WFC - 2nd Day -part 5 - Mass Signing

After the blogger panel we retreated to the bar and got a delicious Strawberry-Lemon Cider. We talked with Nikki and other convention goers. We dropped by for a bit at the Harper Voyager Party, which was very crowded, but mostly we were enjoying the cider, the comfy seats and the conversation, while waiting for the Mass Signing that evening.

And then it was time and we went to the room where the signing was with lots of books to get signed.


First we spotted Amanda Sun!
I love her Young Adult book Ink and I had promised Amanda to find her at the signing to get my copy signed. I had also wanted to buy a copy for a friend and get it signed, but just as Untold, Ink was nowhere to be found at WFC.


But I got my copy signed!
And it was great fun to meet Amanda and talk to her.




We also managed to find Holly Black and she signed The Coldest Girl in Coldtown for me.


Joanne Harris not only signed my copy of Runemarks, she also drew a piggy for me!


Isn't it cool!


I still had a couple of authors to find and it was getting more crowded and difficult to locate people. Luckily I managed to find Keri Arthur and she signed a book for Melliane. I forgot to take a picture of that though.


I met Freda Warrington.
I love her alternate history novel The Court of the Midnight King, but forgot to bring it, so I got a signed copy of A Taste of Blood Wine, which is about vampires.


And I found Sarah Rees Brennan.
She signed my copy of Unspoken. She also told me she read my review of Unspoken and had thanked Holly Black for giving her a new fan. (I signed up for the KaffeeKlatsch with Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan because of Holly Black, but decided to read a book by Sarah Rees Brennan as well if I was going to meet her anyway.)


Next she signed our copy of The Demon's Lexicon, but...
Seeing what she did, I practically fainted!


She signed it to my owner!
My owner was happy with that, but I think it's outrageous!


Next we stood in line to get Neil Gaiman to sign our programme guide and a couple of my bookmarks. Lots of people wanted him to sign books and stuff, so I didn't have time to take a picture. I didn't want to hold everyone up.


After the signing it was time for another party.
It was a party thrown by Bragelonne & Gollancz, two publishers. There was lots to drink and there was food as well. It was a fun party. we had something to eat and we talked to some people.

I had heard there would be Advance Reader Copies of Joanne Harris' next book at the party, but at first I couldn't find it. When Nikki, with whom we had been talking, left for another party, we decided to make one last round of the room and then head back to our hotel. It had been a long day after all, and I was getting pretty tired.


And that's when I saw Joanne Harris sitting next to a lot of goodiebags!
Inside the goodiebags were lots of different books, but I rummaged around and found The Gospel of Loki.


And with Joanne Harris sitting next to the goodiebags we managed to get it signed as well!
And although it's signed to my owner, this time I got included at least.

It was a really cool day!


Coming next:
Panels and Art

WFC - 2nd Day -part 1 - In which I act like a fanpiggy

November 1st,day 2 of WFC


I started the day with a so called KaffeeKlatsch with Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan.
Basically it was a talk with the two authors and some fans over coffee. Or water in my case.


It was lots of fun. Both Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan are very cool and funny people. They talked about how they met, about their books, and we had discussions about things like The Walking Dead. It was pretty awesome and the time went by much too fast.

I even had to run to be in time for the next panel:


All But Actors on a Stage: Creating Memorable Characters.

Panelists (left to right): Fiona McIntosh, Robin Hobb, Suzanne McLeod, Thomas F. Monteleone (moderator), Jasper Kent and Stephen Gallagher.


This was yet another very interesting discussion. It was interesting to hear that the female authors started with their characters and build their stories from there, while the male authors had the tendency to start with plot. I wonder if that's usually the case or just in this particular group of authors. One of the panelists said there were no memorable characters possible in a genre like Science Fiction, but Robin Hobb countered with a whole list of memorable SF characters.

I especially thought the females on this panel had interesting things to say about characters. They talked about learning to listen to your character (which is part of your subconscious) to make the story work, and gave examples how they got stuck in the past when they tried to force characters in a certain direction.

They also talked about naming characters, and Suzanne McLeod told about how she had three characters named Peter in her first book, before someone pointed this out to her.


After the panel I talked to Suzanne McLeod and she returned my books, all awesomely signed. She also gave me some really beautiful Spellcracker pencils and cards. She really is a very cool lady!


I also managed to get a picture of me with Robin Hobb.
I love Wizard of the Pigeons which she wrote under the name Megan Lindholm. I also read some of the other books she wrote under that name. She was very kind and gracious.


Next we went in search of the bathroom, but instead we found:


Neil Gaiman!!!!
He was the master of ceremony of WFC, so I knew he was at the con, but to just run into him! And then he even agreed to be in a picture with me. I tried to keep my cool, but I'm afraid I acted like a total fanpiggy, telling him how great it was to be able to tell him how much I love his Sandman comics and the novel American Gods.

And standing next to Neil Gaiman:


Joanne Harris!
My owner loves Chocolat and on our way to WFC we started on Runemarks which is even better in my opinion, so it was awesome to run into Joanne Harris.

She also agreed to a picture and we talked for a bit. She told us about Zombie Run, an app for your phone that helps you train to run away from zombies. She is a very nice lady, and if I wasn't already reading her books, I would have started on them after meeting her.


After this I had to find my calm again.
I must say I wonder how it is that meeting someone like Neil Gaiman can totally throw me, while talking with Joanne Harris or Suzanne McLeod (who are both awesome authors as well) didn't reduce me to a babbling fool. It must be this rock star status that Neil Gaiman has acquired over the years.


Coming next:
Art and autographs