There are two things I learned yesterday: (1) no two events are the same; and (2) careful planning doesn’t mean success. Yesterday, I’m pretty sure if you’re following several Filipino bloggers, there was a huge event: Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs returned here in the country and now with Veronica Rossi for a mass book signing. I was very excited to see Tahereh again; you know I love this woman for creating one of my all-time favorite series, the Shatter Me Trilogy. I was pretty obvious with my Project Sixty-Two and all. And I’ve also been a huge fan of Under the Never Sky Trilogy from the very beginning. My copy? It was three years old now (I was gonna mention to Ms. Rossi how big a fan of the trilogy I am from the start). So this whole thing made me super giddy. I had a plan all laid out for that day, but apparently the cards were stacked against me, but mainly sleepiness, delays, and failed communication were the causes. I only had a few hours of sleep (understatement of the year, it was more of a nap than a sleep really). So functioning with 2 hours of sleep will leave you cranky (I might accidentally lash out at Shannelle, er, sorry), exhausted, and mostly distraught. So that was my mood the entire day. Then, my phone didn’t cooperate. Technology failed me! It was the reason why I didn’t get to meet Shanelle of The Art of Escapism (with Jasmine of Flip that Page). Plus, bad timing and all. BOO!

But what really surprised me was the volume of people that attended the event. The last time, we were like 200+ people. It was quite, for lack of a better word, intimate. Now, I’m talking about thousands of people. THOUSAND! My sister and I needed to wait thousands—1219 people to be exact—to have my books signed.

The prospect didn’t sound appealing. I even interviewed the event marshals to see if there was a possibility of a cut-off. But she wasn’t sure, but she said it was going to be a long night (oh boy, did I already know that the moment they handed me my ticket stub) Like my phone, my last remaining energy was about to drain; the effect of the caffeine was wearing off, so with heavy hearts, we (I’m with my sister, who had been tolerating my crankiness the whole day. A huge shout-out to her!) left the premises and the opportunity to have our books signed.

What should have happened?

• Have our books signed! Really, that’s the real purpose of this whole shebang, and I freaking failed that. FML + OTL
• Have photos with the authors! This is what didn’t happen the last time they were here. I wanted to take photos with them this time. But you already know what happened.
• Ask Questions: The main event asked generic questions (which was really understable). But if I have my way, I have so many plot related questions in my head (e.g., what did Warner need to do to become the Chief Regent of Sector 45? Why did she make Warner and Adam brothers? Did Anderson have powers? And a lot more (yes, seriously, I have tons more). I also wanted to ask about Veronica Rossi’s experience writing contemporary new adult books (check out Boomerang). I’ve already read it, and it was insanely fun! And what’s it like to co-write a book? But you know why I didn’t (though in hindsight, I might not be able to due to a time constraint). So the bloggers’ forum now really, really sounds appealing to me.
• To actually meet other bloggers (Shannelle, that’s you!)

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In any case, it was still a good experience (I know it could be better). It was…educational to see with my own eyes that many Filipinos are reading books. If you haven’t read the books, please do. I highly recommend them! Next event: Jenny Han. I’ll come prepared this time! Thank you again, NBS, for this opportunity!

PS: Hey, at least I got to meet Finn and Jake (from Adventure Time) yesterday, so there was that. LMAO