Saturday, October 26, 2013

So I met Veronica Roth today.


I went to an Allegiant Tour stop today, and got to meet Veronica and attend a Q&A. It was absolutely amazing, and she was so sweet! More under the cut because it has taken me this long to learn that Blogspot lets you do read mores and I want to take full advantage of it. ;)


So let's start at the beginning:

We (my dad and I) got there around one o' clock (the event started at two), and the line was super long and wrapped around the corner. It was moving inside, though, and while we waited they passed out these free posters:

At this point, I knew this was going to be awesome, and I got even more excited. Once we got inside, we got our tickets and books and found seats in the theater where the Q&A was taking place. (Side note: we ended up sitting next to a father who was there by himself to get a book for his daughter, and he and my dad spent most of the waiting time streaming football on his tablet. It was pretty funny, but also: what an awesome dad!) Also, shoutout to the awesome organ player that entertained the crowd with Phantom of the Opera while we waited!

They also passed out a bunch of other free stuff before the Q&A (programs, buttons, and stickers)
Before Veronica was introduced, it was announced that the governor of Illinois officially named October 26th Veronica Roth Day state-wide! I thought that was so awesome! Veronica was pretty funny - I love how normal she is. She's just as big a fangirl as everyone else. She talked about how being an author has allowed her to take her fangirling to the next level by being able to email authors begging for hints about what will happen in their next books. When I got to meet her, I wasn't even very nervous, because it almost seemed like I was talking to a friend. She's such an awesome person! She also quoted Macklemore in all seriousness during the Q&A. My hero.

After the Q&A, Veronica announced that she had a surprise for us. She brought out her brother, Karl, and they sang a duet of a Divergent-inspired song he wrote! It was a really nice song, and I'll admit I cried. I took a video of it but it is probably not the best quality out there. Veronica has a really pretty voice as well - talk about multi-talented!

Once that was over, I saw people near the stage in a huge mob and realized they were giving out posters. I rushed down there to grab one but they were all out; however, I did get to grab a button (pictured above). I was kind of bummed about missing the poster when the girls sitting next to us realized they had a bunch of them in their one tube and started passing them out to those of us who had missed them. I'm not sure if they're the same posters everyone else got (mine had the Allegiant cover on it), but I was so happy. Shoutout to those awesome and incredibly kind girls for being so generous!
                                                
Veronica chose Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for us to watch while we waited for our numbers to be called. After half an hour or so (our numbers were in the 340s), our numbers were finally called, and a woman came around to write down our personalizations and all that jazz. The line was moving quickly, and it was my turn in no time.

Here's how our conversation (yes, a full conversation!!!) went:

Veronica: Hi, how are you? 
Kim: I just finished Allegiant yesterday, so I'm still trying to recover. 
Veronica: (smiling) Oh no! 
Kim: It was so good though. I was, like, crying. 
Veronica: Well, let me tell you something, I'm posting something online (She might have said Twitter, I don't remember) on Monday that explains everything.
Kim: Oh, awesome!
Veronica: I'm glad you liked it!

...At which point I started thanking her profusely and walked away.

She is so incredibly nice and humble. The entire event was organized very well by everyone from the theater/bookstore's staff to Veronica's publicity people (or whoever is responsible for all of the free stuff that was passed out!) I've gone to one book signing by Anderson's Bookshop in the past, and I have yet to be disappointed. They sure do know how to organize an event - the crowd was controlled, the assembling of the signing line went smoothly, and everything flowed quite well. Kudos to them! I had a fantastic time and I'm so glad to have gotten to meet Veronica. Until next time, Anderson's! :)


















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