So, so much fun. Anyone who hasn't attended the Austin Teen Book Festival should really start planning for next year. Truly. There's a writeup of the festival in Publishers Weekly (along with a pic of me eying John Corey Whaley skeptically, though really he's super amazing and so is his book), so check that out. Some highlights: 2,500 people, $30,000 in books sold, hugging Maureen Johnson (a reader, not me, though I did too). I also got to talk to tons of awesome readers and librarians and authors and publishing types whom I'd otherwise only known through Facebook and Twitter. Loved it. (And Hip Mama Jenn did an amazingly detailed post on my panel, "Life is Messy.")
And okay, the only photos I took were of cookies (above, by Kellie's Kandies--they had our book covers on them!) and decorations (below). Steph Pellegrin made these incredible hair flowers/broaches out of book pages. I'm hoping she opens an etsy shop because: CUTE.
Next week I'll show you the Friday Night Lights field... EPIC.
Happy Friday!