This took forever to post and I do apologize. I got back from Yallfest and seriously have been non-stop working. Ughh. But here I am finally with a review of all the fun I had in Charleston.

I made it to four panels. I tried to get to five but one got filled to capacity before I could get in. The panels included So You Want To Be A Writer?, Editors and Authors: A Discussion with Rainbow Rowell, Outlandish!, and Hollywood Stories. So You Want To Be A Writer? was extremely informative and helpful in all things concerning getting published and the importance of an agent. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things I was concerned about and also made me realize its worth the effort to look for an agent and work on getting published through a publishing company rather than self-publishing. The Rainbow Rowell panel went over a lot of the same thing as the first panel. It was nice to hear about the struggles and hurdles a bestselling author overcame to get where she is today. Really put things in perspective like don’t compare yourselves to other authors, just be you! Outlandish! was just a blast. I had so much fun and laughed a lot. It was great to hear other fantasy authors talk about cliches, archetypes, and the dreaded (dun, dun, duuun) love triangle. Of course a vote went around the room and a majority of the audience still loves a good old love triangle. (I am not going to lie, I always love a good love triangle as long as it is well written.) The title to this blog is just some of what was joked about during this panel. Also Marie Lu’s Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic and Leigh Bardugo’s old story of twin sister and brother assassins named Blood and Jared. She commented that if you name your daughter Blood she will become an assassin, so be warned. The last panel I attended was Hollywood Stories which talked about book to film and included Ann Brashares, James Dashner, Veronica Roth, Melissa de la Cruz, Kathy Reichs, and Gayle Forman. It was interesting to hear their opinions on their books becoming movies and all the work that goes into filming. Veronica Roth realized it’s much easier to write a scene of someone zip-lining off a building then it actually is to film it. Unfortunately, I have no spoilers regarding sequels or the possibility of sequels in regards to The Scorch Trials and Where She Went.

After the panels was the YA Smackdown. It was pretty much two hours of fun and games with a closing performance by Tiger Beat, a band consisting of Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, Barnabas Miller, and Natalie Standiford. I have posted pictures below of all the fun that occurred!

I can’t wait for next year or maybe I’ll only have to wait six months for the YallWest which is going to be in Santa Monica, California on April 11th and 12th!!

Editors and Authors: Sara Goodman, Rainbow Rowell, Sarah Burnes

Outlandish!: Susan Ee, Morgan Rhodes, Sarah J. Maas, Marie Lu, Kiera Cass, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Danielle Paige

Me and Laini Taylor!

Margot and Aubrey from Epic Reads along with me and my sister

And now the Smackddown!

YA Taboo

Hollywood Squares, YA style

Tiger Beat singing an original song!

Tiger Beat and all the authors closing out the show to “The Time Warp!”