Christi's Adventures: Ellen Hopkins' Triangles Reading and Signing (and Megan McCafferty, too!)

When I found out (at her signing at the Princeton Barnes & Noble) that Ellen Hopkins would be returning to the area to promote her debut adult verse novel, Triangles, I knew I had to be there. And so I was.

While I was waiting for my cosmic twin, Kristie, to show up (unfortunately she got incredibly lost and was way late), I spied a semi-familiar face among the crowd--Megan McCafferty! That's right, the author of the Jessica Darling series and Bumped came out to meet Ellen! I was a little fan girly but kept it together.

After the librarian introduced her, Ellen read a little from Triangles. There were some...younger fans...in the audience, so Ellen did a little self-censoring while she was reading. I completely understand why she edited herself--Triangles is a spicy, steamy novel! This made her reading a little choppier than it was when she read from Perfect, and unfortunately she didn't come across as lyrical as she had in the past. Still, I love hearing Ellen read, because she reads her words the exact way I hear them in my head while I'm reading. It's incredible.

After her reading she answered a few questions (several from Megan McCafferty!) and talking a little about her upcoming projects, and then we lined up for the signing. Guess who I was directly behind?

I found this picture on Twitter and it originally came from http://lockerz.com/s/148599080 ;
I believe this is the librarian who hosted the event.

If you look at the line, Megan is wearing a striped shirt and is clutching her copy of Triangles. I am lurking standing right behind her. Kristie showed up during this time, and was towards the back of the line texting me to see if I'd spoken to Megan yet. I hadn't--I'm a pretty shy person. After a couple minutes, though, I just excused myself and asked if she was Megan. Of course she said yes, and then...she said she was remembered me from somewhere and was going to say hello, but it wasn't "her" event. Squee! I still get giddy when I'm recognized LOL So I explained that I met her at the Bumped launch party. We talked for quite a while, actually--I remembered that she lived in Princeton and she explained that the library opened up right after she moved here, so it felt like her library. We also talked about Thumped, the sequel to Bumped. And this is where I felt like a total idiot, but I really, really thought the sequel was going to be titled something else, but she said no, it was always going to be Bumped. Not like I argued with her or anything, but for some reason I have some other title in my head. Anyway, it made me look like a tool because a real fan should have known that Thumped was in production and scheduled for a spring 2012 release. I asked about a possible tour, and she said there wasn't as much drive for sequel tours, which I think just stinks. Attention publicity-type peoples: I'd love to see Megan tour for Thumped! Thank you.

After we chatted and she met Ellen and then ran screaming away from the stalker fan girl monopolizing her time left, it was my turn to meet Ellen again. And, my camera battery was dead. Again. What the hell--I had this same problem when I met E. Lockhart! Fortunately, cosmic twin Kristie came to my rescue, so I would have this to show for my efforts:

Thanks for coming to my rescue, Kristie!

After I was done, I hung out to wait for Kristie, and we explored the Princeton Public Library some. It's a gorgeous place and I was very envious of everything--it's really quite beautiful.

We didn't hang out too long, as we both had long drives home. Still, another fun night out and I feel very, very lucky to have had the opportunity to meet Ellen Hopkins not once, but twice over the past month!

Enjoy your reading!
Christi