Event: HVYAS at Oblong Books & Music: Andrea Cremer, Mariah Fredericks, Jillian Larkin & Kat Rosenfield

From left to right: Kat Rosenfield, Mariah Fredericks, Jillian Larkin & in the back, Touya from Reader's Garden

Last Sunday, September 16th, Touya from The Reader's Garden and I made our monthly trip to Rhinebeck, NY for the Hudson Valley Young Adult Society event at Oblong Books and Music. We were very excited, as always, and spent the morning meandering through town and chatting on our favorite bench. After we had lunch at Famous Pete's (seriously, their food is AWESOME!), we headed back to get our books and get situated at the book store. 

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Oblong is a gorgeous bookstore. Seriously, everything about it invites you in and makes you want to stay forever. Touya and I browsed for quite a while and even recommended a book to a girl in the young adult section of the store. My bag was quite heavy before I left, and that wasn't only because I had books for myself and Lana in there. It was bulging. Really, I'm not kidding, I should have taken a picture of it. 

Touya and I always have a blast at these events; the staff is hilarious and helpful and the authors are always so open and eager to answer questions and share stories. This event was no different. Jennifer, one of the lovely ladies at Oblong, introduced the authors and talked a little about each of their most recent books and then we got to hear the authors read some of their favorite parts from their most recent novels. 

Kat Rosenfield, author of  Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, went first and she seemed a bit nervous, saying "This is my first time!" in a very panicked way but she did a wonderful job. I cannot wait to read her book!   Mariah Fredericks went next. The Girl in the Park sounds like a great book and I'm looking forward to getting the chance to read it sometime soon. Mariah told us the book was inspired by actual events that took place in Central Park. Next was Jillian Larkin, author of the Flappers series. The last installment, Diva is out now! I have had her books on my to read list for what feels like forever and I'm kind of glad I waited, now I don't have to anxiously await sequels when I finish. Last but certainly not least was Andrea Cremer. Andrea wrote the Nightshade novels (some of my favorites!) and she read to us from Rift, the new prequel to the original trilogy. (On a side note: Touya won an arc of Rise, the second book in the prequel series, at the event!)

When asked how they develop their characters (by Touya), Andrea Cremer said her characters 'speak' to her and she is just along for the ride. Jillian Larkin admitted that there is a tiny spark of her best friend growing up in each of her female characters; they tend to be feisty and outspoken, but other than that, they are completely original people. Mariah Fredericks said each of her characters contain a small part of herself.  Kat Rosenfield told us about accidentally creating a character in her book based heavily on someone she didn't care for much in high school and how she gave him the same name without realizing she'd done it until she was revising the book. 

Mel & Andrea Cremer

We had a wonderful day and there was so much more conversation and I promise to share it all with you guys very soon. All in all, here is what I learned: 

1-Andrea Cremer uses a different colored Sharpie marker to sign each of her books and her favorite book growing up was Watership Down by Richard Adams.

2-Jillian Larkin loves the 1920's and says she is almost obsessed with The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

3-Mariah Fredericks loves it when her audience interacts and shows they understand what she is talking about. 

4-Kat Rosenfield writes a blog for MTV Crush and is likely to know all about who Justin Bieber is dating at any given moment.