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My YALC Experience Part 2

So this is the second part of my YALC experience. To read the first part read in here as this tells you about my Thursday and Friday experience. YALC is part of the London Film and Comic Con which is an event that is solely about YA books and authors with panels, workshops, signing and lots of books. This will document my experience at YALC at Saturday and the Sunday. So let’s get started…

Saturday

          Saturday was a less early start in comparison to Friday due to the fact that I knew the ARCs were a thing mainly on Friday and I needed more sleep so I woke up at 6.30 instead of 5.30. This meant that I arrived at the venue at 8.30 which meant a lot less waiting than Friday which was a lot nicer. When I first entered the venue I headed to the Books With Bite stand because I wanted to gain a copy of Contagion by Teri Terry. This was so quite fun, to get the proof you had to find the medic and they had to stamp you, so I got stamped to say that I was immune.  
         At 10am, there was Join the Rebellion! panel which was quite interesting and was what I like to call the annual dystopian panel as there is one every year. I enjoyed this panel and like most people at YALC I really wanted to get a copy of Blame by Simon Mayo because it sounds super interesting. Although I did not get one at the event, I got one at Summer In the City. It was just interesting to see how all the books linked with the idea of rebellion. As well of this, I really enjoyed Kass Morgan and the way she spoke also letting lose that Clarke's backstory is much darker in the books. I also like the fact that the authors were asked to pick their leader in the rebellion. 
           I then stayed for the Squad Girls panel which was a talk about the negative aspects of the Squad Girls and the fact that not all female friendships go well as well as the fact many girls and teenagers are alone. There was also lots of talks directed to feminism and the need for male friendships in YA as well as female. 
           After this, I headed to the Writing YA panel by Keris Stainton which was mainly about creating ideas in YA and how easy it can be. We were given the task to create 3 stories centred about YALC and I was able to with most of them being contemporary based on friendship or romance especially a cosplay romance. But it was interesting for someone who is writing a YA book today.
            The David Levithan and Nina LaCour signing were soon after this and I then waited in the line for this, getting there early feeling like the queue would be long. It was kind of long but while I waited I chatted with @marieee_113 a person who I followed on twitter. The line went quite quickly and I asked David Levithan about the third Every Day book which he confirmed and said would come out in a couple of years. I am very excited for this. 
               There was then a little break and I decided to walk the Comic-Con floor again although it was super busy and I lastly about 30 minutes. I then got books signed by Alice Oseman and Lauren James before heading to You Know Me Well panel. This was hosted by Juno Dawson who asked them both some very cool questions about their favourite pride as well as doing a tarot card reading with the authors. This was one of the best parts of the panel as it was so funny. There was then the YALC poetry slam which was something I did enjoy but for someone who is not a poetry fan I felt kind of disengaged with the poems and didn't know if they were good or not. The performers however were so good from both the authors and those attendees too and if they do it again I will happily watch.
              That was the end of Saturday and it was fair to say I had a good second day.
                     

Sunday

             Sunday can be described as the Harry Potter day because this was the when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released as a script book. This also meant the event was shorter ending at 4pm rather than 6pm. So I got to the venue at around 8.30am after leaving my Nan’s house and was ready for the day ahead. But before I got to the venue I did not release there was a bike event going on, so getting to the Olympia run across the road while trying not to get run over by oncoming cyclists. (Remember this for later) 
              So once in the venue, I again went to the Books with Bite stand first in the morning as they were giving away proofs for Haunt Me by Liz Kessler and I ended up starting the last line of the poem which was “It was haunting.” I mean I think I should be awarded some kind of creativity award. But the girls who also wanted the proof just looked at me as it was that simple. I wondered around again as I know they added some pieces of Harry Potter memorabilia there including a letter and coins. There was also an under the stairs cake which looked so real and had a lot of detail on it.
              At 10am, I went to the New Voices panel and this panel was so fun but I do feel like there were so many people in the panel that it was overwhelming and not everyone could be heard fully with their views and books. I did like Luke Franks and he is such a good host and the whole create a YA novel on a stop was great and fun. 
              I then stayed for the Ask YALC panel which was quite good but in the kind of felt like the authors there were just that authors and could not help the people especially as it would be best to see a person who knows better. A lot of the things that they were talking about mental health were stuff that I agreed with especially with the fact that we do need to be more open with it. There was talk about before exams discussing how many Imodium you had taken. Also in this panel, the handle on my suitcase had broken meaning that I had to carry it the rest of the way which was not great for my arm muscles. 
              I then went to the Holly Bourne signing where I saw Bethany, a girl I spoke to last year and some people from my university's Harry Potter society. It was nice to speak to them again. I then met Holly Bourne who was lovely and it was nice to speak to her although I forgot to ask my Lottie related question so I guess I will have to wait for the novella. After getting my Holly Bourne book signed, I went to the Juno Dawson signing where I got my copy of All Of The Above signed. Juno Dawson was also super nice and it was great to meet her again. 
           After doing these, I went to go to eat some lunch and while I was there I ended up chatting to Bethany again until the Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison signing. It was nice to see and speak to her again and yeah. I saw the Peeta cosplayer at this point who was looking for his Katniss the whole weekend. More on this later. 
            I then went over to the Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison signing and ended up talking to them about my Harry Potter Society and the Quidditch Society that we plan to start due to the fact that their next book will be about Fresher's week so that was an unexpected factor of the day. I then went to an unofficial signing with Louise Gornall, of Under Rose Tainted Skies and although I had not read her book she was nice to meet and it is a book that I really want to get to soon if I get out of the reading slump. 
            Then I ended up walking around the stalls again which was meant to be a time for me to get books but this did not happen until later. While I was doing so I saw @RiaxoTT and ended up chatting with her and we walked around again for a bit. I then saw @marieee_113 who we briefly chatted to before heading to the Maggie Stiefvater line as there was already a line.
             This was one of the worst aspects of YALC because a lot of people hoped there would be tickets for the signing so you would know when to get your book signed. This meant that many people, I included, had to miss the Maggie panel which everyone really loved. Although I did get to meet Maggie early I still wanted to see her panel but...
              So while waiting for Maggie, Ria and I go chatting with other people in the line and it was about an hour before I met Maggie. We were discussing whether if you like the Raven Boys, then you don't like the Shiver trilogy and vice versa. So when I finally met Maggie Stiefvater, she asked me if I had read the shiver trilogy and I replied yes, then she asked if it made me cry, I said no but what happened next was unexpected. I asked her how she had found YALC and she said that the event had been disrupted due to cyclists in London. I then replied saying that I had seen them earlier that day and both her editor and Maggie herself kind of shouted at me "You saw them." I said yes but at this point, I was kind of overwhelmed and while her editor asked me if I was in league with the Taxi drivers. I laughed but it was just a really weird experience but at least I will not forget it!
         I then walked around again buying books and took part in the Potter Party which was fun and both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tied which is cool. Also at this time the Peeta cosplayer  met his Katniss and the bread he had all day was then given to her. I commend the girls who organised this as it was cute to see.  I ended up staying past 4pm which was when it finished in the hope that they may give some of the book wall away but alas this did not happen. They still have not done anything with it so I don't know what would occur with that. 
        After I realised this I headed to my Nan's house wondering how I managed to get so many books and confused about how I was going to get them home.... 

So that was my YALC experience part 2.

Did you go to YALC? Does it sound like the event for you? Leave them in the comments below. 

See you soon, 

Amy

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