Event Recap: Sara Etienne Wilson at Children's Book World

We're back with another event recap. It seems like we've been going to a lot of events lately and we love it! Authors, please come to Los Angeles. We love you and will come see you. :)

Last Saturday Children's Book World hosted Sara Wilson Etienne's book release party for Harbinger. Alethea will be able to tell you that I've been waiting for this book to come out. I don't know what it was, but something about it just called to me and I've been waiting for baited breath for its release. 

We arrived just in time and the store was packed. Lots of people showed up for the event. There was a good group of YA authors in attendance including Gretchen McNeil and Jessica Brody. I saw a few other familiar faces though I couldn't place them. Alethea also ran into Kazu Kibuishi at the store who was there with his family hanging out and signing Amulet for the store. This was my first time at Children's Book World and I have to say that it was awesome. I really wish it was closer to my house because I would be going there a whole lot. When we got there the first thing I did was get in line to buy my own copy of Harbinger! Yay! Then we all filed into the smaller side room to hear Sara talk a bit about her book.   

the crowd

the setup

Note from Alethea--you can't see from the photos, but it was *packed* in that room--I couldn't even get inside. I ended up standing just outside the doorway with Jenn Reese (whose middle-grade novel, Above World, releases on Feb. 14) straining to hear Sara talk.

ooooo books!

Sara Wilson Etienne

Sara talked about how she started Harbinger ten years ago. She also talked about how she had to write through a lot of really bad dialogue to get to the good stuff. She also talked about Holbrook Academy and how the layout is based on the school she went to (though she was quick to point out that that the school is only like Holbrook in architecture and layout, and not in any of the weird ways). You could tell that Sara was super excited and happy to be there and her positive energy filled the room.

sara has a fantastic smile!

We had a really wonderful time meeting Sara and getting our books signed. And seriously, if you haven't seen Harbinger in person, you really need to. The cover is gorgeous and make out of some kind of textured paper. Beautiful inside and out.  

We also got to meet and hang out with fellow bloggers Lauren from 365 Days Of Reading (see Lauren's recap here), Angie from Beneath The Jacket (who works at Children's Book World), and our good friend Kimberly from The Windy Pages. And hi to Kate, who doesn't have a blog yet, but who was my carpool buddy and sweet tea conspirator.

That's it for our Harbinger recap. Definitely pick it up soon if you haven't already. I don't think you'll be sorry. :)

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Visit the author online at sarawilsonetienne.com and follow her on Twitter @WilsonEtienne