DBF or "How I Fangirled For Two Days & Didn't Get Kicked Out"

Last weekend I bribed convinced my husband to take me to the Decatur Book Festival. All I had to hear was the word "book" and I was sold, but then I found out that Rachel Hawkins and Cassie Clare would be there. I think my head might have exploded from the awesome. I also may have ordered a Hot Boys With Swords bag. And I may have convinced several authors to sign it. (Picture at the end of the post!)


Let me tell you: they all lived up to it. I couldn't believe how genuinely NICE all of the authors were! They were funny, they were insightful, and they were real. (I touched a few of them!!) (*fangirls*) See?

Me (Leigh), Myra McEntire, and Victoria Schwab taking a ninja-stealth-pic with Cassie Clare

Saundra Mitchell and Jessica Verday were absolutely adorable talking about what went into creating their fantasy worlds. (I mean adorable in the best sense of the word, by the way.) Saundra explained her not-at-all-creepy use of Google Maps Street View: she used it to pick the spot on the highway to make her fake town for Shadowed Summer.


Rachel Hawkins and Nancy Werlin were wonderful as they discussed their (sometimes different) views on paranormal literature. Rachel had a TON of perfect examples/quotes. She pointed out that Buffy took a normal teen experience ("I slept with my boyfriend and now he won't talk to me") and turned it into: "I slept with my boyfriend and now he wants to kill me." Nancy talked book covers for a bit, and about how even if a book cover doesn't fit a book (*cough* there's-no-cat-in-Hex-Hall *cough), that doesn't mean it's not a good cover. If you've read the book and can COMPLAIN that it's not right, then the cover did it's job. So, it was the right cover. Deep, no?

Also? Rachel let me touch her blue streaks. Because she is.. wait for it... AMAZEBALLS!

Rachel Hawkins, who says I didn't scare her off

Of course, I also got to listen to Cassie Clare read from CoFA and have her sign my book! AND my Hot Boys With Swords bag. She is every bit as awesome as you have heard, and she spent at least two hours sitting in the heat signing books. She deserves her #1 on the NYT bestseller list and THEN some.

"Team 'They Should Be Doing It" - Cassie Clare, "Yes!" - Nancy Werlin, and "Caspian FTW! HBWS + RH = 4-eva!" - Rachel Hawkins

But most of all? I just flat-out had fun meeting a TON of people who I recognized from the blog, from Twitter, and just from their general good-taste-in-books! Vania, who makes awesome book trailers, is so nice! (I've already decided I want her to do my headshot someday!) You should all watch out for these debut authors (who were so ridiculously sweet and I can't WAIT to read their books!): Myra McEntyre (Hourglass), Victoria Schwab (The Near Witch), and Michelle Hodkin (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer).

In short? I loved it, loved them, and so incredibly lucky to have had the chance to meet everyone who was there. Book people ROCK!