/, Tempest Events/Meeting Julie Cross: Guest post by Lauren

Intro
by Julie Cross

Last month, I traveled to Ohio for an event at the Washington-Centerville Library where I met Lauren, a fabulous teen book blogger. After chatting with Lauren at the event and then later in email, I asked her if she’d be interested in being a guest on my blog to share her experience with everyone in my blogosphere circle. Lucky for me, she agreed.

Julie Cross and Teen Blogger, Lauren, at Washington-Centerville Library in Ohio

Book Signing
 by Lauren
A few weeks ago, I went to my very first book signing.  I had been anticipating this event for over a month because, well, it was Julie Cross the author of Tempest!!  My biggest concern?  Getting to the library and not having a seat.  I didn’t want to miss a moment!  With that thought in mind, I dragged my bestfriend  (Hannah) to the library at 5:30… even though the doors wouldn’t open until 6 and the Q & A wouldn’t start until 7.
I had read Tempest about two weeks before the signing, so the story was still fresh in my mind.  I was all ready with my questions, and now I just had to wait out my nerves.   As the minutes crawled by, Hannah and I tried help pass the time, so we ended up talking about Tempest.  We both agreed that we really liked Jackson’s diaries, but where I was frustrated with the ending, she saw it as a great lead into book two.  
When at last we could go sit in the conference room, my nerves had settled, and I felt completely calm… until Julie walked in.  Then I got really shy and debated what to say for about five minutes before a lady from the library board introduced me to her.  Once I was introduced, I felt normal again.  It’s hard to remember that authors, my personal celebrities, are people too.  They get excited, nervous, and frustrated just like everyone else.  And, like most people, authors actually LIKE to hear from people who have read their book… it makes them happy.  
It was definitely an awesome experience that I would do again in a heartbeat!  I learned so many interesting things (see list below) about marketing, publishing, writing, and just about the story itself!  
5 Things I Learned From Julie Cross About Authors, Writing, Publishing, and Tempest.

1. Though it may only take a few months to write the first edition of a book the publishing process as a whole usually takes over a year to complete. (That requires a LOT of patience!)

2. When writing a book about time travel you have to be prepared to use spread sheets… All. The. Time. you have to know what each character has on there person and WHEN they have it.

3. The cover for Tempest was created using models jumping on a trampoline. (How cool is that?!?)

4. Just because film rights have been bought and it has been optioned for a movie DOESN’T mean it will happen (but I’ll keep my fingers crossed anyway ;))

5. Editors and agents can have a huge impact on the development of the story, with so many heads together new things are always happening!

Thank you for having me Julie! =)

Find Lauren Online

Thanks so much for writing this awesome summary, Lauren! It was great to meet you and hopefully it will happen again soon. On a different note, during my trip to Ohio, I was also able to have lunch and dessert (but not cupcakes) with Perfect 10 member, Hannah, which was SO much fun. She even spent some time giving piggy back rides to my youngest daughter, Maddie, helping to wear her out before the long car ride back to Illinois. 
Julie and Perfect 10 member, Hannah at Maggie Moos Ice Cream In Ohio
 
2018-02-19T13:58:25+00:00

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5 Comments

  1. Kayla Graham April 9, 2012 at 4:11 pm - Reply

    Great Guest Post, I think that it's really awesome! I really like the 5 things you learned!

    Kayla @ Bengal Reads

  2. Stephsco April 9, 2012 at 5:06 pm - Reply

    I can imagine a spreadsheet was required to keep track of the timelines. Some pretty complex time travel going on in Tempest!

  3. Lauren April 13, 2012 at 9:41 pm - Reply

    Thank you Kayla!! 🙂

  4. Lauren April 13, 2012 at 9:41 pm - Reply

    I hadn't even thought about it until Julie mentioned it! Then I realized how much work is really involved in time travel.

  5. Lauren April 13, 2012 at 9:42 pm - Reply

    Thanks so much for having me Julie!! =) It was WONDERFUL to meet you! I hope you come to Ohio again 😉

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