James Dasher Signing at Forbidden Planet London Megastore | 2nd December 2013

On Monday 2nd December the Forbidden Planet London Megastore hosted James Dashner's first ever UK signing. I was super excited about this, as I absolutely loved The Maze Runner Trilogy (and prequel, sort of), am very excited by the prospect of the upcoming movie, and was very intrigued by his new book The Eye of Minds - the book which he was in the UK to promote.

I arrived at Forbidden Planet about half an hour before the event was due to start, mostly because of my absolute hatred of being late and in part on the advice of Forbidden Planet staff. There were a few people in the queue already, and we all chatted while we waited. Unfortunately I don't think that the turn out ended up being as great as it could have been, and I'm sure that the fact that it was at 6pm on a Monday evening had a part to play in that. 

James arrived and we all crowded in and had a great discussion about the book and about the film, and about England in general. We found out that he's incredibly happy with what he knows about the film so far, he has total confidence in the actors, The Scorch Trials has been given the go ahead to be made into a film, and The Matrix was one of his inspirations for The Eye of Minds amongst other things. 

When it was my turn to get my copy of The Eye of Minds signed (along with The Maze Runner which he very kindly didn't mind me bringing along) I asked him about how Kaya Scodelario was on The Maze Runner movie in his opinion and that she was always my Theresa when I read the books. James was incredibly nice, he answered my questions and didn't seem at all annoyed by them. He asked where I was from (I said Oxford, it's easiest) and we discussed how people think he should visit there (I said it was boring). I was also got a photo with him, thanks nice Forbidden Planet man who took it!

I look a bit worse for wear after spending the day battling Oxford Street Christmas shopping!

All in all I had a great time and am very happy I got to meet James. It's great when you meet an author and they are engaging rather than dismissive, happy to discuss rather than wanting you to accept their opinions.
I've started The Eye of Minds and it's proving to be a well-written, fast paced novel that I can't wait to finish and see where the story goes (and then probably get frustrated because the next book in the series isn't out yet, that's how it goes folks.)

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Maureen Johnson 'The Royal Visit' at Waterstones Birmingham New Street

Maureen Johnson is probably my favourite author right now. She's witty, intelligent, hilarious, writes in a fantastic style and is really really really good at twitter. I actually first found Maureen through twitter, and after reading her tweets decided it was probably time to read her books After that I progressed to professional Maureen fangirl, so when the lovely Waterstones Birmingham New Street asked if I'd like to come along and blog at the Birmingham stop of Maureen's recent UK book tour I, of course, jumped at the chance! 

I first went into the store at about 5PM after I had arrived in Birmingham, to collect my ticket, and I was wowed by how pretty it was. In the centre of the store was a grand staircase and there were lovely high ceilings which gave the whole place a sense of grandeur. I came back at about quarter to seven, where I joined a queue of eager readers. We were let in at 5 minutes to seven, to browse Maureen's books and find ourselves seats. On our seats were some badges featuring Maureen's face, which  I put in my bag from my best friend and fellow Maureen Johnson fangirl Ria and I. Next thing I know, Maureen was introduced and ran around from the back of the store and the evening began. 

Maureen is every bit as witty, intelligent and hilarious in real life as she seems online and through her books. It is so incredibly rare for an author to live up to the expectations - the person you believe that they are in your head - but she did, entirely. Unfortunately she was sick and had lost her voice, but she assured us it didn't hurt - just sounded bad. She also gushed about how beautiful the store was, how most Waterstones are beautiful, and how England is genuinely a little bit better than the US (my words, not hers, but it was implied).

She started the evening by getting the audience to ask her questions, which is unlike most author events which have a dedicated Q&A session. She answered questions on a variety of topics, including writing, publishing and puppies, some of which you can see details of here on Bloggers Bookshelf. She even answered a question on gendered book covers from a very shy, nervous and awkward me. 

About an hour after the event it finished for signings. I met another lovely book blogger in the queue, you can check out her blog here and after ten minutes or so I got to meet Maureen. She was lovely and even though I was incredibly cheeky and got my copy of The Madness Underneath signed, as well as a note written for Ria and got a photo together she really didn't seem to mind. Then I got to drift back to my hotel on the ultimate meeting-your-heroes high. 

A massive thanks to Waterstones Birmingham New Street (seriously go there it's beautiful), Maureen Johnson and Hot Key Books for putting on the great event.

You can read more about this event and what Maureen said over on Bloggers Bookshelf right here.

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An Evening with Neil Gaiman at Portsmouth Pavilions

As soon as I read that there was to be An Evening With Neil Gaiman in Portsmouth I bought myself a ticket. Neil does not always write my favourite books, but there is no denying his imagination and extraordinary storytelling and I thought it would be unquestionably interesting to hear what he had to say. And interesting, it most definitely was. Neil was already in Portsmouth that day, his hometown, to have an unnamed bus lane named after his latest novel: The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I arrived at 6.30 to find a very long queue and the place packed out, which I suppose is to be expected with a Neil Gaiman event. I was lucky enough to get a centre row seat only a few rows back, so I had a great view. Before Neil even made an appearance, a Dalek was ushered onto the stage which gained great laughter and applause from the crowds. Eventually Neil came out on stage to rapturous applause, and the night got underway.

It was less of a talk and more of an informal chat. Neil spoke about the busy year he’s had: two books, one multimedia project, Doctor Who and an upcoming video game. He’s certainly had a full and demanding few months. He went on to talk at length about The Ocean at The End of The Lane and how it came about, and there was a question and answer session where the dynamic personality you hear about really shone. He read a passage from The Ocean at The End of the Lane, and later on one from his new children’s book Fortunately The Milk, which is a story he seems really proud of.

I was not at all prepared for the signing afterwards. Neil had graciously offered to sign two books per person – one copy of Ocean and another of his books. It took an incredibly long time to even be allowed to queue. I started resenting this, but realised that once I got to the front I wouldn't want to be rushed through, so I waited patiently. However, I did end up missing one train, and by the time we were allowed to line up – it was 10 minutes before I had to leave in order to catch the last train home! About half way through the queue I had to flag the lady manning it down and say that I only had four minutes until I had to go. Thankfully, she took me straight to the front of the queue to get my book signed. She, and the staff at the signing table, treated me absolutely wonderfully and didn't make me feel guilty at all. 

By the time I got to the table it was half ten, and Neil had been signing for two hours with still half the room to do. He was still the most lovely man, who gave a really genuine smile and thanked me for coming. He was attempting to draw a monster in every persons copy of Ocean, and a different monster for every person, and I joked that it was testing his creative skills – he agreed.

The whole evening was a wonderful experience, and not something I’m likely to forget for a while! For more information on the content of Neil’s talk head on over to Bloggers Bookshelf where I’ve written all about it. 

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