Meeting authors and chocolate cake.

After I got home from London, I started to get really used to having a lot of free time. I didn't really schedule many things in because I wanted an ample amount of time to just hang out with people, wander around Seattle, regain my bearings, etc. But now that school is in full swing and I am taking four classes and planning my NaNoWriMo novel and working on my paper that's due soon for my study abroad and working at my job and making videos for Red and so on, I'm finding myself a little more… pressed for time.

And yet, blogging will always be my priority.

It doesn't help that I have made plans with a different person every day this week, which probably is what's causing the me-being-busy problem in the first place, but I don't care because life is fun and I intend to keep it that way.

Last night Liz came down from Bellingham to go with me to see Scott Westerfeld and Sarah Rees Brennan speak at Third Place Books in Lake City. The bookstore was so cute and not very far away from my house at all, and apparently they have authors speaking nearly every night. How I didn't know this, I am not sure.

I read Scott's blog and adore so many of his books, so seeing him speak was just amazing. He showed us lots of pictures from his new illustrated novel and explained the history of what inspired him to want to do an illustrated novel in the first place. He was funny and interesting and I even got my nerve up to ask him something during the question and answer session - ("Do you ever slip and accidentally put Uglies slang or "bubble talk" into your other novels?")

I had never heard of Sarah before, but she was hilarious and reminded me a bit of Maureen Johnson, only more Irish and high pitched and less twittering. xD

While waiting in line for them to sign my books, I checked my twitter app and saw that someone had posted something along the lines of "OMG came to see @scottwesterfeld and @sarahreesbrenna and @kristinahorner is here!"

I started looking around wildly, hoping I could identify the twitterer by - I don't know, magic, and then miraculously the girl standing in front of me in line sheepishly said "everyone is @ replying me insisting I say hello to you." And then it was like a snowball effect; she took a picture with me and a few other girls asked me for my autograph, and the entire experience of being treated like a celebrity while I was waiting in line to meet a real celebrity was a bit too surreal for me, to be honest. I'm glad Scott and Sarah couldn't see me when this was all happening, haha.

However, on the other hand, I am very glad that my subscribers are the kind of people who go to book signings on a Monday night. :)

When I got to the front of the line, I told Scott that "I had Uglies on my shelf for three years and didn't actually read it until John Green name-dropped him in a vlog brothers video, but now it's one of my favorite series so he should definitely thank him." xD

Scott Westerfeld cracked up and said, "I will, next time I see that bastard."

Then we chatted about how crazy authors are, particularly Maureen Johnson (only out of love) and I told him the first time my friends and I met Maureen we made a fort together. Okay, so I may or may not have been showing off that I have mutual author friends to a writer I highly admire. You really can't blame me, can you?
Then I felt slightly guilty for not having heard of Sarah Rees Brennan before that night, said goodbye, and headed off.

Liz and I had intended to have a NaNoWriMo brainstorming sleepover, but ended up watching Star Wars with my housemates and eating chocolate cake and going to bed. All in all, I would say a pretty good day.