Love Books Will Travel: Foyles Creative Voices

What: Book talk and Signing
Who: C J Daughterty
Sarah Grant
Amy Plum
Ruth Warburton
Where: Foyles
Charing Cross Rd
London
When:Thursday 3rd of May 2012
Why: The First of Foyles new Creative Voices events, showcasing the work of fabulous YA authors.
C.J. Daugherty‘s debut Night School is the first book in her new YA mystery series:
Allie Sheridan’s world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she’s just been arrested.This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers.But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Its rules are strangely archaic. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there’s the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch. When Allie is attacked one night the incident sets off a chain of events leading to the violent death of a girl at the summer ball. As the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what’s really going on at Cimmeria Academy.

Opening with the orgy that isn’t Sarah Grant Dark Parties certainly captures the attention:
Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield “protects” them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there’s nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says… Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a “dark party” to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she’s ever known, including the people she loves the most
Until I Die is the second instalment in Amy Plum‘s Revenants trilogy and the follow up to her awesome 2011 debut Die For Me:
Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.
In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series

This 2012 debut from Ruth Warburton had me hiding behind my pillow.
Anna Winterson doesn’t know she’s a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power. When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that’s controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.

Sarah Grant

If you follow book blogs you will have some idea of the epic nature of most book bloggers “To Be Read” (TBR) piles. My husband honestly believes that I have a problem and doesn’t understand why I would need more than one unread book, let alone a whole shelf of them! bless him 🙂 If  you happen to be on my side of the compulsive book buyers spectrum you will understand that while I had only read Amy Plum’s 2011 debut I did in fact own, albeit unread, the three other debuts featured here.
I must confess to a great deal of squealing and excitement as I booked myself on to this inaugural Creative Voices event.

Mmmmmmmmmm

My non-book obsessed friends politely nodded, as I  bounced in my chair exclaiming that there would be not one, not two but four awesome YA authors, four of them, FOUR! These un-bookish friends are awesome, but can generally only tolerate about five minutes of book talk before their eyes glaze over. Fear not, I know exactly where to turn in situations such as these, where to find my people, I logged on to twitter!
There my excitement turned to delight as I realised that not only was I going to meet, FOUR fabulous YA authors, I was also going to meet up with some amazing bloggers and catch up with some twitter friends “in the real world”.

C.J.Daugherty and Ruth Warburton

Being the eager beavers that we are, Laura (Sister Spooky: Book Fangirl ) Leanne (District YA), Casey (Dark Readers),Vivienne (Serendipity Viv), Lucy  (Choose YA), Raimy (Readaraptor) and myself  arrived early for the event. A combination of  book chat, M&M taste testing and author seat warming ensured that the hour flew by and before we knew it, we were all fawning from the front row!

Amy Plum

Each of the authors read excerpts from their books before answering the audiences questions. The discussion included the inspiration behind their works, their personal paths to publication, the writing processes and whether writing put food on their tables and roofs over their heads. It was interesting to learn that all of the authors wrote their debuts while holding down “normal” jobs and that Ruth Warburton and Sarah Grant continue to maintain careers (part time) in addition to their writing.
You can read Amy Plum’s account of the evening here!
Following the group discussion everyone had the opportunity to meet with each of the authors and have their books signed.

The Pretties

Verdict: The event was as brilliant as I had anticipated. I caught up with like minded friends and met some amazing women who’s passion for writing and enthusiasm for YA shone bright and clear.
I have subsequently rearranged my TBR pile, prioritising all of  this signed gorgeousness to the top of my personal book mountain.
If you enjoy reading our Love Books Will Travel event reports you really should check out some of these awesome events for yourself. Click here to view Foyles upcoming events and here to see what Waterstone’s has to offer in your area. Don’t forget to check with your library for local bookish events.
Post by Caroline