July Favourites: Books, Benedict and Dragons

Hello everybody! I hope you're all doing well? Did any of you go to YALC? I was so sad to miss it this year due to anxiety but there was still plenty of things that made July a great month for me that I want to share with you all today so, *puts on best Daenerys Targaryen voice* shall we begin?

Favourite Books

   

I had a really great reading month in July and read a total of nine books but my two absolute favourites happen to both be thrillers. The first is Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell, if you follow me on Instagram this will come as no surprise to you as I was raving about this book on my story. It was a solid five star read for me. If you're looking for a book that grips you from the first page and refuses to let you go then you'll devour this book just like I did. My review for Then She was Gone is already up so if you'd like to find out more you can check it out here. The second thriller I loved was The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham this is such a heartbreaking thriller following the relationship between two very complex women as they bond over being pregnant in the months leading up to their babies births. The writing style was utterly gripping and like watching a car crash, I couldn't look away as I watched these two women's lives crash and collide with devastating consequences. This was my first book by Michael Robotham and I'll definitely be looking out for more of his work.

Favourite to Watch

Game of Thrones is back and so really there is only one contender for what's been my favourite thing to watch this month! We're only three episodes in but it already feels like so much has happened! I don't want to talk about plot for anyone who hasn't watched it yet and wants to so all I'll say is I am enjoying this season a LOT and can't wait to see what else unfolds now that we're closing in on the end.

Favourite Online 

So much has been going on in the bookish community this past month from Benedict Cumberbatch witnessing Non Pratt's charity head shave at YALC (I was literally howling at the tweets, pictures and videos!) to all of the readathon's that have been taking place in July. But for my favourite online I wanted to throw some love in the direction of a new book blogger who has been making the community such a sunny place with her passion for books. This person is the lovely Amy at Golden Books Girl! I've been really enjoying her blog and chatting to her on Twitter about books so if you don't follow her yet you definitely should check her out she's such a ray of sunshine and her enthusiasm for books and the book community is so lovely to see!

Favourite Thing

Picture taken from my Instagram JessHeartsBooks

This month I finally caved and bought a few of the Beauty and the Beast Funko Pops that have been on my wishlist for ages and I'm absolutely in love with them. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney movie and I love being able to include these Funko's in my Bookstagram pictures. I'm planning on reorganizing my bookcases soon and I can't wait for them to be on display with my beautiful books!

Favourite Memory 

This month my favourite memory involves my nine-year-old cousin. We went for a family meal out last weekend to celebrate two birthdays. I sat next to her and we spent so much time talking about books from what we were reading to what we wanted to read next. She's always been a huge bookworm like me and it's something I've always nurtured in her by buying her books for Christmases and birthdays. This time our usual book talk was a little different though, as she was the one giving me recommendations on books to read! It's so nice that she's now old enough that we can mutually share what books we've been enjoying lately. I persuaded my Aunt to buy her the Murder Most Unladylike series and I've added Dragon's Green by Scarlett Thomas a book she's currently reading to my own wishlist. I think that now she's getting older a lot of book swapping will be going on as she raids my shelves for her next read!

What were some of your favourite things in July?

YALC Tips for Coping with Anxiety

So a lot of you will know that I suffer from very severe anxiety and during the build up to YALC 2014 I got incredibly anxious and posted about it here. Last year I had a lot of people come up to me saying that they felt the same way and so I decided to share with you my tips on how to cope with YALC related anxiety in the hope that it might help someone who is currently feeling the same way that I did last year.

1.) Be Prepared 
About a week before going away I like to start getting organised. I plan out my outfits for the weekend, go shopping for anything I need and make a list of what to pack. I like to spread this out over the week so that I’m not flustered trying to get everything ready the night before or the day of. This also means that on the day I’m leaving I’m not in a rush and have time to take a breather and calm my thoughts. Leaving everything to the last minute just makes you stressed which you really don’t need on top of anxiety.

2.) Be Realistic
Create your own schedule for YALC listing the key things that you want to do over the weekend and the time and day that they’re on. The thing about YALC is that so many amazing things are happening all at once and it’s impossible to do everything you want to so don’t expect to. I think it’s important to be realistic about what you can do with your anxiety. Don’t put pressure on yourself to join a massive queue if you know that it’s going to trigger your anxiety. Know your limitations and do what you’re comfortable with and make time in your schedule for lots of chances to step away from the crowds and take a break.

3.) Arrive Early 
If you can, try to arrive at the venue early. The crowds waiting to get in are pretty insane and the sooner you can get in the less time you have to stand in them. It’s also a good idea to take some time before any events start to get your bearings. Know where the nearest exit, toilet and food stand is in case you need them. Try and find a quiet spot to set as a meeting point with your friends in case you lose each other in the crowd or go to different panels. The more I know about an area the more comfortable I feel.

4.) Be Comfortable
I love the idea of cosplaying and I love looking at other people’s costumes but for me personally being comfortable comes first. I know that if I was to dress up I’d constantly worry if my outfit was okay and I couldn’t deal with strangers looking at me or taking pictures. It also gets very hot in the venue and I know I’d feel more comfortable in my comfy trainers and a favourite t-shirt. On the other hand if you’d feel more confident taking on the persona of a badass character or want to represent your favourite fandom by wearing a themed outfit then you do that! Ignore what your friends and other people are doing and do what feels the most comfortable to you.

5.) The Power of Distraction 
Make sure you take with you something that calms you. This could be a book that you can get lost in, a favourite playlist on your phone to listen to or some soothing hand cream to massage into your hands. Have something with you that can be pulled out any time that you can feel anxiety creeping on to distract you from how you’re feeling and take your mind off what’s bothering you.

6.) Organization 
This tip also ties back in to being prepared. I like to make things as easy as I can for myself by being organized. A great tip I learnt from going to a lot of author signings is to pack your books in the order that you’ll need them for each signing. Then once they’re signed place them at the bottom of your bag. This will save a lot of time and saves you taking all of your books out to look for a particular book every time. I also like to place a post it note with my name on the title page of each book ready for the author to sign and dedicate your book to you. This is especially helpful to them if you have an unusual name or it can be spelled in different ways take Claire and Clare for example.

7.) The Reading Zone is a Safe Haven 
So anybody going to YALC who has anxiety should know that The Reading Zone is a safe haven from the craziness that is LFCC. I honestly don’t think I would have survived a day without it last year. The YALC organizers have already confirmed that it will be back again this year. It’s a quiet place to take a breather or sit and read for a while. I strongly recommend checking it out if at any point you feel like you need to take a break.

8.) Remember Your Goal
My last piece of advice is to try and remember why you are there. What made you want to come to YALC in the first place? Maybe it was to get a book signed by a favourite author, to get some invaluable writing advice from professionals or to meet online friends. Whatever your reason for attending keep that goal in mind. Keeping my goal in mind makes me more determined to push through those anxious moments and when you achieve your goal take a moment to celebrate! Be proud that your anxiety did not stop you from doing what you wanted to do. Enjoy your moment, trust me – it’s a big deal!

I hope that these tips might be useful to you and help you to have an amazing weekend at YALC! 

If you have anxiety and are attending YALC please don't hesitate to contact me at @JessHeartsBooks on Twitter and I'll support you in the build up to YALC in any way that I can. 

Know that you're not alone and that we can do this!

Announcing YALC Month!

Banner by Faye at A Daydreamer's Thoughts

It's that time of year again! YALC 2015 will soon be upon us! Last year I hosted the YALC Readathon which I had so much fun with but a week was nowhere near enough time to read all of the books I wanted to ready for YALC and so with even more authors announced this year I decided to turn the YALC Readathon into a themed reading month.

For YALC Month the goal is simple: read as many books by authors attending YALC 2015 during July as you can! Authors attending can be found here. I know that a lot of us attending YALC have massive TBR piles and review book obligations so you do not have to read YALC books exclusively. With YALC itself happening in the middle of July this also gives us a chance to read the books we buy at YALC afterwards. I remember having a lot to get through last year!

I won't be reading YALC books exclusively in July because I have other review books I need to get to so I'd like to read at least 5 books for YALC Month and I have a great pile to choose from. What do you recommend I pick from this pile?

To sign up share your intention to join us either on your Blog, Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Goodreads and share the link to your post in the linky below. If you'd also like to share the banner, your TBR or goals for the month then please do, although this isn't mandatory. When talking about the event on social media please use the hashtag #YALCMonth so we can all follow each others updates and progress! I hope you want to join me in reading YALC books throughout July! If you do please sign up here

What I Want From YALC 2015

If you're part of the UKYA community then you have probably heard by now that YALC is returning for another year this year between Friday 17- Sunday 19 July at Olympia, London.

Although I was a little disappointed to hear that it is returning beside LFCC it's going to be in a bigger venue and the YALC team are well aware of last years crowding issues and are putting things in place to help YALC run as smoothly as possible.

Ray and I have booked our hotel and will soon be purchasing tickets for the event itself, however, I'm really sad to only be attending Friday and Saturday this year as I have to be home on the Sunday for my dad's 50th birthday celebrations.

Some fantastic authors have already been announced with more to follow and so that got me thinking about who I'd personally love to meet. I wanted to share with you my dream author lineup just for fun because I love making lists and a girl can dream right? This list doesn't include any of the lovely wonderful authors I have already met but rather new to me authors who I'd love to meet someday.

Sarah Dessen
Sarah Dessen is the Queen of Contemporary YA and is largely the reason why I love the genre after discovering it in my early teens. I know this is true for a lot of people and although I doubt she'll make an appearance at this YALC I really hope that she does a UK tour some day soon. She has such a large fandom over here and we are desperate to meet her!

Lucy Ivison and Tom Ellen 
I met Lucy briefly at YALC last year but didn't get the chance to get my book signed because I didn't know she would be there. With Lobsters up for The YA Book Prize I think that they make an obvious choice for YALC 2015!

Marcus Sedgwick
Marcus was at YALC last year but had to leave early I think because he had taken ill? I was really sad to miss him and would love the chance to meet him this year.

Robin Stevens
Although the Wells and Wong books are Younger YA/ Middle Grade the UKYA community LOVE Robin's books. After reading them myself this year and falling head over heels in love with Hazel and Daisy I NEED to meet Robin (even though I already have my book signed). Also First Class Murder is due to be published at the end of July. Perfect time for promotion, no?

Melinda Salisbury
Because we can't have Robin without Mel really can we? The Sin Eater's Daughter has been the biggest UKYA Fantasy release in 2015. Melinda is an exciting new talent and I would love to meet her (even though I already have my book signed)

Virginia Bergin
The Rain had a lot of promotion at YALC last year and with both The Rain and The Storm now out I think that Virginia would make an ideal fit for YALC. I'd love to hear her talk about creating an authentic teen voice which is something she does brilliantly with her main character.

Sarah Rees Brennan 
Sarah was another author who was at YALC last year with her friend Holly Black. Sarah has so many fans and with Cassandra Clare already confirmed it makes sense to book Sarah too with the two being good friends and their work together on The Bane Chronicles.

Susan Ee 
Susan is an international author who has a large audience over here and with End of Days the last book in the Penryn and The End of Days series coming out in May, July would be a perfect time to meet fans of the series.

Zoe Sugg (Zoella)
With Girl Online breaking her into the UKYA world Youtube star Zoe Sugg would be a perfect choice for YALC. With Carrie Hope Fletcher also confirmed to attend the two together could draw in huge audiences outside of the book world reaching out to target audiences about UKYA and introducing them to similar books and authors.

Sophie Kinsella 
Adult Fiction author Sophie Kinsella has her first UKYA novel releasing in June so promoting at YALC in July would be perfect. A lot of older YA fans are also big fans of her current works so I'm sure she'd get a lot of attention.

Francesca Haig
The Fire Sermon is another big release for 2015 making UKYA author Francesca Haig a rising star. I think that one of the biggest UKYA releases of the year so far deserves a place at YALC, don't you?

Lisa Williamson 
The Art of Being Normal is Diverse UKYA at its best. Again, this has been a huge release of 2015. It's such an important book that YALC can shine a spotlight on.

There are so many authors that I could include on this list but these are just a few of the big names for me that I have my fingers crossed for! I'm excited to see if any of them are announced!

As well as meeting lots of brilliant authors I'm really looking forward to some thoughtful talks and inspiring workshops like last year. Some of the topics that I'd personally love to see discussed are...

 * Mental Health in YA
This is a topic close to my heart and is something I'd love to see being discussed. James Dawson (Mind Your Head) Matt Haig (Reasons To Stay Alive) Zoe Sugg (Girl Online) Holly Bourne (Am I Normal Yet?) and Sophie Kinsella (Finding Audrey) I think would make brilliant speakers with all of them having books out, or coming out, that deal with mental health.

 * Diverse YA
Nobody does Diverse YA better than UKYA in my opinion and this year more than ever has been fantastic for it. I'd love a talk about the importance of having characters that represent every type of person and situation ready and available in YA.

 * Book Blogging/ BookTube 
Book bloggers have had some much needed love showered on them this year with the two book blogger awards and I'd love to see some of my friends up there sharing their love of books and the industry and shining some light on what goes into being a blogger/vlogger.

So there you have it. These are some of my hopes for YALC 2015. I'm sure that no matter who and what is lined up it's going to be brilliant!

Let me know if you're planning to attend YALC this year and what you're hoping to get from it.

Find out more about YALC 2015 here.

YALC Diary: Sunday Day Two

After being convinced that I’d sleep like a baby after the mania of yesterday I of course had another rubbish night’s sleep and woke up with a headache. I wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep and I would have if we didn’t have to check out of our hotel before 11am. Turns out this was a blessing in disguise as I had the most wonderful day at YALC today.

Before another day at YALC began I was invited to a blogger breakfast. The first wonderful thing to happen today was that lovely Debbie saw my tweet of pain and brought me in some paracetamol from home. After something to eat, lots of water and some medication I started to feel more human and really enjoyed the breakfast. Having our names on a guest list to get in meant no queuing and the book zone was lovely and quiet first thing in the morning so I had lots of time to chat to authors, bloggers and publicists and I could actually hear everybody, yay! I also had time to catch up with my friend Jasprit who came down for Sunday which was really nice.

We had authors Holly Black, James Dawson, Matt Haig and Non Pratt as guests at the breakfast and they each spoke about their books new and upcoming alike and signed our copies. We were also given an awesome Grisha tote bag full of swag and copies of This Book is Gay by James Dawson and Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. I was only saying before the event how much I was looking forward to This Book is Gay so to have early copies there was amazing!

Queen of Teen James Dawson looking regal and wise

Once again there were so many lovely authors that I finally got to meet today. Comic Con was so much quieter and the showmasters team were there to structure queues and make sure there was some order which was so much better.

My author highlights for Sunday had to be James Dawson, Sarra Manning and Cat Clarke. James is doing wonderful things for LGBT teens and I’m so glad that he won Queen of Teen because he’s providing a much needed voice in UKYA. I’ve been reading Sarra Manning’s books since I was twelve years old and so I got all emotional when she knew me and my blog, if that wasn’t enough she then went on to give me two rare early editions of her books as a thank you for your support gift which meant so much to me. Cat Clarke was so lovely to talk to and gave me a hug and thanked me for supporting her books which was so nice. As for actors today I spotted Sibel Kekilli and Kristian Nairn AKA Shae and Hodor from Game of Thrones and had a little fan girl moment over that.

Meeting Sarra Manning

Cat Clarke hug

The only negative thing that I have to say about YALC day 2 was the lack of monitoring for the panels. They didn’t appear to be supervised at all and being right next to the Stan Lee booth meant that LFCC people would just sit there taking up seats for a break and something to eat or to wait for friends to finish seeing Stan. Not only did this take up seating but they’d chatter away to one another and once again I couldn’t hear what the authors were saying. As I stressed yesterday next year we really need our own hall!

At 5pm on the last day of YALC an event that shall forever be remembered as ‘The Great Book Giveaway of 2014’ took place. Basically the YALC team took down all of the books from the book wall and posters and gave them away for free. There were so many amazing books to choose from from YA classics to brand new releases that aren’t even out yet. Luckily I was there when the queueing began and so ended up being 5th in line and after a lot of consideration picked up Red Rising by Pierce Brown which I’ve heard amazing things about and am so excited to read.

After the great book giveaway it was time for Rach and I to say our goodbyes to people and catch our train home. It was actually really sad saying goodbye to all of my bloggy chums not knowing when I’ll next get to see everyone and when we will all be together again.

Me with the awesome Michelle

Me with lovely Faye 

I feel like YALC really picked a lot of bloggers up – myself included- and motivated us. There was a lot of love between everyone and it reminded me of how special our community is. Each of us is different and we all have something to offer but all of us together as a community makes our voices even louder.

I came away from YALC feeling like I’d found my people. It was a truly special weekend and despite all of my bad experiences I still walked away with some amazing memories. I only hope that if there is another YALC next year that the people behind it take on board what everybody is saying to ensure that YALC 2015 is an even bigger success.

Missed day one of my YALC diary? Check it out here.

YALC Diary: Saturday Day One

It’s Saturday which means it’s officially day one of YALC! Rach and I travelled to London last night and I have to say that the weekend didn’t start well for me.

After a hot and sweaty tube ride that involved carrying bags of heavy books up and down flights of stairs I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep so I’d feel rested and ready for a busy weekend. Unfortunately I had no such luck.

Our hotel is great in itself however I was given an unfortunate room located on the ground floor of a busy street. There’s no air con so if I don’t want to boil myself alive I have to sleep with the window open which not only lets in all of the street noise but all of the smoke from the guest smoking pit outside too. That along with my neighbours and their kids checking in next door to me at 4am left this asthmatic insomniac with only a few hours’ sleep. Needless to say this morning I was tired, flustered and running low on patience.

The first thing I saw before Earls Court itself was swarms and swarms of people queueing to get inside. I was immediately overwhelmed. We were standing in line and being moved around for what felt like forever under the beating sun and to make matters worse we had a group blatantly push in right in front of us. Luckily Rach and I had this nice guy and his young son behind us who wasn’t having any of it and told them so but unfortunately that led to them getting the hump and shouting at us which really put me on edge with my PTSD.

Me (left) and Rach (right) waiting to get in

When we finally got in thousands of people were literally packed in like sardines in a tin, there was no air con, sweat was dripping from people and I basically felt like I’d made a huge mistake in estimating how well I could handle this.

YALC itself was a roaring success there’s no doubt about it but I have to be honest and say that I don’t think that LFCC was the right place to host it and I know that pretty much everybody I spoke to felt the same way. The majority of readers are quiet, introverted people and I know that for a lot of us Comic Con was too much.

Not only was LFCC ridiculously overcrowded but the Book Zone was placed in a small corner of the venue right next to Stan Lee’s event which were obviously massively popular. I attended one panel and one workshop and after that gave up on them because I couldn’t hear a thing that was said over the noise of the crowd which was really disappointing as I’m sure what the authors had to say was very interesting.

Another issue I had was that there was no clear queue’s for signings and nobody was monitoring them which lead to more than one queue waiting for one author and a lot of pushing in which was very annoying after waiting for a good hour for some guests.

To be honest it was absolute chaos which is completely understandable being the first ever YALC. I don’t think anybody was prepared for the popularity of the event but now that they know that there’s a big audience for it I hope that these issues can be resolved next year and I think the biggest change needs to be a YALC only venue.

The Book Zone had this lovely little chill out area with a book wall and beanbag chairs. It was the perfect place to escape to catch a breather and talk to other book lovers. I’m being completely honest in saying that I don’t think I would have stuck around all day if I didn’t have such good people around me. I was so touched by everybody who came up to me asking how I was finding it and I loved that so many of you shared your own experiences with anxiety, panic attacks and OCD with me. It was so cathartic to share stories and get through this crazy day together.

My biggest convention lesson learned is to talk to the people around you. After all you obviously share the same interests which are a great ice breaker! It was so lovely to not only finally meet blogger friends but to also meet new bookish people. Rach and I were queueing to meet Rainbow Rowell for a good hour and got chatting to some lovely girls in front of us which made the time pass really quickly. Funnily enough after that we kept bumping into each other in different queues completely by chance and so we dubbed ourselves “queue buddies.” What was even more surreal was when I gave Charlotte my Twitter handle only to find out that we already follow each other! Small world!

Queue Buddies!

A really random moment for me was when I accidentally bumped into somebody and turned around to apologise only to see that that person was Lena Headey who plays Cersei in Game of Thrones. Turns out that the Book Zone being right next to the Green Room definitely had its perks!

I met so many wonderful authors and bloggers today both at YALC and The Fringe afterwards. I’d love to give a shout out to every single person I met but there are just too many of you and I’m bound to forget somebody which I’d feel terrible about. I will say that everybody I met was absolutely lovely and if I met you please know that I had such a great time talking to you!

UKYA book bloggers at The Fringe

Today’s author highlights for me were C.J. Skuse, Holly Bourne and Natasha Ngan who all made plenty of time to chat to their fans. I also really enjoyed meeting Patrick Ness and Rainbow Rowell although due to their MAHOOSIVE queues it was only a quick “hi” and “bye” which is completely understandable. I was just so happy to meet them at all!

Rainbow Rowell signing books

The lovely Holly Bourne signing my books

Overall Saturday was a rollercoaster of emotions with plenty of highs and lows. It was chaotic and stressful but also wonderful and exciting. The lovely people around me really made today what it was and that has made me love the UKYA community even more, if such a thing is possible.

Check out Day Two of my YALC Diary here

For more of my Saturday adventures check out Rach's write up here

YALC is happening and I'm freaking out!

The thing about anxiety is that there is no room for excitement. If you think about it anxiety is pretty much the opposite of excitement and so it makes sense that even when I'm really looking forward to something my default reaction is to freak out and worry about it.

YALC is happening in a few days and my anxiety is really kicking in. I hate that anxiety takes away all of the fun in looking forward to something but I also know from years of experience that all of the worst case scenarios that my head is making up are very unlikely to actually happen. Today I thought it might be therapeutic to share all of my worries with you guys because who knows? Maybe some of you have felt the same way or are also having similar worries about YALC.

Anxiety and OCD
1.) Part of my OCD means that I need my days to be as scheduled as possible. I'm probably the least spontaneous person you'll ever meet. Although I have a schedule written up for YALC I know that this probably isn't going to go to plan. Panel's might run out of tickets, I might be queuing for longer than anticipated for signings, and with the workshop tickets having a lottery system there's no guarantee that I'll get into them at all. Knowing that my day won't be perfectly structured is a really difficult thing for me to deal with.

2.) I'm going to YALC with my best friend Rachel but there are a couple of things we want to do separately. There is also the chance that one of us will get into a workshop and the other won't. This means that there will be times where I'm going to be alone in a really busy crowd which can sometimes lead to a panic attack.

3.) What if I have a panic attack when I'm in a queue and I have to leave and forfeit my place? What if I have a panic attack because I'm in a crowd and feeling claustrophobic? What if I have a panic attack and I'm alone? I know I can always go outside for some space and fresh air and luckily our hotel is 5 minutes away if I feel like I need a longer break but when I'm in the midst of an attack I'm not always thinking clearly.

General Worries
1.) My brain does this thing where it likes to think of every worst case scenario that could happen and torture me with it: Missing a train, forgetting tickets, horrible hotel, lost booking, finding where we need to go etc; I'm especially worried about the things that are my responsibility such as looking after the tickets which links back to my OCD and having to check that they're in my bag several times.

2.) What if nobody likes me? It's one thing talking to bloggers, authors and publicists online but meeting them? What if I'm not who they expect me to be? What if I'm a disappointment? What if I don't fit in? I haven't been to a proper blogger event before and I'm really nervous to meet so many online people at once. Especially as I know that after years of blogging and going to events a lot of other bloggers know one another really well and although I've been doing this for a long time this will be my first time meeting everyone and that scares me. Should I approach people and say hello? Or would they rather be left alone?

3.) Being an anxious person I tend to be either really quiet or full of nervous energy and chatting away none stop. I'm very socially awkward and have always said that I communicate better through my hands and writing than I do with talking. What if I come across as a nervous babbling idiot?

Some of you might be reading this thinking "if you're that worried why bother going at all?" The thing with anxiety is that it's not fact. They're just thoughts and the worst case scenarios hardly ever happen. I know full well that I'll probably have one of the best weekends of my life but that doesn't stop my brain from ruining the anticipation. All too often in my life anxiety has held me back and my approach to dealing with it over the last couple of years is feel the fear and do it anyway. I also love these quotes from Just One Day by Gayle Forman a book that really changed my life.

“I think everything is happening all the time, but if you don't put yourself in the path of it, you miss it.” ― Gayle Forman, Just One Day 

“It's funny the things you think you're scared of until they're upon you, and then you're not.” ― Gayle Forman, Just One Day 

I think you do things that scare you, and that makes you braver than those adrenaline junkies who bungee-jump off bridges.” ― Gayle Forman, Just One Day 

“You thought too hard. Same with travel. You can't work too much at it, or it feels like work. You have to surrender yourself to the chaos. To the accidents.” ― Gayle Forman, Just One Day

These particular quotes for this particular event hold a double meaning as not only do they help me face my fears but they also remind me of why I love books and the whole reason behind this event in the first place.

I'm hoping that YALC will be one great and beautiful accident.

When books come to life, the reluctant reader...

Hi guys, today I wanted to do a quick post sharing with you this amazing YALC video that my friend Casey put together. So much work and passion went into it and I think it perfectly captures how when you read you get to choose your own adventure. Watch Casey and her bookish friends bring the YALC characters to life...

   

 I can't believe that this time next week I'll be getting ready to catch my train to London, it has come around so quickly and after watching this video I'm even more excited for YALC! If you enjoyed watching please support Casey and everybody involved by liking, commenting and sharing!

YALC Readathon Guest Post: My Big Fat Imaginary Production Company by Cat Clarke

I can't believe that this little readathon project that I've been plotting for months is nearly over! But fear not! We have a whole weekend of reading ahead of us and I intend to make the most of it.

I hope that by now you've all had chance to read some excellent books and that you'll be trying to squeeze in as many more pages as you can during this last leg of the readathon. No matter how much or how little you've read I hope that you've been having a lot of fun!

My YALC author guest today is Cat Clarke. With YALC taking place at London Film and Comic Con, Cat is going to be talking about which books she'd choose to adapt if she owned her own production company. I'm always casting actors as characters in my head as I read so it's nice to know that authors do this too with their own books and other peoples!

MY BIG FAT IMAGINARY PRODUCTION COMPANY by Cat Clarke 

I often get asked if I’m going to turn any of my books into a movie, and every time I get this question, I sigh a little wistful sigh. I wish it were that easy. I think most writers would love to see their books on the big screen, but unfortunately it’s completely, totally 100% outside of our control. But now that I’m in charge of an imaginary production company, the power is MINE, ALL MINE. MWAHAHAHAHA.

Obviously I’ll have to start by adapting one of my own books into a film. The first one that springs to mind is a novel that’s coming out next year, but that’s cheating, right? So I think I’m going to go with TORN. There are a couple of scenes in particular that I would love to see on film, but I’ll be vague to avoid spoilers: the scene in the cave and Tara’s demise (and immediate aftermath). Oh, and I’d love to see Jack on the big screen, mostly because he’s the most adorable character I’ve ever written.

OK, now that the TORN movie is in the works, there are a few YA books I’d like to tackle right away. Some of my favourites have already been/are already being made into movies (Grasshopper Jungle springs to mind), but there are some gems I’d love to get my hands on…

1.) THIS IS NOT A TEST – Courtney Summers. I recently saw Courtney describing this book as ‘The Walking Dead meets The Breakfast Club’. If that’s not enough to make you want to see this movie, I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.
2.) FIREBRAND – Gillian Philip. I reckon I’d need a big budget to do this one justice, but I think this could be the first in an epic fantasy series.
3.) CRUEL SUMMER – James Dawson. This movie would be a total riot. Definitely one for a raucous late night showing on a Friday. I suspect I’d also like to make a movie of SAY HER NAME, but I’ve yet to get my grubby little mitts on a copy so I can’t say for sure. I’ll definitely be nabbing this book at YALC.
4.) IMAGINARY GIRLS – Nova Ren Suma. Oh boy, this would be SUCH a cool film. Creepy as hell and achingly beautiful too.
5.) Every single Christopher Pike book ever written. Nuff said.

Would anybody like to volunteer to be my Imaginary Casting Director? Because if the casting were left to me, I’d somehow find a way to shoehorn the entire cast of Game of Thrones into every one of these movies. Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) as Jack in TORN, perhaps? (OK, don’t answer that.)

Sigh. Now I feel sad that my production company is just a figment of my imagination. If any high-powered, fancy-schmancy movie-making people happen to be reading this … PLEASE MAKE THESE MOVIES NOW! I promise I’ll come and watch every single one on their opening weekends.

Thanks for sharing Cat! Personally I would LOVE to see This Is Not a Test and Cruel Summer on the big screen. It's a real shame that we don't have ALL OF THE POWER and can't turn cinema into one big YA love-fest *sighs* maybe one day. I'm sure there's got to be *someone* we can talk to about this at YALC.

Cat will be appearing at YALC on Sunday 13th July 

Free this weekend? It's not too late to sign up for the YALC Readathon! Why not join us for the last two days and read some fantastic books? Sign up here!

YALC Readathon Guest Post: When authors meet other (more famous) authors by Holly Bourne

Hi guys! We're on day three of the readathon now and I hope that you're all making great progress with your TBR piles. If not, no worries! We still have another four days to go which includes a weekend so keep calm and read on!

Speaking of keeping calm my YALC Readathon guest today is the lovely Holly Bourne who is going to be talking about her experience meeting an author she admires and sharing some tips on how to keep your cool.

I'm going to be meeting some of my all-time favourite authors during YALC. It'll only be my third book signing and so some tips on how to not get too overwhelmed by it all could not be more welcome!

Here's Holly to talk about her experience including what it feels like to be on the other side of that signing table...

When authors meet other (more famous) authors by Holly Bourne 

I don't want to sound anti-social but... I find meeting readers scary. Like, really scary.

I LOVE it, but I also spend the build-up to any author event hyperventilating into a bag and sweating all over the floor.

There is SO much to worry about. In my case:
• Swearing
• Spelling someone's name wrong when signing a book
• Spelling my own name wrong when signing a book (this has happened three times)
• Not being 'nice' enough - if people have gone to all this trouble of meeting you, what if you're not the person they want you to be?
• Etc...etc...etc... thus all the sweat.

It never occurred to me that it's equally nerve-wracking to be on the other side - the reader side. That was, until, I got to meet one of my own writing heroes recently.

EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert is a marmite book. If you love it, perhaps that's because it's like a heat-seeking missile that finds its way into your life exactly when you need it. When I was 24 and a miserable news reporter I picked up an old copy in an Oxfam shop and read it within a few days. It changed my life.

Within a month or two, I'd quit my job to go travelling, just like she did. While travelling, I stood on top of a mountain, feeling all deep and meaningful and a bit like Kevin Spacey at the end of American Beauty, and had a very profound thought I'll never forget:

"Holly, go home and write that book you've been thinking about writing."

Four years later, that book is on bookshelves. My life has changed considerably and for the better. Last month I got to meet the woman partly responsible for all that happening. Elizabeth Gilbert was coming to London to do a talk, and I got tickets to see and meet her.

Holly meeting Elizabeth Gilbert

It was so weird going through the process from the other side after only ever being on the 'author' side of these events and it came with its own set of anxieties:

• How early do you need to go to get a good seat?
• Whereabouts do you even sit? Isn't it too keen to go right at the front? But you ARE KEEN!
• Do I look too much like a crazy fan? Oh God, I'm at the front of the queue, I do!
• What the hell do I say to her? Do I tell her I'm a writer too? Or will that annoy her because I'm making it about me? Will I come across OK? Will she even remember me?
• Will it annoy her that my book is a secondhand copy?
• What if her talk is crap? What if I don't like her? Will that ruin the book for me?

It was oddly surreal when she walked into the room - suddenly I was sharing the same breathing space as the person who wrote those words. This person, who has no idea I exist or how her words and story have touched me, was now inhaling the same oxygen.

Of course, Elizabeth was WONDERFUL and her talk was everything I wanted it to be. Then for the really scary part, actually meeting her. WHAT DO YOU SAY?

For me, it all happened in a rushed blur. I blurted out: "Your book changed my life, and now I'm an author too. Thank you so much."

I waited for her to roll her eyes, or look at me as if I was bonkers, or both. Instead, she asked all sorts of questions: 'What's it called? What's it about?' And she looked pretty darn happy when I said her other book, COMMITTED, provided a lot of the research for SOULMATES. She finished by high-fiving me and saying 'ROCK ON.'

It's fair to say, my literary crush is now fully fledged. But despite the good vibes, I still left in a state of worry. Had I made a fool out of myself? Should I have said what I did? Should I have asked for a photo? Damnit! I should've asked for a photo! Did she enjoy meeting me? Will she remember me? Or do I just fade into the long line of fans?

That's when I remembered what it's like on the author side of the table, and how it feels to meet your readers. Here is the essence:

• The author is just as nervous as you are, I promise.
• If you love their book, TELL THEM. That is why they wrote the book - spending thousands of hours alone in their jimjams - for people like you to tell them they loved it. You won't sound gushing, or like a strange sad fan. To the contrary, you will be making their day/week/month/year.
• Please do write your name down beforehand so the author can see it and spell it correctly. A lengthy queue of Catherines and Katherines can easily produce some embarrassingly mis-signed books.
• But that should not suggest that we won't remember you. Anyone who has ever come up and chatted to me at a signing is etched on my memory forever in the section marked 'happy place'.

So, with all that in mind, my advice to anyone coming to YALC this year to see your favourite authors is this - don't panic, enjoy every moment, and make sure you take that photo if you want one!

 Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today Holly! I think I'm going to print these tips off and take them along to YALC with me!

 Holly will be appearing at YALC on Saturday 12th July

For news on Holly's new book The Manifesto on How to be Interesting check out my exclusive reveal post here. 

 Only just heard about the YALC Readathon? There's still time to sign up here.

YALC Readathon Guest Post: Katherine Woodfine talks YALC behind the scenes

Good morning readathoners! It's day one of the YALC Readathon and I hope that you're just as excited as I am to read some amazing books this week!

Throughout the readathon myself and my co-hosts Carly, Vicky and Michelle will be sharing guest posts from the YALC authors but today to kick the readathon off I have a very special guest post from Katherine Woodfine who works at Booktrust and is part of the team putting YALC together. She's here today to talk about how YALC came about and to give us an insiders look at what it takes to organize such a big book event. Without further ado it's over to Katherine.

YALC: the story so far by Katherine Woodfine

I’m lucky enough to manage the Children’s Laureate programme at Booktrust – which currently, of course, means working with the fabulous 2013-2015 Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman.

But if that alone wasn’t enough of a treat, I’m also currently organising Malorie’s major Laureate project – the UK’s first Young Adult Literature Convention! Today I’m here to tell you the inside story of YALC, and how the event came about.

When Malorie was appointed as Laureate in June 2013, one of the key things she wanted to do was ‘make reading irresistible’ to young people. With research showing that only 3 in 10 young people read daily out of class, and a fifth of young people saying they’d be embarrassed if a friend saw them reading, she knew she wanted to change perceptions and get ‘more young people reading more’ – but how?

As it happened, the UK’s Young Adult publishers had already been talking about an exciting new idea to put a spotlight on books for young people. Inspired by events in the USA, they wanted to hold the UK’s first YA Lit Con, and had even had some conversations with Showmasters (the organisation behind London Film and Comic Con) about hosting it – but they were short of someone to take the project forward.

As the first Laureate primarily known for writing for teens and young adults, Malorie was the perfect person to step in – and the Children’s Laureate team were on hand and ready to help make the event happen!

Our first job was to go along to LFCC and conduct some ‘research’. We went along for the day with Malorie and had a brilliant time – celebrity spotting in the Green Room, admiring the incredible outfits, and Malorie even had her photo taken in the Iron Throne. We all loved it and knew that LFCC would be the perfect home for the event, where books could sit alongside films, TV and comics.

So far, so good. But to get an event as ambitious of YALC off the ground, we knew we would need a lot of help. Enter the Young Adult publishers – as well as getting lots of advice from them, we also recruited a fantastic YALC Committee of publisher enthusiasts to help us with all the planning. Our brilliant Children’s Laureate PR agency Riot Communications came on board, and Laureate sponsors Waterstones confirmed they would be able to provide a bookshop for the event. We were also delighted to be able to secure additional support for YALC from Prudential Plc, as well as the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

We got the ball rolling by inviting all the UK’s YA publishers to suggest topics and authors, and then we started work with Malorie to put the programme together. This was the really hard part - there were so many brilliant ideas and fantastic authors put forward that we could easily have planned a whole week of events, never mind just a weekend!

We announced plans for YALC at the Winter 2013 LFCC, with a special event with Malorie and three other YA authors - Anthony McGowan, Lucy Christopher and Meg Rosoff. The event was great, but it was even more exciting to see the explosion of excitement about YALC from authors, bloggers and readers.

Several months, many meetings, and an insane number of emails and spreadsheets later, we’re now (whisper it…) just a few weeks away from YALC itself!

Our full schedule for the event has been revealed, including 50 amazing authors and a host of industry experts. We have panel events covering everything from fantasy to horror to how to get published; workshop sessions where you can get tips on writing, creating comics, and even pitch your work to agents; and of course, book signings with all our participating authors. There will be lots of books to buy in our YALC bookshop provided by Waterstones – and of course there will be all kinds of other fun book activities and surprise goings-on to enjoy throughout the weekend!

We hope that YALC will offer something for everyone, from the chance to meet megastar authors to the opportunity to hear from new voices and discover exciting debuts. We want the event to be an amazing experience for all those who love books – but also a great way to show those who might not currently be keen readers just how exciting and inspiring YA books can be!

All you need to come along to YALC and join the fun is a pass to LFCC – find out more here. But if you can’t make it, don’t despair – we’ll be photographing, filming and live-tweeting throughout the event, and sharing as much as we can online. Follow us on Twitter @yalc_uk for all the latest news.

Planning the event has been a real learning curve – but one that we hope will conclude with an amazingly fun and memorable event for everyone, which will help create a buzz around reading for young people, and shine a spotlight on YA books.

 Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today Katherine! 

Only just heard about the readathon? No worries! There is still time to sign up here.

The #YALCReadathon Twitter Chat!

Eeekkk!!! The YALC Readathon is starting on Monday and I could NOT be more excited! I hope those of you who want to take part have signed up (gentle reminder: you do not have to be going to YALC to take part in the readathon) and if not signs ups are still open and will be throughout the readathon for any latecomers who want to join in.

We're a fairly low maintenance readathon, for us it's all about reading the books. There won't be any daily updates to link to, challenges or anything like that. But there will be some guest posts from YALC authors going up on myself, Carly, Vicky and Michelle's blogs throughout the week so make sure you check back for those.

We have also decided to run a Twitter chat which will be happening on Thursday 26th June at 7pm UK time and will run anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour long. This gives readathoners the opportunity to talk about the books they've been reading and their progress. There are also going to be YALC authors joining us to answer some questions so even if you don't fancy the readathon but are going to YALC you're more than welcome to join in the chat as we discuss the event.

The questions will be coming from me @Jessheartsbooks and the tag we're using is #YALCReadathon please use this when answering any questions and chatting to one another so that we can all follow the conversation.

I hope that you'll join us to talk books, YALC and to hear from some of your favourite authors!

If you'd like to find out more about the YALC Readathon please click here.

Exclusive Reveal! The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne‏

So if you've followed the blog for a while you'll know that I've been a huge supporter of Holly Bourne's since before the publication of her debut novel Soulmates and so it's such an honor today to be exclusively revealing the title, cover and synopsis for her upcoming book *drum roll...*

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting

I absolutely love this bright coral neon cover and sprayed edges! It's definetely going to catch eyes in bookshops! And here's the synopsis for the book which sounds just as fab as the cover!

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is a fearlessly frank take on school cliques, crushes and fitting in.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

Sounds great, right? So I bet you're wondering when you can get your grabby hands, that I just know you're all making at the screen, on a copy. Good news! The publication date has been brought forward to 1st August 2014.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL! 

If you're a fan of Holly's then you probably already know that she'll be at YALC on Saturday 12th July and I'm excited to reveal that copies of The Manifesto on How to be Interesting will be joining her! The book will be on sale early so fans attending YALC will be the first people to be able to buy and read the book.

 Do let both myself and Holly know what you think either in the comments or on Twitter @Jessheartsbooks and @holly_bourneYA 

Find out more about Holly and her books on her website www.hollybourne.co.uk

The YALC Readathon Sign Ups: Read the books before you meet the authors!

The YALC Readathon is a brand new readathon being hosted by myself, Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea, Carly at Writing from the Tub and Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies that will take place between the 23rd-29th June 2014 starting and ending at midnight in whichever time zone you’re in.
 

What is the YALC Readathon?
If you haven’t heard of YALC yet where have you been!? It’s the first Young Adult convention happening in the UK and in case you haven’t heard about it you can find out more here.

There are so many fantastic authors attending and I wanted to try to read as many of their books before I meet them at YALC. I noticed on Twitter that a lot of people felt the same way and so the idea of hosting a readathon was born.

The YALC Readathon is dedicating a week to reading as many books by YALC authors as possible. A list of the authors attending can be found here. We’re also planning plenty of fun stuff during that week and are collaborating with the authors and people behind YALC to bring you guest posts and a Twitter chat which will take place on Thursday 26th June at 7pm UK time.

If you’re attending YALC this is a great opportunity to read the books before you meet the authors and to discuss their books with other readers. However if you’re not attending YALC but would like to join in anyway then please do feel free to take part!

Sounds great, how do I join in? 
To sign up share your intention to join us along with our image on your blog, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Goodreads etc; then post the URL in the linky below.

If you have goals and a TBR in mind feel free to share them! This isn’t mandatory.

When talking about the readathon on social media please use the hashtag #YALCReadathon so we can all follow each other’s updates and progress.


That’s it! I hope that you’ll join us! If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments. In the meantime here is my own TBR, I doubt I’ll get around to all of these but I have an amazing pile to choose from and I’m looking forward to seeing how many I can read!