Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Carrie Ryan isn't as dark or hollow as you might think...

Okay, so I honestly knew she wasn't dark or hollow, but since her book is called THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, well... I was glad to know for certain that she is actually funny, and smart (a former lawyer!), and inspiring. I was lucky enough to go with Natalie Whipple to see her and get her new book signed last night. I'm so excited that more and more YA authors are coming to SLC to do signings! It is so fun to get out, meet new authors, and see all of my author/writer/book blogging friends in the community.
James Dashner (not only are they friends, they share the same editor), Carrie Ryan, Me, Natalie Whipple


Like I said, I adore going to author signings. I love meeting them, learning about their journeys--well, just learning from them period. Carrie was so inspiring. (Plus she is an absolutely amazing author. Her way with words is absolutely breathtaking. Who else could make a book about zombies into something so beautiful?)


She has an amazing story, but I won't give you all the details here. One of the biggest points she made that stuck with me is to make a plan, and stick with it. She made a ten year plan: she told herself she was going to write a book a year, and revise it, and submit it (be it to agents or editors) every year for ten years. Her goal was to be a full time author by year ten. She reached her goal around year six or seven. (hopefully I got the details right, I'm going off memory.) She (and I) firmly believe in the power of writing goals down, and doing what it takes to make them reality. If you haven't yet, go make some short and long term goals, and write them down. Then do what it takes to make it happen.


Beyond being smart and inspiring, she really lived up to Kiersten White's claim that she's funny. We were laughing the whole time. If you have the chance to see her, I highly recommend it.


Also, she may burn a book and then give it away.


Huh? Yeah, she used I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER by Dan Wells to block the projector while she was talking, and when she picked it back up she'd burned the cover a little bit. I ended up winning it (woohoo!) and Dan was there, so he personalized it for me. Here's what he wrote:


"Sara - this book was personally burned by Carrie Ryan. Dan Wells."


I love book signings.

7 comments:

Aubrey said...

I'm glad you had fun! I am very excited to see her tonight at Barnes and Noble!

Elana Johnson said...

Ah! So fun! I wish I could've gone last night, but I'm going to go tonight! So glad she's having more than one signing. Can't wait to meet Carrie!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Oh my word, it just doesn't get any better than that. What an amazing night! And what a cool souvenir to take away from it. A burned book by Dan Wells. Pretty dang awesome.

Carrie Ryan is the schznizzle. Terrific advice from a fabulous author.

Matthew MacNish said...

Wow! It's like you're surrounded by rock stars. How cool.

I haven't actually read Carrie's books, yet, but I hear nothing but wonderful things about them, and I intend to get to them soon.

Unknown said...

Where is SLC? I live in the boonies--authors rarely come here! Sounds like a great time, and great advice from both you and Carrie--thanks!

Unknown said...

Haha! That is awesome! Great experiences! I'm glad you shared them. :)

Sara Raasch said...

Oh, this was fun. Utah is totally living up to everything I'd thought it'd be and more!