One of my favorite YA authors is Lauren Oliver, so when I found out she was coming to my favorite indie bookstore, Oblong Books along with debut author Kate Ellison, I totally had to road trip it with Allison and my little sister, because when Lauren Oliver is within driving distance, you get yourself to the event! Friends, like always if you read through ALL OF THIS RECAP you will get to a fun awesome REWARD at the bottom.
As both authors talked a bit about their books and asked questions, I thought I would divide this by author and do bullet points, because bullet points are AWESOME and I’m kind of feeling lazy.

AMAZING AUTHORS! Kate Ellison author of The Butterfly Clues and Lauren Oliver author of the Delirium Trilogy
Lauren Oliver:
- Her writing came out of a great love of reading. She wrote companion novels for the books she read like Redwall and C.S. Lewis, much like fan fiction, just not posted online.
- Her dad is a writer too. She learned her discipline from him.
- Lauren started trying to write her first novel at 14.
- She FINISHED her first novel at 21 and wanted writing as a career in her 20s.
- She started as an editorial assistant at Penguin in their Young Adult Department and because of this, started reading YA and from there, began writing before I fall.
- She got her inspiration for Delirium while on the treadmill, while she was thinking about the danger of a single idea having so much power.
- When she is writing her books, she reads Agatha Christie and non-fiction. She does not read YA while writing her novels.
- Also, Lauren can’t listen to music while writing, otherwise it starts to creep in.
- Most of Before I Fall was written on Lauren’s blackberry.
- She has finished writing Requiem and is VERY excited about it.
- In the future, she hopes to explore more sub genres within YA.
- A few Paper Lantern Lit books Lauren is excited about: Venom by Fiona Paul – a historical fiction that takes place in Venice, there’s kissing and gondolas and drama; Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill – It’s a contemporary that will appeal to fans of Anna And The French Kiss; Envy by Elizabeth Miles -the sequel to Fury.
Kate Ellison:
- She started writing because she wanted her parents to pay more attention to her than to her brother.
- Kate writes in a coffeeshop.
- She sees books as a refuge.
- As a kid, she was obsessed with Sweet Valley High and actually wrote Sweet Valley High fan fiction. And I think she said she was totally a Jessica fan because of her acting.
- Speaking of which, Kate has BFA in acting.
- At one point, she took some writing classes and just fell back into it.
- Lauren Oliver was buying some art from Kate, and eventually wound up helping Kate with The Butterfly Clues. The two have the same agent.
- Also, as an aside, I am pretty sure that Kate would be a good audiobook narrator because she has a very melodic voice.
- She got THE CALL on a bad day after she messed up her dog walking job which was totally amazing.
- Kate is currently working on another stand alone murder mystery.
- She would like to combine her art and writing.
- The Butterfly Clues was inspired by someone close to Kate.
- Recently she read and enjoyed Let The Great World Spin  and Sherman Alexie’s YA book The Absolutely True Story Of A Part Time Indian.
- Kate is wary of reading in the genre she writes in.
And some bonus bits:
- Authors Kimberly Sabatini (Touching The Surface; S&S Fall 2012) and Phoebe North (Starglass; S&S Â 2013)were at the event and both are SO awesome and I absolute cannot wait to read their books.
- Kimberly brought her ARC of Touching The Surface, omg you guys I GOT TO TOUCH IT!!!!
- Â Phoebe and I talked about books in line and she is SO cool and I was kind of nervous so sorry if I came off like a weirdo, but she totally recommended Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard to me and yo, I am going to get on that ASAP.
- Also, I am pretty sure that Kimberly is the swag fairy, because she came with ALL THIS AWESOME swag and passed it out among us. She rocks, you guys.
Finally, the REWARD!
So, I picked up signed finished copies of Delirium, Pandemonium, Liesl And Po, and The Butterfly Clues for ONE LUCKY READER.
Just do the rafflecopter because this is kind of a more expensive contest than the other books. Also, I have some extra entries that promote the other authors I met there because well, when you meet genuinely nice debut authors, it just feels natural to want to promote their upcoming book.
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Phoebe North is AMAZING. And I think LIKE MANDARIN is amazing. I have not read it. It just seems amazing.
Thank you for the giveaway!
Reut recently posted..Review: Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
Oh, bee-tee-dubs (How obnoxious do I sound omg): I dm’d you on Twitter a while back. Check it out.
Reut recently posted..Review: Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
The event sounds so awesome! Gotta love meeting random authors that you didn’t expect! 😉
Thanks for the added giveaway! Those books are so pretty. 🙂
Riv Re recently posted..Character Dolls: Cadan,
You haven’t read Like Mandarin?! Oh my lanta, YOU MUST. it is so good! (also, fun fact: it’s set in a fictional town, but that fictional town is in my county in Wyoming. And Kirsten does a fantastic job of the setting. I <3 it.)
I want to read Touching The Surface like right now! I'm so jealous that you got to touch an ARC, ha ha.
ashelynn hetland recently posted..In My Mailbox (17): The I’m-THRILLED! Edition
Oh, how jealous I am that you got to meet Lauren Oliver! She is one of my favorite authors and I hope she comes to Michigan sometime! Also, lurve that you give an extra entry for teachers! Love the teacher love 🙂
Kyle recently posted..Review: Legend
Okay, I was already wanting to read Venom but you reminded me that it takes place in VENICE and then I died and now I must have it. And Meant to Be? Looking it up RIGHT NOW. Also, isn’t Lauren Oliver AMAZINGA ND SO SO SO NICE?
I’m also super jealous because I LOVED The Butterfly Clues and I’m super excited to hear she’s working on another standalone mystery!
I totally lol’d at you touching Touching the Surface. And I have a finished copy of Like Mandarin if you wish to borrow it!
AND IN CONCLUSION it sounds like you had a blast and therefore I am uber jealous but also super excited for you! I need to move up north and go to signings.
Tara @ Hobbitsies recently posted..In My Mailbox (064)
I’ve haven’t read any of these books, but they’re all on my ‘want to read’ pile on Goodreads, so this giveaway is so exciting! Thank you so much for hosting it! 🙂
Looks like you had a fantastic time! I love Lauren so much…I going to her signing next Saturday and I’m pretty sure I’ll be a fangirly fool. 🙂
Lori recently posted..In My Mailbox!!
I’m super jealous! Does a teacher-in-training count? Like…I’ve taught before and will be teaching again this May >_>
Meghan recently posted..[review] The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Wow. Such an amazing giveaway! I’m so jealous that you got to meet Lauren Oliver! x) I’ve been waiting to read Pandemonium and I LOVED Delirium!
Ajoop @ on books! recently posted..The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Looks like you had a fun time, I’m really quite jealous! And you met Phoebe North! She is totally cool. By the way, is the giveaway in’tl? I’m in the UK!
Iffath recently posted..BLOG TOUR: Me and Modelling by Sophia Bennett
Yep, it is international!
Your awesomeness is matched only by the organizational awesomeness of bullet points.
Lisa recently posted..Add it to the List [40]
Woot! Amazing giveaway! Lauren Oliver is definitely one of my most favorite YA authors too!
Kat (No Page Left Behind) recently posted..Foodie February Giveaway!
How fun! I love your re-cap from the signing. Thank you so much for posting that so those of us who couldn’t attend to read it . 🙂
Mundie Moms recently posted..In My Mailbox #113 & Weekly Feature
I love the little factoid about most of Before I Fall being written on Oliver’s Blackberry. I always find little things like that so interesting.
I am currently wondering how you mess up a dog walking job…
And I just got to the giveaway portion and had to fight off a squeal. YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!
Jasmine Rose recently posted..In My Mailbox {35}
Oh, and I forgot to thank you for posting this awesome recap. I’m DYING to meet Lauren Oliver!
Jasmine Rose recently posted..In My Mailbox {35}
LOVED your wrap-up of the authors’ talks. As a writer, I’m always intrigued by how the authors write/get their ideas. LUCKY you!!
Mary @ Book Swarm recently posted..Kiss Me, I’m Irish: HOUNDED Read Along!
Looks like you had a ton of fun. I’m going to meet Lauren Oliver on Friday when she comes down to Miami. I’m beyond excited to meet her!!
JJ @ JJ iReads recently posted..On My iPad and In My Mailbox {22} (the one with Of Poseidon, The Raft, Hana, and Love at First Sight)
Hey, thanks for the educator love on this giveaway! You know most of our books end up in our classrooms anyway…or additional copies purchased for the kiddos when we talk it up so much. I could easily go broke trying to feed my kids with good books. They LOVE Lauren Oliver, and the Kate Ellison books have been on my “to order” list for some time.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway! And, I really enjoyed reading the blog post 🙂
Sea Glass recently posted..And on a drastically less serious note…
Thanks for this awesome giveaway. I’m a high school librarian and I follow blogs like yours as a reference when putting together book orders. Your detailed reviews really help me decide where to spend some of our budget for fiction books. Plus I love reading YA anyway!!
Thanks for the ahhh-mazing giveaway!!! :))
Kristen recently posted..Review: Starters by Lissa Price
I just loved Before I Fall. This book is amazing!
Thanks a lot for the giveaway 😀
I just saw this (THIS is what happens when you turn off google alerts!). You were not a weirdo at all and it was great seeing you again! <3<3
Phoebe recently posted..Coming Up for Air