#yalc 2017

[kitcatbookmad]

I'm a month late but here's my YALC haul plus Release and A Quiet Kind of Thunder which I got signed there.

[howlsmovinglibrary]

This is possibly the ugliest I've ever looked in a selfie but I don't care because I FOUND MY SPACE BOYFRIEND!

[danaandthebooks]

My July Book/Swag Haul - YALC edition!

[booksandtea]

ARC Review: There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

ARC Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins Series: No Genre: Horror | Contemporary | Young Adult Length: 289 pages Published on 26th September 2017 by Pan Macmillan Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Waterstones | WHSmith Stephanie Perkins: Website | Twitter | Goodreads ARC picked up at YALC Synopsis: Love hurts…Makani Young thought she’d left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling…

[raindropsonthepage]

YALC 2017 Book Haul 

Air-Born - Laura Power

Earthbound - Laura Power

The Upside of Unrequited - Becky Albertalli

The White Road - Sarah Lotz

Lucky Ghost - Matthew Blakstad

Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index - Julie Israel

Nemesis - Brendan Reichs 

The Fandom - Anna Day

[yaliteraturebookshelf]

Come say hi if you see me at YALC today! 🦅

[electrictoes]

YALC book haul 2017

[kat-from-minasmorgul]

YALC was a blast 😍

[nocaptainreuben]

Finding My Place at YALC

As I have done every summer for the last four years, I just spent a weekend down in London for the Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC). When my mum said to me after I got home, “so are you going to blog about it then?”, my immediate response was no. Because I didn’t go with my blogging head on, I simply went to enjoy the weekend as a fan. This meant I wasn’t making an effort to remember details about everything that was going on, and I wouldn’t be able to write an adequate roundup of the weekend, so I thought I had nothing to say. And then I realised, that is precisely what I should be talking about; not the facts of the stuff I did, or the direct quotes from authors on panels, but the feeling of being completely in the moment, surrounded by people who love the same thing I do, at an event dedicated to the wonder of books. So, yeah, I won’t ramble on about anything that actually happened, but I will just say this:

The people who put YALC together are not just organising an event, they’re organising an opportunity. People outside of any fandom community often think that “nerds” are socially awkward, shy, weird people. And it’s kinda true, in your world, we often are. But get your ass to a convention and you’ll see how wrong that judgement can be. From the moment I got to the doors of the Olympia at 7am on Friday morning, I wasn’t the anxious, introverted person I usually am, and neither was anyone else. Somehow, because we knew we had this one thing in common, the barrier that makes you scared to interact with people was removed, and when you saw somebody in a cool t-shirt, or reading a book you really enjoyed… YOU ACTUALLY TOLD THEM SO! Instead of biting it down like I normally would, I struck up conversations with so many random people, and even bothered to exchange Twitter usernames and keep in touch afterwards. It’s that that sticks with me as the most important thing about YALC – not the idols you meet, or the ARCs you bring home, or the books you get signed, but the friends you make. I am so thankful to YALC for creating this safe space where I had the opportunity to completely be myself, and find those people who appreciate me for every nerdy facet of me.

I think it goes without saying that, as much as the other readers in attendance, YALC is made by the authors. I don’t think anything can compare to the feeling of meeting the person who wrote a book you loved so much and getting the chance to tell them exactly that. The fact that it means just as much to the authors as it does to the readers is a truly unique and beautiful thing that makes for an amazing exchange at signings. The difference I felt being in the presence of movie stars Natalie Dormer and Benedict Cumberbatch, as opposed to authors like Melinda Salisbury and Holly Bourne, was staggering. Dormer seems to radiate this terrifying, regal authority, but with the authors (even though I was a huge fan of many) it felt like they were talking to me on a normal, human level and we weren’t actually all that different. And seeing them freak out over Cumberbatch just solidified this even more; instead of this distinct line between writer and reader, it felt like we were all either or both of those things, at different times, and the sense of community between us all as part of the YA world was amazing.

The panel events were really interesting, the workshops were informative and valuable, all the activities going on were great fun and the books I've come away with are going to make for some brilliant reading over the next few months. I don't want to diminish that, because it takes so much work to put it all on, and everything was honestly wonderful. Everything about that weekend combined to make it the best time I’ve had all year, but I feel like even if my favourite authors weren't there, or I wasn't so psyched about the topics for discussion on panels, I still would have had the best time. The main reason I love YALC so much is that it's my little corner of the world, and my chance to be with my people. And there's no way in hell I'd miss that, so you can bet that when people ask me next year “are you going anywhere nice on holiday this year?” I’ll be saying, “yeah, YALC”.

[writinghannahrae]

YALC & YALC BOOK HAUL

So I worked at this years YALC! I worked exclusively as a Helper who looked after the Authors, the Publishers and their stands as well as in general event management. That means many crowd control duties! *sigh* But alas! It was great fun, and I can’t wait to come back next year.

As I was walking around and helping everybody, I took advantage of some of the perks my job had. FREE BADGES. FREE TOTE BAGS. and yes, you’ve guessed it, FREE BOOKS. I managed to snap up some free samples of new releases, a proof copy, and a book that is not meant to be released to the public till later this year!

I also managed to sneak into the Patrick Ness book signing and got my copy of A Monster Calls signed! I didn’t realise that I accidentally bought a signed copy, but I wanted to get it personalised, so yay! And he was so lovely!

Please ignore the tea stain on the front cover.

And here are my collection of books! We can call this the YALC BOOK HAUL.

Faulkner’s, Pep Talks for Writers. (Which is released to the public this October)

A sample of Floored which is written by a compilation of writers.

A sample of Frances Hardinge’s, A Skinfull of Shadows.

A sample of Tomi Adeyemi’s, Children of Blood and Bone.

The Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven. (Proof copy!)

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil.

S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett. (Which I got signed!)

The Way Back Home by Allann Stratton.

Wait For Me by Caroline Leech.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D, Schmidt.

The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette De Bodard.

The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr. (Releases later this year!)

Also, here are a few cheeky pics of my time at YALC.

Can’t wait for next year!

[beautifulilies]

For those of you who don’t know, YALC is the Young Adult Literature Convention, and it’s taken place every year since 2014. This is a place where authors with a connection to YA and their readers congregate to, in short, have the best weekend ever.

Normally a three-day event, this convention is full to the brim with ARCs (advanced reader copies), free books, stalls selling books for less than RRP, and long, longqueues for author signings.

This year, authors such as Samantha Shannon, V. E. Schwab, and Patrick Ness graced us with their presence. Samantha chaired a panel about genre-bending, which explored the difficulties of staying within any set genre, and the excitement of pushing the boundaries.

There’s a huge range of authors who attend YALC. Zen Cho and Ben Aaronovitch also made an appearance, and my friends helped Josephine Boyce man her stall and sell copies of her novels.

Lauren James explored unconventional romances on a panel with Ayisha Malik and Patrice Lawrence – tears and laughter ensued. The MuggleNet stall involved a series of Potterish tasks, such as dipping your hand in the Devil’s Snare to retrieve a lollipop, and guessing the number of winged keys. Hufflepuff won the House Cup – well, they do say there’s a first time for everything.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Natalie Dormer from London Film and Comic Con which was being held downstairs also graced us with their presence – numerous times. Sometimes they were greeted with squeals, but mostly a deadly hush fell over the vicinity, which was the tell-tale sign for someone famous appearing.

It’s definitely an event I would recommend to everyone. Personally, I’m not that huge a fan of YA, but I loved every minute of YALC. I loved getting to speak to authors, making a fool of myself in front of Benedict Cumberbatch, and, most of all, I’m going to enjoy posting the reviews for all the new books I bought!

(Seriously though, if you’re thinking of attending YALC next year, bring lots of cash. I came with over £80; I spent all of it and still had to use my debit card.)

[howlsmovinglibrary]

Now time to go fulfil my dreams of gallavanting around dressed as a wizard!

[thebooksareeverywhere]

YALC 2017 was awesome - thank you to my lovely friend Elise for coming with me and taking the lovely photo of Maggie Harcourt above!

[booksandstories]

I'm at the Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) in London & it's absolutely lovely!

[sagittaria-sagittifolia]

Patrick Ness - I was so happy to meet him! And we had a really interesting conversation about book translations (he told me he is not so happy with the German translation of his books)

[yaliteraturebookshelf]

Day 1 of YALC panels has left me feeling incredibly inspired and sparked my creatively right back up. The main reason I go is to hear authors talking about their books, writing processes and muses. Listening to them chat about genres I write or character's similar to mine, and how they tackle the writing journey fills me with an excitement that makes me just want to write and edit my own work as soon as I get home!

The best part though was both Karen M. McManus and Emily Barr recognising me from Twitter and then speaking to me about writing as they signed my copies of their books - Karen M. McManus very kindly gave me tips about writing in multiple POVs and making them sound different 😊😊