Last week saw me catching the train to Birmingham again with
Ray, this time to attend the writing workshop with Leigh Bardugo and Moira Young hosted by the lovely team at Waterstones high street. This particular event took place at noon instead of the usual evening time which was nice because this time we got to hang out with some blog friends before and after the event instead of rushing off to get the train home. Before Leigh and Moira came out we got to catch up with Jasprit from
The Readers Den and Lily from
The Whispering of the Pages in which we admired Jas’s signed proof of Talon by Julie Kagawa and some girls behind me got pretty excited when I pulled out my then read Heir of Fire which lead on to me explaining about book blogging which is always fun!
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| Rachel, Me and Jasprit |
Before long Leigh and Moira took to the front and were asked all sorts of questions about writing from early drafts to finding an agent. I have no real aspirations to become an author but even from a fans perspective the interview was very interesting especially as Leigh and Moira had very different approaches to the writing process. Rach on the other hand has been writing a YA Fantasy book this year and so I was really proud when she plucked up the courage to ask her question about world building. As her Alpha reader I surprisingly also picked up some good tips on how to help her as best I can.
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| Moira and Leigh |
After the interview there was a signing and it was so lovely to meet both Leigh and Moira. I’m part of Leigh’s Grisha Army and have supported this series since I read the first book as a proof copy. I was thrilled that Leigh knew my blog and she gave me a hug and thanked me for supporting her books which is always so nice to hear! Moira’s books I only started reading a few months ago in preparation for this event but I completely fell in love with Blood Red Road and am still kicking myself for not reading it sooner! Both ladies were lovely and I’d recommend going to meet them if you ever get the chance. I also got to see Leigh’s UK publicist the lovely Nina again and have a chat with her and I was given a signed postcard, a bookmark and badges.
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| Me, Leigh and Jas |
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| Moira, Me and Jasprit |
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| Ray and Lily having their books signed |
After the event Ray, Jas, Lily and I went to get a late lunch where I tried sushi for the very first time and really loved it. We then went book shopping because that’s what we book bloggers do and when we get together we can be terrible influences on each other! Jas couldn’t decide on a book to make up her buy one get one half price offer so instead of choosing just one book I helpfully convinced her to buy another two in their own offer. Ooops! We also got chatting to two girls Kate and Marriam who’d also been to the event about books and writing. I love meeting new bookish people and events like this one are great for bringing people together.
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| Super proud at learning how to use chopsticks |
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| My book loot! |
Before long it was time to say our goodbyes and get the train home. After a day of helpful advice and inspirational chat Rach and I had an intense plotting session on the train home discussing the what ifs? and plot twists to her story. The creative light bulb was well and truly on for both of us after such a fantastic day.
Sadly this was the last book event planned for the summer but I’m hoping there will be more awesome bookish things to go to and meet ups before the year is over.
In case after reading this any of you are interested in checking out Ray’s story that I’ve been Alpha reading the prologue and first chapter can be found on Wattpad
here.
