A Signing with Six Lovely YA Authors!

L to R: Eileen Cook, Mandy Hubbard, Lisa Schroeder, Cat Patrick, Suzanne Young, Kimberly Derting

I had the good fortune to attend a book signing at Third Place Books in Seattle last Sunday (the same bookstore where I'll be doing a signing on 8/17). Six lovely young adult authors from the Pacific Northwest came together for a group signing.

Here are the books they were promoting:

Eileen Cook: The Education of Hailey Kendrick
Mandy Hubbard: Ripple
Lisa Schroeder: The Day Before
Cat Patrick: Forgotten
Suzanne Young: A Need So Beautiful
Kimberly Derting: Desires of the Dead

Each one gave a quick description of her book and how she was inspired to write it. They took questions from the audience and provided advice to new authors ("keep writing"), commented on balancing social media with writing ("use it as a reward but limit your time") and discussed the pros and cons of sequels.

Suzanne Young said that her publisher asked her to write a sequel to her book, which she hadn't intended to do. Lisa Schroeder said she doesn't write sequels because she wouldn't want readers to be disappointed with the second book. She did say, however, that companion books are really fun to write and can be like sequels where you use some of the same characters, but allow for completely new story lines.

The Q&A was brief and they passed the microphone down the line allowing each one to respond to the questions. The audience was hanging on every word. Such an intimate setting, and the ladies' humble personalities, made this a fun event for me and the dozens of teens in attendance.