Event: Frederick Book Festival

Hi there gorgeous people!  Yesterday I was able to attend the Frederick Book Festival for the first time and I'm here to tell your all about it!  The festival was held at the Frederick Fair Grounds (in Maryland in case you don't know what I'm talking about), and although the day was overcast and a bit cold, it turned out to be a great day!

Hannah, Jen and me

There I met with the fabulous Hannah from The Irish Banana Review and the ever sweet Jen from Genuine Cupcakes and YABC.  The author line up for YA was: Jennifer Armentrout, Miranda Kenneally, Jodi Meadows  Amanda Brice and Diana Peterfreund. Awesome right?

Valerie Cole, me, and Jodi Meadows (I'm holding knitted versions of  Ana and Sam )

I was able to attend two of the YA panels: Emerging Trends in Young Adult Fiction and The YA Dating Game.   As the title illustrates, the first one was about emerging trends in YA, which includes contemporary, fantasy, aliens, and new adult.  It was really interesting to hear about their opinions of what the new trends are, how they compare to past trends and how the publishing industry has a lot to do with it.  The dating game was so much fun!  I haven't laughed that hard in a while (*I'm smiling right now as I write*)!  It was these fabulous ladies take on the dating show.  Our very own Hannah volunteer to be the first one (see picture below) and I'm sure she'll tell you all about it in her blog (head over there soon!).  The authors also talked about their favorite male and female characters and why they liked them.  

Miranda Kenneally and Diana Peterfreund

Lt. Jodi, Jennifer Armentrout and Amada Brice / Rt. Jennifer

Jen, Hannah, Jodi, author Valerie Cole and yours trully went out to grab a quick lunch.  I can't tell you how amazing it is to get together with like minded people.  I love my family, but to them my book addiction is like a foreign language and these book activities are a great escape for me.  I also enjoy these more intimate settings in which I actually have a chance to talk to these incredible authors. 

Hannah at the dating game

We wrapped up with the book signing and I got some goodies that I'll share with you next week for STS.  Enjoy the pictures and please be aware that, as my teenager loves to remind me, I'm horrible taking pictures!  Thank you ladies for making my day!