Austin Teen Book Festival 2011 & Giveaway

This past weekend was such a blast! This was my third year to attend and my second year volunteering at the Austin Teen Book Festival! This year was bigger than ever with over 2,000 attendees and over 20 authors. It was even mentioned in Publisher's Weekly!!!

This year's keynote speak was Scott Westerfeld. This was my second time meeting Scott, and can I just say I love listening to him talk. I met him when he and Cassie came to Houston right after City of Glass came out and it was before Leviathan was out. It was cool to see Scott again now that his whole series has been released.

Alternaworlds panel

Here's who came out to Austin:

PEN FATALE features Gabrielle Zevin (All These Things I've Done), Mary Pearson (The Fox Inheritance), Jessica Brody (My Life Undecided), Alyson Noel (Everlasting), moderated by Margo Rabb (Cures for Heartbreak).

ALTERNAWORLDS (fantasy) features Scott Westerfeld (Goliath), Maureen Johnson(Name of the Star), Jonathan Maberry (Dust & Decay), and Brian Yansky (Alien Invasion); moderated by Rosemary Clement-Moore (The Splendor Falls).

REAL LIFE IS MESSY (edgy fiction) features John Corey Whaley (Where Things Come Back),David Levithan (Every You, Every Me), Melissa Walker (Small Town Sinners), Coe Booth(Bronxwood), and Geoff Herbach (Stupid Fast); moderated by Varian Johnson (Saving Maddie).

I HEART LOVE STORIES (realistic/romance fiction) features Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry), Stephanie Perkins (Lola & the Boy Next Door), Jenny Han (We’ll Always Have Summer), Jennifer Zeigler (Sass & Sensibility), and Christina Mandelski (The Sweetest Thing); moderated by Cristina Garcia (Dreams of Significant Girls).

SUPERNATURAL SUSPENSE (fantasy) features Heather Brewer (Vladimir Tod),Jackson Pearce (Sweetly), Tera Lynn Childs (Sweet Venom), Sophie Jordan (Vanish), and Andrea Cremer(Wolfsbane); moderated by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Blessed).

I had the opportunity to help with the I Heart Love Stories

and Real Life is Messy panels

I also had the chance to work over David Levithan's signing. It was a lot of fun seeing so many teens, teachers and librarians who have connected with his books. It was awesome for me so many teens and their parents come to this event. I love seeing how each of the authors connected with their young readers. The only compliant I have is that I never took any pictures (sobs), but I did have a blast!

I loved seeing so many authors come out to this event. I enjoyed getting to spend some time with a few of my favorite authors, Stephanie Perkins, Andrea Cremer, Sophie Jordan, and Tera Lynn Childs, and getting to chat with many of the authors who came out, like Heather Brewer. There's a few authors I FINALLY had the chance to meet like Maureen Johsnon, Jackson Pearce, David Levithan, Simone Elkeles, Christina Mandelski, and Christina Garcia. Even some of our own Austin area authors were there like Tracy Deebs, whom I loved chatting with.

I LOVED seeing so many bloggers there! It was a crazy fun event, and I'm totally bummed I didn't get any pictures with them. I enjoyed meeting some of the local teens who follow Mundie Moms (waves HI), and getting to see Ginger, Jess, Kelsey, Yara, Cari, Missie, and of course working with Jen, Stephanie & Girls in the Stacks again. I know I'm leaving off other bloggers I got to chat with and I'm so sorry!! It was great meeting and seeing everyone.

The whole event was a blast. Even though it was crazy, busy, we did have fun both on the floor and behind the scenes. Here Jackson Peace, myself and Stephanie are getting a good laugh at Cythnia Leitich Smith getting on bended knee to present David Levithan a flower. See, authors do have a sense of humor! lol

You can see all the pictures via ATBF's here, which is where this picture was found. I'm already looking forward to next year's ATBF! If you have the chance to, I highly recommend coming out to this fun, FREE event. You can see about last year's event here.

GIVEAWAY:

Now, I've got something for one of you lucky followers! A SIGNED paperback copy of Andrea Cremer's NIGHTSHADE! To enter, please fill out the form below. YES this is open internationally! You must be 13 yrs & older to enter. 1 entry per person please.