Lauren Oliver and Veronica Roth on the Dystopian Tour in Toronto (and a Giveaway)

On Tuesday evening, I decided to skip my first day of the summer course I’m taking and go see Lauren Oliver and Veronica Roth at Indigo Yorkdale instead. Naturally, the TTC decided to be as slow as usual when I have something important and made me late by fifteen minutes to the event. (And here I could do a mini post about the suckiness of the TTC, how it always screws me over especially during exam time, and the irony of it being nicknamed the Rocket. But I won’t.)

Pic courtesy of Liz who snagged a seat right at the front.

So, when I finally got to Chapters Yorkdale, all the seats were already taken obviously and Lauren and Veronica were in mid-conversation with Ajay Fry, the host of InnerSPACE. Since there was a large group of people standing at the back however, I squeezed past them – the perk of being short – so I could see.

After Ajay finished asking Lauren and Veronica questions, it was the audience’s turn. Someone asked them how they felt about ebooks, and both agreed that they were cool with it as long as stories continued to be told somehow. Like me though, Veronica prefers books because she enjoys the experience of turning pages. Lauren on the other hand tends to buy ebooks and if she really likes what she reads, then she goes out and buys an actual copy.

Pic of Lauren and Veronica signing books while I was waiting in line. I found out today that the girl on the left is Mel from He Followed Me Home.

Afterwards, it was time to get our books signed. I was the last person (and second last later on) in line and while waiting, I jumped into a conversation with the person ahead of me. She had been flown in from a Chapters in Nova Scotia for being so good at her job and introduced me and Liz from Midnight Bloom Reads to Charidy from HarperCollins’s marketing department.

Speaking of Liz, I recognized her from pictures and while she was trying to get her mom, I kind of surprised her with a “Liz!” I’m sure I scared her for a couple of seconds since she had no idea how I looked (though we had decided to meet up). Liz and her mom were really nice and we chatted for a bit before she left.

What Lauren signed in my copy of Delirium.

Eventually, I made it to the front to meet Lauren and Veronica. Lauren messed up spelling my name (which totally wasn’t her fault because the sticky with my name was spelled wrong) so I got another copy of Before I Fall and Delirium to get signed. Note to self: Be more observant because that incident resulted in two copies not being able to be bought by someone. Lauren was super sweet about it and told me not to feel guilty.

Anyway, a big thanks to Lauren and Veronica (who are as terrific as they seem) for making three stops in Ontario and to HarperCollins for bringing these awesome ladies here. Thanks also to Indigo Yorkdale for hosting such a great event.

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For my blog followers, I also managed to get a copy of Delirium signed to give away.   

So, read the rules below, and then fill out this FORM:

1. This giveaway is US/Canada only. International entries are welcome if you are willing to cover shipping costs.  
2. You must be a follower to enter.
3. You must be over the age of 13.
4. This giveaway will end on June 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM.
5. Make sure your entries are tallied correctly.