Thursday, May 19, 2011

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.

17 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a fun time. If they came out west I'd probably skip class to go see them too.

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  2. The signing looks like a lot of fun. I would love to meet Lauren Oliver :)

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  3. Thank you for the giveaway!

    I'm torn, but I think I would undergo the cure because love as an illness just seemed so real in Delirium! As someone who's been hurt by love lost and unrequited love, I think I'd be willing to give up the pain!

    Erin @ Quitting My Day Job

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  5. I'm not sure if I'd take the cure, to be honest.
    Love isn't a disease no matter how we try to spin it. If there literally was a pill or a shot or something, I don't think I'd do it. You're either meant to fall in love or you're not. You do or you don't. If you don't want to fall in love, just close your heart off to the possibilities of it happening. I'm being a little bit cold hearted and logical right now. lol, which is funny because I like a good love story.

    Thanks for asking this question. I seriously sat here thinking through my answer.

    Lisa

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  6. SO COOL!!!! What a fun event to go too! I missed the Lauren Oliver signing by me when she came, but a friend managed to snag a copy for me and Lauren was nice enough to sign and tell me I was "dead to her" for not being there;) She's awesome.

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  7. It was so nice finally get to meet you that night! lol, you did startle me a bit when I heard someone randomly calling me! You might have gotten to the signing late, but at least we still got to hear and meet them! The TTC can be so unreliable sometimes...

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  8. I live in the GTA and was planning on attending but never made it... glad you had fun! Hopefully I'll see you at a signing soon!

    Chloe
    YA Booklover Blog
    www.yabookloverblog.blogspot.com

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  9. I would take the cure because the unknown scares me and Im so guilable I would totally like get the cure then the next day find out it was just a false alarm and be like WTF everybody's lieing to me now argghh I cant stand earth. LOL

    ashtreygonesmokeya@yahoo.com

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  10. Looks like a lot of fun. Wish I could have made it (too bad it's a tad far to drive on a weeknight for me.) Maybe we can meet sometime at a book signing. I hope to meet a few other of my fave Canadian book bloggers in the coming months. :)

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  11. maybe i would undergo the cure given the premise in Delirium.

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  12. Nope, I dont think i'd undergo the cure, it just totally changes the person's real feelings and they're just not the same; i don't like that.

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  13. So jealous. If only they could have made a quick stop over in AB, I would've totally ambushed both of these ladies! Oh, and I would most definitely not undergo the cure! Could you imagine? Even discounting romantic love, it would just be horrible to not be able to love and be loved by family and friends.

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  14. From the standpoint of Delerium I probably would. But in the Real World I am not sure - that's a tough decision either way.

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  15. THANK YOU SO MUCH for this giveaway! *Gasps* Just realized you said a SIGNED copy... I might be a bit faint... :)

    Umm if I were in that world... I wouldn't undergo the cure, I'd want to keep those feelings and explore them. But that's just me, I like going against the current sometimes.

    Congratulations on the books (don't feel guilty!) :)

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  16. Thanks for the giveaway!
    New follower here :)

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  17. I guess it would depend on what the world is like. In the present time I wouldn't because not having those kinds of feelings would make life a little boring.

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