While I’ve been able to see Lauren Kate at several events, I’ve never been able to hear her talk about the Fallen series. So, when I heard through Mrs. Nelson’s that she had announced a date at the Ontario public library, I was definitely going to try to make it.
We got up to the library just after 1:30. They had a table display right inside the door.
One of the library workers, Courtney, happened to be walking around and she showed us where the event would be held. Courtney [who I later learned was actually the YA librarian] also told us that the last time the library hosted Lauren, there were 96 people in attendance.
We went to Starbucks to kill some time and then got back to the library around 2:30, with doors at 3. We sat in the library [which is a REALLY nice library] with an obstructed view of the event room doors. I then proceeded to annoy Courtney by continually jumping up to see if the doors had opened.
Once there was a small group of people hovering, Courtney opened the door and let us in, even though they hadn’t set up the books for sale. There were over 80 seats inside [which were all nearly filled by the time the event started] and a huge projection screen that was playing the book trailers and an Australian interview with Lauren.
Lauren [who is adorably pregnant] got there right at 3:30. She started out reading the prologue of Rapture and then talked about all sorts of things.
She started out talking about the teacher who helped to push her into writing by having to keep a diary for two years. Lauren said that she started to think about what her teacher would want to read and she realized that it was her first idea of writing for what her demographic would be.
She worked as an editor in New York and learned about the steps in publishing. She did a lot of writing workshops, has a box with 76 rejection letters, Rapture was the hardest book of the series to write, but the one she’s most proud of, and her new series is a love story [Lauren’s commentary on her own statement was, “shocker”] that follows a 17 year old girl.
I didn’t get to ask my question about her favorite character to write because she answered it herself. Cam is her favorite character. He is based on her husband [“He’s the like the devil and yes, I go home to that every night”]. Lauren loves that Cam goes off the path and does whatever he wants; she loves to follow him wherever he goes.
One of the best parts was when Lauren said when her husband would come home from work, she would share her day with him. Instead of gossiping about her co-workers, she would gossip about her characters: “Today, Cam said this. And can you believe he did that?”
After about an hour total of Lauren talking and answering questions, the signing started. I was the second one in line. I thanked her for being at the event. She remembered meeting me before, saying that I looked familiar. I told her that I met her first in Santa Monica for Dear Bully and I saw her at FOB, but that it was the first time I had ever heard her talk about the Fallen books. Lauren said that she was worried about spoilers during her talk, but was happy that she didn’t ruin anything for me.
I was able to get my copy of Rapture signed along with the lobby card.
Lauren was definitely worth the wait in hearing her talk about her books. I look forward to seeing her again, whether it’s for the Fallen series or any future series she publishes.
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