Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! So I just found this post in the drafts of my blog and realized that I never posted it. Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures I had of me and Alwyn. So here is my post, months late! Sorry!
Just an hour ago I was talking to Alwyn Hamilton, the author of Rebel of the Sands, which just came out on the first of March! Rebel of the Sands was one of my most anticipated reads, and I had such an amazing experience.
I was there with the rest of the QRB Teen Advisory Board and we basically just ate pizza and hung out. This was the first time I had met an author in such a relaxed environment, and I had so much fun. Alwyn had some great stories to tell about her publishing experience.
One of my favorite stories that she told was her experience while her agent was trying to sell her book to publishers. There were two different days her novel was being sold; they had one for the United States, and another for the UK.The two dates were two days apart, so Alwyn still had to work. At this time, she still had her day job. For some reason (I missed it, sorry guys!) she was at a Paddington Bear event where Hugh Grant came up to her and told her that she seemed intimidating. Talk about a memorable night! When you put it in perspective, Alwyn was probably a bit stressed out. :D
Meeting Alwyn in such a relaxed environment made me not only get to really know the author, but made me want to read the book even more. I was actually lucky enough to win the book out of the twenty or so other people there! I got it signed and everything. :) I was so in awe that I didn't realize the Alwyn actually spelled my name wrong (She spelled it Ginnifer instead of Gennifer) when she personalized it. Lucky enough, I saw the mistake before I left and went back in and got it fixed. We got a couple laughs out of it and she also mentioned how for a whole year a teacher called her Halloween instead of her actual name! :D
Needless to say, I had such a great experience. Meeting Alwyn was a dream come true and I never expected I would ever get to meet her, let alone spend an hour chatting about books. (She's a big fan of Leigh Bardugo, guys!) I am so happy I had this experience and have to thank Penguin and Quail Ridge for setting it up. Hats off to you!
So that was my experience! My month is made. There are plenty of other stories from the night (like how Alwyn's bosses from her day job thought she was pregnant because they didn't know what was gong on wile her book was being sold!), so if you want to hear more just tell me!
Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!
Happy Reading!
Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!
