilers for this one yet!

Julie is also working on the last book of the Blood of Eden Trilogy, which will be released sometime in 2014 as well, the title is The Forever Song... and there are no spoilers out for this one out either! {She's really, really good at keeping everything a secret, geesh! lol!}

Julie is also hard at work on her latest announcement: a 5-book series that has also been optioned with Universal Studios!!! Everything about this series is extremely tight-lipped! All that she was able to say was that the first book will probably be released in 2015... and that the story takes place in the present day, where mythical creatures hide amongst us cloaked as humans.

{That's it! What a tease!!!}

And then it was time... time to sign all those books!!!

Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry and Aimee Carter signing

Also bumped into some fellow bloggers!!!
I met Jessica of Step Into Fiction! She came all the way from Maryland :)

Jessica of Step Into Fiction and I

We were so lucky to have some time with all three of them after the signing!

Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry, Me, Sarabeth of The Next Chapter, and Aimee Carter

My signed books and bookmarks :) 

And of course I had to ask them one important question!
They all have come up with so many amazing names for all of their characters - especially their boys...
since I already have 2 boys, we're having a hard time deciding on a name for baby boy #3,
so of course, I asked them for help :)  And here's what they suggested:

Aimee: Knox
Katie: Jonah 
Julie: Quinn

What do you think??? :)


We had SO much fun!!!
A HUGE thank you to Kismet Book Tours and Harlequin Teen for letting us be a part of the tour!
And another HUGE thank you to the authors for making it such a wonderful event and taking the time to chat with us even more! They are all such amazing people! 

P.S. - there are more dates left on the tour!!!
Take a look and see which one is closest to you and go!!! :)