Last night was the publication party for Prom and Prejudice at Books of Wonder...and it was an unbelievable evening. I knew I was going to write a blog the next day to post some pictures from the event, but never in a million years did I think I'd have so many wonderful stories to share. Last night will forever go down as one of the most amazing nights of my life where I was surrounded by so many wonderful friends - old and new. First, as an author, words cannot begin to describe what it's like to walk into a bookstore and see this.
Right there you know you're in for a fun night! But the surprises were just starting. As I was talking to my fabulous editor, David Levithan, at the front of the store, who walked in but Suzanne Collins! I was complete taken aback that she showed up, because, you know, she's got a lot going on!!! I was Suzanne's publicist when I was at Scholastic and worked on the first three Gregor the Overlander books (her amazing pre-Hunger Games series ). We've kept in touch through the years and she has been so super supportive of my writing career and I count myself as one of her biggest fans (not only of her books, but for the fact that she truly is one of the nicest people around). For those of you who have seen Suzanne on tour, you know she does incredible character voices, so I was just a little intimidated having her there, but mostly incredibly honored.
After that shock wore off, the cute Kaila from Books of Wonder came over with a package and asked me if I ordered a corsage. I didn't, but looked at the card that came with it and couldn't believe that Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick sent me a corsage and boutonniere (and one of the most hilarious cards EVER)! I was also Pam and Brian's publicist way back and was so touched that they remembered my event!
I then did a talk and reading from Prom and Prejudice. I'd post a few pictures of that, but it's really hard to get a good photo of someone reading. Especially the scene I was reading from, I was doing a bunch of different voices, including Lydia's...and boy, do I make some weird faces when I do her. At one point when I was talking, I was looking out at the audience, so excited for the great turnout. I saw so many familiar faces...and then one face popped out at me. And before I could help myself, I said "Oh my God, Alice Hoffman is here!" Yes, I was also Alice's publicist (at both Scholastic and Little, Brown). Again, I was floored that she came for me!
As if the evening couldn't get any better, during the Q&A a father told me that his daughter loved The Lonely Hearts Club so much, she's read it more times than Harry Potter. I really tried hard to not burst out to in tears at that point as I was so overwhelmed by all the support I had!
It was great to talk to everybody during the signing and it's so much fun to get to put faces to names. I was especially excited to meet Britta a book blogger (check out her review of Prom and Prejudice here) who brought me cookies - how sweet is that? They were so yummy, I'll even admit to eating two of them for breakfast this morning.
I could seriously write a paragraph about every single person who was there as I was so thrilled to meet everybody. I had friends come out from all different aspects of my life - from my best friend since I was three and college friends to work colleagues and new author friends (the fabulous Courtney Sheinmel, author of Positively, and Michael Northrop, whose upcoming novel, Trapped, is already getting amazing buzz)!
In what's become a tradition, my friends and I go out for karaoke afterwards. David and I had to kick things off by singing my prom song "Heaven" by Bryan Adams. And then I pretty much sang anything and everything (I do think Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" might become a staple, and OF COURSE, I "sang" - more liked screamed - "Since U Been Gone" aka my favorite song, EVER).
By the time I got home (and my voice shot!), I sat in bed thinking about the evening and what a truly incredibly night it was. I don't think I can say enough how honored and touched I was by the turnout and enthusiasm for Prom and Prejudice. I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life and that I'm able to say things like "I"m working on my third book!" So a huge thank you to Books of Wonder, my editor David, agent Jodi Reamer, publicist Sheila Marie Everett (can't believe I didn't get a picture of Sheila Marie and Jodi!), and everybody who was there.
I hope to meet many more people on the road this winter/spring (check out my upcoming events on my EVENTS page). I can't guarantee any super famous authors will show up, but this author would love to meet you.
XOXOXO, Elizabeth