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.

Devastation

I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures of the devastation in Japan by now. And how could we forget what just happened in New Zealand? Or Haiti? Or, or, or... The list keeps going on and on. Natural disasters are becoming more common than, well, I'm not sure what. They just keep happening. Massive destruction and death tolls in the thousands seem to splash across the news every few months. Is anyone else nervous about who and where is next?

So what does this have to do with writing? Nothing. Except that maybe, just maybe, a book you or I write that gets published could be the means of escape for someone, somewhere, someday. Reading can take you away from the troubles in your life, and transport you into another place with another person (the main character of the book). At least it can for me. And I imagine there are millions of people who could use an escape right now all across the world.

And has anyone else noticed how amazing the author community is? How they band together to donate signed books and services and anything and everything they can think of to raise money and help out all the people and countries who are suffering? I am in awe. Maybe someday I'll have a book that is in enough demand to offer for auction. For now, I can only offer my prayers on behalf of the people of Japan and all those around the world suffering, dying, or struggling to survive.

If you want to see a truly chilling video of the true power of a tsunami, look at the link I posted on my FB page. I guess this is one reason to be glad I don't leave anywhere near a beach.