It's that time of year again for all us Southern Californian natives! The USC Festival of Books is an annual event that brings authors from all across the United States together in a frenzy of panels, workshops, signings, and more! It's an event that lasts all weekend, with varying events each day. So in 80 degree weather, I stayed for a couple hours to watch a panel on the art of writing Young Adult series with guests DJ Machale (author of Pendragon series), Margaret Stohl & Kami Garcia (authors of Caster Chronicles), and Lauren Kate (author of Fallen series). It was a lively event with awesome advice from all authors and equally reflective questions from the audience! The four discussed their own techniques for mapping out multiple books and the difficulties and surprises that sprout from characters that grow throughout an ongoing story line. DJ Machale had a lively and entertainingly sarcastic sense of humor as he discussed his newest work, Morpeheus Road, and Margaret Stohl was equally hilarious as she revved up the crowd! Kami Garcia was more motherly and soft spoken, while Lauren Kate held herself with all the grace and composure reflected in her writing style. Unfortunately, I didn't stay late enough to see the panel with Josephine Angeline (author of Starcrossed), but I'll definitely be back with more action tomorrow! Not to mention, I got some awesome SWAG (posters, bookmarks, etc.) from various publishing groups including Galaxy and Puffin, so there might be a giveaway very soon!
Keep Reading,
-Carina
