1) The return of College Football! I went to Oklahoma State University as an undergrad and have ALWAYS been a Big 12 fan. I practically bleed orange now!
2) Fall Weather! We're finally going to get some cooler weather around here. And by cooler, in Texas that generally means 85 instead of 105, but I'll take it! and
3) Austin Teen Book Festival! Last year was the first year I attended ATBF, and I was looking forward to this year's as soon as I got home! It was so much fun, so many great readers and authors were there, and it was a great event. I know this year it is going to be even better.
This year's event is on Saturday, September 29th at the Palmer Event Center - it is a FREE EVENT and has an impressive list of authors who are attending! Make sure you check out the event info page here to get all of the details.
I'm super excited to see and hear from all of the authors on the list, but I'd have to say that I'm probably most excited about Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl of the Beautiful Creatures series (okay, y'all should all know by now how I feel about Ethan Wate) and Ally Condie of the Matched series. Keynote speaker Neal Shusterman and Closing speaker Libba Bray should be interesting, Libba Bray's books are funny! Between now and then I have to try and get caught up on some of their books, because there are a few authors whom I haven't even read yet!
Here are a few details:
* Event begins at 9:30am and ends at 5pm
*Parking is $7 at the Palmer Event Center
*Books WILL be for sale and Authors will be signing
*There are 6 panels for you to choose from, all with awesome authors and moderators (you can find the list of panels and authors on the ATBF about page here.)
Just for kicks - here are some of my favorite things that happened at ATBF 2011!
- Scott Westerfeld announced on the ALTERNAWORLDS panel that he liked to write speculative fiction because he was "bored by realism."
- The I Heart Love Stories panel all agreed that Romeo and Juliet was a poor example of a love story because "she's 13 and kills herself over some schmuck!" according to Stephanie Perkins (Lola and The Boy Next Door)
- My Grandmother, who attended with me, announcing "That Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry) was quite a character. I need to get her book!" And she did! Got it signed and everything!
- Fangirling over Stephanie Perkins! It's true, it happened, and I'm not even ashamed to admit it.
- Meeting a lot of other awesome book bloggers and readers
- Discovering what would become one of my favorite books, Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker
I'm anticipating even more awesomeness from this coming ATBF, and hope to see some of you there! Let me know if you're planning on attending, and let the countdown begin!
I had so much fun last year! I can't wait for this year's event.
ReplyDeleteI'll be looking for ya, girl!!
DeleteCourtney
I can't wait! This will be my first time to attend :)
ReplyDeleteYou'll have so much fun. It was a blast! Make sure and look for me! :)
DeleteCourtney