Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins

On Monday I got to do something I had been anticipating for a couple of months: see Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins at Copperfield's. I cannot begin to tell you how much I admire these women, but I will try to convey their awesomeness as best I can.

My friends Ashleigh (who attended both LeakyCon and VidCon with me; she is my Padawan), Liz, Jaime, and I arrived at Copperfield's, all besides Jaime in pajamas, and in the case of Ashleigh and I, footie pajamas. Stephanie and Maureen had tweeted awhile ago that their book signings in the Bay Area were going to be pajama parties. Though I figured we'd be the only ones (which we were), I somehow convinced my friends to join the pajama party. A lot of people were staring at us. Suck it, I'm a nerdfighter, I don't care. After sitting somewhat awkwardly at the tables that were set up due to the fact that this was also a (free) pizza party, we met a few other nerdfighters. Meeting nerdfighters in the flesh is so exciting, and this is only the second time I have done so apart from cons. We even met some that had been at LeakyCon. It was good to know we weren't the only ones who flew to the other side of the country for a Harry Potter conference. As we were sitting there talking, Maureen was creeping around in between bookshelves. I did the Maureen Glare back at her, but she didn't notice. I'd heard one of the employees say that they expected 20 people at the most, but about 40-50 showed up. (For a small bookstore in a smallish town, that's quite a bit.)

So the time came for the event to start. The employee who introduced them forgot both of their names. She handed them water and a plate piled with gummy bears. Maureen was VERY excited about the gummy bears. Then Stephanie and Maureen looked noticed the pajamas that Ashleigh and I were wearing. They made us stand up and inquired as to where we purchased them. It was quite awesome. Now if I ever meet them again, I can say that I'm the girl who was wearing panda footie pajamas. 

Rather that leading a prepared talk, they opened up the floor to questions.  People had some great questions which led a great discussion. I will attempt to convey the sentiments of a few of the things we talked about, as it was really very interesting.

Maureen was asked why she decided to write a book about Jack the Ripper. Now, I already knew the answer to this because I got to hang out in Maureen's super secret book reading/discussion/party at LeakyCon, but I will assume that you have no idea why she chose to write about Jack the Ripper (and no, I'm not going to spoil The Name of the Star, that would be lame. She was on a Jack the Ripper tour in London and despite the fact that the tour guide was talking about "haunted" buildings, Maureen was bored. She couldn't understand how these ghosts could be so boring. So, she decided to create her own ghosts, and if you've read the book, you know they are anything but boring. 

When I picked up my first Maureen Johnson book, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, I thought, "Wow. If this wasn't so highly recommended, I would never pick up a book with this cover." A lot of Maureen's book covers really don't appeal to me; they're just so stereotypically girly so I assume they are about shallow girls. I don't feel like they match the content at all. Actually, I think The Name of the Star is one of the few good ones. I'm glad I got to hear her talk about this. Author's really don't have a lot of say in what their covers. It's all just marketing. They make the cover look like the covers of other books that have sold well to its intended demographic. Maureen said, "You might as well throw the cover away." She talked about her hatred of the butterfly on the British edition of The Name of the Star and how it has nothing to do with the content. (It was cool that Ashleigh and I could supply her said British edition, although now she thinks we've started a black market of Advanced Reader's copies.) Stephanie sounded really bitter about her covers saying, "I got the Sarah Dessen model." She wasn't dissing Sarah Dessen, but clearly wants something more original. Also, both the male models used for her covers were in their mid-twenties, much older than the characters they are supposed to portray. Also, the model for Cricket on the cover of Lola and the Boy Next Door has his shirt unbuttoned in a way that she says Cricket wouldn't do.  

It wouldn't be an author event if they weren't asked for writing advice. Maureen and Stephanie were very encouraging. Stephanie said that the best way to learn is by reading a lot, and when you are struck by an emotion, figure out what the author did to get you to feel that way. Maureen said that writing is a career path that is really open to everyone, publishers don't care whether or not you have a writing degree. She also pointed out that if you don't have a conflict, you don't have a story. As far as writer's block goes, Stephanie says that's really just procrastination in disguise. 

There are so many other things these witty authors discussed, but these are the things that really stood out to me and I'm sure I'm boring you if you managed to make it this far. I had a really great time listening to them. Maureen and Stephanie are such an inspiration to me.