Bright Lights, Big City Pt. 3

Sunday morning was bittersweet. I had a couple more sessions to attend before hopping on my flight back to Charlotte, but was just getting the hang of things in NYC. The one hangup I'd had with the whole weekend was the fact that I felt like I was missing out on some of the sessions in order to do mundane things, like find lunch or check out, and so if I had the chance to do it again, I would schedule a buffer day in on each side of the trip. That way, I'd have had more time to get out and explore. Basically, once the conference started, I was locked in unless I wanted to skip.

That morning, I attended a session from DIY MFA about writing MG and YA. I started out initially as a YA author. I began writing as a young adult, and as a result, most of my characters are close to my age. I find it hard to stretch. While I had been pitching Momentum as New Adult, NA is very new (no pun intended) and has a murky, nebulous definition. I knew this session would be beneficial to me. One of the main takeaways of the lecture, aside from some fabulous ideas about working yourself out of plotting issues, was that writing MG and YA is super fun (which it is) and also that it is not lesser than other forms of literature. Yes, we want to write about teenagers, but teenagers are also very good at pointing out bullshit or when you're pandering to them. Writing like a teenager and about teenagers is hard. You have less room for error since your audience will dip out pretty quickly if they smell a rat.

I did skip a couple sessions to beat the aforementioned rush to check out at 11 and to have some time to wander the area surrounding the hotel for food. I was looking for a sandwich shop which ended up being across the street (I have a terrible sense of direction), but stumbled upon a street fair instead. I bought some costume jewelry and got a crepe!

It was supposed to be strawberry and Nutella, but whatever, banana works, too.

The closing keynote speaker was Kimberla Lawson Roby, creator of the Reverend Curtis Black series. She's about to publish her twenty-first novel! She began as a self-published author before selling 10,000 copies and being picked up by an agent. Her husband took out money from his 401K so they could print the first 3,000 copies of her debut novel, which she sold from her home.

She's an incredibly personable, intelligent, and funny woman. As Harlan Coben advised, "Don't be a douchebag." All these successful writers who had spoken to us, the unpublished authors scrambling our way to the top, had been the kindest, most engaging, and interesting people. They fielded our questions with grace and patience and made us laugh, almost moved us to tears.

That's how I'd felt the entire conference. I'd been surrounded by these veritable writing juggernauts, where I should have been intimidated and completely awestruck by their success, but instead, I found myself emphasizing with them, nodding my head as each of them spoke. For the first time, I was beginning to feel as if I belonged, as if I were a writer.

Once the conference ended, I had the hotel hold my bags since my flight wasn't until seven. I took the subway ALL BY MYSELF (thankyouverymuch) to Bri's lovely apartment, kicking myself that I hadn't remembered that she lived in NYC so I didn't have to waste money on a hotel. But whatever, I'm not bitter about it. There, she and her girlfriend Rebecca made me their classic breakfast sandwich, complete with a latte, watermelon, and fresh orange juice. Like, shut up. I should have stayed here and saved myself the cash. Anyway, check out the views:

Just look at that sautéed kale goodness. 

Broadway Street

These little tufts of green are Central Park. 

Panorama! 

Couldn't resist a mirror selfie. 

They had to run off, but the apartment was close to Central Park. I had to do ONE touristy thing, so I trekked over and took some pics/selfies. Does anyone else get that gut omg-do-I-really-look-like-that reaction whenever they hit the camera reverse button on their phone? Nope? Just me?

It's tourist season in the city! 

This made me think of a million movies. 

When I can't seem to take a good picture, I just ruin it by making a face. We all win. 

I finished Eleanor & Park while sitting on the runway at LaGuardia, somewhat sad that this journey had ended. However, I planned the trip strategically. I quit my job the day before, jetted off to NYC where I made some fabulous contacts to follow up with about Momentum, and now I was flying back to begin the journey to Wilmington for graduate school.

The fan art inside the cover of Eleanor & Park is just fantastic. 

It's a strange life, full of twists and turns, but as my dad has informed me, I tend to thrive on the chaos.

Sarah Dessen and Malaprops

This past Thursday I was so excited to go to Malaprops in Asheville to see Sarah Dessen! She's a Chapel Hill YA author whom I've written about before, and I skipped her earlier tour dates for her new novel, The Moon and More, because I knew I would be in Asheville and wanted to check out the local bookstore. I've spent some time in Malaprops, and I really love how cozy it is. They do plenty of author events too. Maybe one day I'll be speaking there.

Going to author appearances always strikes this strange chord with me. It's like watching someone sing:  I feel nervous for them. I get all jumpy and sweaty and anxious before, like it's me whose going to be up there in front of everyone. It's even worse when I have to read my stuff. I've only ever read little snippets, and I break out into cold sweats before. That kind of stage fright is something I'll have to get over if I want to be able to read my work in public.

However, Ms. Dessen was absolutely delightful. She's the kind of person you want to talk to, and she immediately put the audience at ease. At some points, she had us laughing in stitches. I think it's important to point out that authors are real people too. I felt the same surreal sensation when I went to a Stephen King book signing: authors are just like people you'd run into at the supermarket. We give them a lot of credit for their work, but it's refreshing when we realize that they also have lives which don't involve writing, they have doubts and failures, ups and downs, just like the rest of us.

This signing was short, sweet, and more intimate than others I've been to. Sarah answered plenty of questions from the audience, did trivia about her books and gave away prizes, and even had you sit down with her when she was signing books. I had a great time and instead of finding myself dumbstruck and mute, I babbled to her about what an inspiration she was, that I was a fellow Tar Heel, and that I've been following the same path she was on (writing and working in a restaurant) before she was first published. I just wanted to sit down, have coffee with her, and pick her brain!

Okay, getting a little fangirly over here so I'm going to stop, but here are a couple of pictures from the signing with Ms. Dessen and yours truly:

from

Can you tell I'm a little excited?

I need to practice my autograph so it's short like this. 

-E