Resonant Recaps: Stephanie Perkins Book Signing

I have reiterated numerous times in this blog that YA Contemporary has never been one of my strongest suits. So the moment I finished reading Anna and the French Kiss, I immediately knew I was hooked to the writing style of Stephanie Perkins, and the only problem I was facing that time was, "What time do I come to the book signing event?"

I don't know whether or not it was sheer luck or divine intervention in the process, but here comes my friend, Laurence of The Lucius Flux -I didn't know him that well at the time- asking me what time I went to the Veronica, Tahereh, and Riggs and Jenny Hann book signings so he could estimate what time he should go there. And when he decided to camp out in front of NBS in the middle of the night, I decided "Might as well join him in camping".

I arrived in NBS at around 5 PM last July 5. We decided to shift our time of arrival from 8 to 5, because there were A LOT of rumors going on around the internet about people camping out for the night. And lo and behold; when I got there, there were already 2 people - Jerzon and Pamela - who were already camped out, and I was the third, and after 40 minutes, Laurence came. A couple of minutes passed then two more arrived, Anjeli and Vanessa, and an hour or so later Wenna arrived. AND OUR SEPTET IS NOW COMPLETE

Left to Right:
Vanessa (6), Pamela (2), Anjeli (5), Laurence (4), Wenna (7), Godwin (3), Jerzon (1)

And then the actual camping experience, that lasted from closing time to the reopening of National Bookstore.

During around 1 AM, everyone was basically tired and over-fatigued, and all of us just want a long relaxing sleep, and then we discovered the secret to beating those drooping eyelids.

Fanboying!

One of our friends kept of tweeting National Bookstore and the author herself, Stephanie Perkins, and god were we surprised to see STEPHANIE PERKINS AND HER HUSBAND when they decided to drop by and say hi. THAT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN THE ACTUAL BOOK SIGNING EVENT!!!!

Of course, as soon as their visit was over, all of our droopy eyes were now alert;  it's like all of us drank 5 cups of dark coffee. We were that hyped up! And for me, the adrenaline coursing through my veins lasted until the registration time of the signing. I was supper hyped up!

And then come registration 10 AM everyone started taking pictures, talking, pictures, catching up, taking pictures, fanboying/girling, and taking more pictures.

And then the moment we have all been waiting for arrived. Stephanie Perkins came in the house with all her green dress glory, and along with her was Jarrod! Everyone went ballistic the moment she passed through those doors.

Stephanie talked a lot about her inspiration about her series. She told us it started in a dream of her in Paris; she was with an extremely hot guy with an English accent. And when she woke up, she can't seem to get rid the thought out her head, and thus the birth of our favorite YA Contemporary book series.

When the interview was over, the host called the names of the first seven fans who camped outside National Bookstore, and of course, Laurence and I were there. And then the author noticed I tried to cosplay as Josh Wasserstien from Isla and the Happily Ever After, from which resulted the obliteration of my dignity in front of nearly 700 people.

Stephanie: Oh look, he dressed up as Josh! *points to my Sharpie drawn tattoo and then gives the mike to me*
Me: Uhhhhhhh. . .  HAI!!!! *internal facepalm*

No one told me we're supposed to hold out our ARC's to the
camera, so I held the mike instead

And then the actual signing event she signed our stuff; our books, customized shirts, everything!

THANK YOU NATIONAL BOOKSTORE FOR THE AWESOME EVENT, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING STEPHANIE PERKINS HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!

Resonant Recaps: Jenny Han Book Signing

A lot of hype has been going around by the readers community about this book signing tour these past few months. And last Saturday, the day that all of us readers have been waiting has finally come. The JENNY HAN BOOK SIGNING!

I was extremely opportune when my mom said yes when I asked her to make a 30 minute drive from Marikina to Makati at 3 AM in the morning. On normal hours, the short drive takes about 2 hours, but since it's the early hours of dawn, that 2 hours was cut into 30 minutes. 

Most readers endeavor to come to book signings early because the first three people to get there on time will receive something great from the author herself. In this case the surprise was the ARC copies of the final installment to the Burn for Burn series, Ashes to Ashes. Sad to say when I arrived there at 3:30 AM there were already people lined up and I got the fifth spot. Two persons away from those ARC's!!! But everything wasn't for naught. Karrel of Karrel May Reads came before me, and then we were chatting up for a solid hour when Alia from Ponderings of Psyche joined the fray.

Left to Right: Alia, Me, Karrel

Registration at the book signing starts up at around 10 AM and we still have a lot of time to spare, good thing some of our friends already came. And whet better to waste time than to talk about books, fandoms, and take pictures.

Did I mention that Anette of Anette the Wicked was invited to the blogger's forum, and although she didn't receive an ARC of Ashes to Ashes because she was late, she was able to get her books personalized by Jenny Han. Also I pleaded her to ask Jenny to sign my shirt, and Jenny did! She also posted a picture of it with Anette in her Instagram!

Of course as soon as Jenny Han came in front, the 500 fans who attended went crazily insane and ballistic! I was pretty sure that the entire Glorietta complex could hear the wild screams of the fangirls and fanboys (mostly fangirls) as they hear Jenny Han talk about the characters of her books. *cough* Peter Kavinsky, Conrad Fisher *cough*

During her interviews, we could see that Jenny Han is ecstatic to be here in the Philippines, and at the rate things are going, she looks like she's having a great time! She mentioned how she met her best friend, Siobhan Vivian, with whom she was classmates with. And guess who their mentor was. It was  DAVID LEVITHAN!!!! Jenny also mentioned her fancast for Belly in the Summer Series, and it was Hailee Steinfeld! For those who doesn't know Hailee, she was Juliet Capulet in the 2013 Romeo and Juliet

When it was my turn to finally go in front of her to get my books and my author notebook signed, not to mention to have my picture taken, I was quite alarmed when she remembered me as the guy who asked one of his blogger friends to ask her to sign his shirt. JENNY HAN KNOWS MY NAME! JENNY HAN KNOWS GODWIN!!!!

So at the end of the event I managed to get A LOT of things signed. Eight books, a shirt, and my author's notebook.

Jenny Han's signature along with Ransom, Tahereh, and Rossi's

I am also having a Giving Giveaway of a SIGNED copy of Burn for Burn. You can via Rafflecopter down below. :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway