Penguin Teen Tour Gathered at Hicklbee's

There's something magical about books, and it makes sense that would be something magical about meeting the authors who spin the stories that fill a book’s pages.

Last Thursday, five authors gathered at Hicklebee's to share their recent releases, sign books, and answer questions. The result was nothing short of hilarious fun.

I arrived early at Hicklebee's to buy books and grab a front-row seat. As soon as I walked inside, a bookshelf tempted me with its delicious offerings:

I brought my copies of Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman to the event, but I also ended up buying six books (two were not related to the event). Here's a picture of all the books I left Hicklebee's carrying. I can't wait to devour them!

I found a seat in the front row, and noticed some bookmarks and posters sitting at the "authors' table." I took a picture of the full baskets:
 
I remember peeking into the baskets before I left and seeing how most of them were empty. What can I say? Bookworms like their goodies.

The event opened with Kyra, a TAB member, introducing the five authors (she also served as moderator throughout the event). During Kyra's introduction of Sabaa Tahir, Kyra stated that Sabaa spent her childhood playing guitar. Sabaa chimed in to set the record straight, calling out, "badly!" and coaxing the night's first chuckles from the audience.

The fun and laughs only grew from there. Kyra grilled the authors on the books they hid from their parents as children (April admitted that hers was Flowers In The Attic, and when her parents found out, she told them it was about children who liked to garden), five words that best describe their writing style (the five authors immediately searched the back of their books for adjectives), and which character they would most like to go on a road trip with (Rachel called dibs on Harper from her Rebel Belle series, stating that she would be responsible and take care of organizing everything).

Rachel and April were asked about their very different styles of writing paranormal. Where April tends to write darker paranormal, Rachel sticks to a lighter, funnier tone. Rachel divulged that she didn’t know how to write a dark book, and fumbling for a depressing topic, said she would write about orphans in a field. The chuckles only increased when April and Sabaa revealed that their books do, in fact, feature orphans in a field.

When Kyra asked about Sabaa and Alwyn’s experiences as debut authors, Alwyn talked about her lack of confidence when she began trying to navigate the literary world and Sabaa described how easy it was to get distracted by the marketing and publishing process. She shared a piece of advice that really connected with me: “put the writing first.” After all, it’s the writing that makes a book absolutely amazing, and I can attest to the fact that her debut, An Ember In the Ashes, is a marvelous read.

Kyra’s questioning also brought a few interesting tidbits to light. Rachel confessed that she didn’t know how to make hummingbird cake, causing the audience (or, at least, me) to gasp in shock, and Alwyn, who lives in London, described her love of writing in cafes. Alison declared that she hadn’t stepped foot into the Australian outback in twenty years while April disclosed that she started a cult after reading The Egypt Game, and it eventually grew to include two other children, sending the other four authors and the spectators into bouts of bubbling laughter.

The event wrapped up with the five authors signing books and handing out bookmarks, stickers, posters, and more. Here are just a few of the things I picked up:

 

Thanks for reading! If you were at the Penguin event on March 31, please share your experience in the comments! And don't forget to use #Hicklebee's when posting photos of the event on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 -  by Kate, TAB alumna