Missed Marissa Meyer on her STARS ABOVE Tour? Check out today's post and it will be like you were there with me!!!!

 

Hey guys!!!!!!!!!

I am SO EXCITED to tell you about my night.

I've known Marissa Meyer virtually for about half my life now. I remember when she was researching and writing The Lunar Chronicles. I remember an early draft of CINDER. I remember researching agents and getting a publishing deal. I remember the first ARCs. I remember the first time the New York Times Best Sellers List was hit.

I am completely biased when it comes to Marissa Meyer and her books. Sorry about that. I know bloggers shouldn't be biased. BUT LIFE HAPPENS!

This past May at BEA was the first time I ever met Marissa in person, despite "knowing" her for so long. Last night, she came to my hometown bookstore and it was the second time I ever met her.

The Stars Above Tour was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and I'm so happy and honored to have finally attended one of Marissa's events! Every time she's been up in this region, there's been a blizzard or I've been sick. Thankfully, Macmillan is moving her future releases to the fall!!!

I want to thank Macmillan and Fierce Reads SO MUCH for bringing Marissa to me, and I want to share some of the night's festivities with you!

FIRST OFF!!!!

Macmillan had this TRULY AMAZING backdrop that they brought for Marissa, and it brought Luna to life:

You know what else made Barnes and Noble feel less like it was on Earth and more like it was on Luna?

STARS IN THE CAFE!!!! 

 And of course, the lady of the hour herself:

 Sorry for the blurry picture. I wasn't sitting up close and had to zoom in a lot!!!

Time to get dressed for the ball at the 

Glamour Yourself Station!!!!

 

Everyone was dolling themselves up with some creative masks!

The event promised a Lunar Ball. It's WINTER and it was supposed to (and did) snow last night, so I wasn't about to wear a dress (All my dresses are short). Instead, I compromised with a nice top and 3.5" heels! 

Oh, the things I'll do for books!!!

I also was going to do some crazy nail art, but didn't have time, so I pulled out some Revlon stickers I've been saving for a glamorous occasion. They're FANCY and I can wear them again on Saturday and not have to worry about my nails!!!

FANCY SCHMANCY!!!

 from....

 

But I PROBABLY shouldn't have used a top coat, because it made the color a little matte and less shiny/jewel-like. But I needed to protect my nails somehow!!!!

 

GROUP PHOTO!!!!

Vi from VI3TBABE, my friend Kristin, and I are three members of the local book club we've started doing. JUST BECAUSE WE CAN. ^.~ 

What better way to celebrate a Lunar Ball than with DANCING!?

Annie Hill from Siti Dance Studio was on hand to teach some ballroom waltzes, as well as some fun break loose dances! She's been coached by one of the Dancing with the Stars instructors (I forget who she said b/c I don't watch the show....sorry!!!) I wasn't dancing because 1) 3.5" heels, and 2) I shouldn't have been WEARING them because my ankle was still week from being sprained, and I'd only re-turned it the night before!

But it was fun watching my friends dance! ^.~

Let's cha-cha slide!!!

Born to Hand Jive, Baby!!!!

 

We'll Always Be Together!!!!

(Because, YES, Grease WAS the word at this ball!!!)

 

Damaris from Good Choice Reading is FABULOUS, and for many reasons, but TODAY, it's because she Periscope-Streamed some of the talk with Marissa, so check it out!!!!

The stream will disappear tonight, but I think it's going to make it's way to YouTube. If it does, I'll update this!!!!

SO WHAT DID MARISSA TALK ABOUT!?

Pictures are well and good, but what else happened!?
 
Funny you should ask!!!!

Marissa asked us to choose a fairy tale for her to tell us from a list of about five choices. We chose Rapunzel, and she was really happy because it's one of her favorites. During the other Stars Above stops, everybody has been asking her to tell The Little Mermaid, which is actually one of her least favorite stories!

Funny enough, it was also one of her first brushes with fairy tales! She went to see the Disney movie, and then her grandmother gave her a book of fairy tales. The first story in the collection was--wait for it--the real tale of The Little Mermaid. And, you know, SPOILER, but the mermaid dies. And the prince marries a different girl. It made Marissa wonder what ELSE Disney had changed and wasn't telling her, and her love of fairy tales was born!!!!

I live-tweeted some of the event, so I'll round-up her talk in tweets for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or weren't on last night:

*@marissa_meyer is here!!!!!!!!!!!!! And tonight's event is her first time ever with security!!!

*GLITCHES was @marissa_meyer's first #LunarChronicles short story to promote CINDER when she was a new author.

*EVERYONE wanted more retellings from @marissa_meyer, esp. a Little Mermaid retelling!! She was like NOPE, then one day, she had an idea! (It became "The Little Android," which you can read FOR FREE on WattPad right now! You'll also find it in the STARS ABOVE Anthology if you buy or borrow it to read!)

*Eventually, @marissa_meyer had so many short stories, @MacKidsBooks asked if she wanted to do an anthology, & so #StarsAbove was born!

*Writing short stories was kind of like writing fanfic for @marissa_meyer's own books!! She had SO MANY characters to choose from!!

*Cutting a certain WEDDING from #Winter was REALLY hard for @marissa_meyer, & she's so happy it made it into #StarsAbove!

*@marissa_meyer's favorite story to retell is Rapunzel....and she's going to retell it now!!

*@marissa_meyer is really excited to retell Rapunzel because everyone has asked her to do The Little Mermaid, which is one of her least favorites.

*The REAL story of Little Mermaid is SO DIFFERENT from Disney version that @marissa_meyer wanted to see what ELSE Disney wasn't telling her!

*@marissa_meyer doesn't have any plans for more fairy tales right now, but she's fascinated by Rumplestiltskin & Bluebeard!!

*@marissa_meyer's favorite characters to WRITE are Captain Thorne and Iko! She's most like Cress because of the fangirl thing!!

*@marissa_meyer's favorite author who writes about WRITING is James Scott Bell! #writingadvice

*@marissa_meyer definitely cried while writing, especially at the end of SCARLET! There's also an emotional death scene in an upcoming book!! (And she won't tell us WHAT book, but she cried for almost an hour because of it!!!!!!!)

*Now @marissa_meyer is talking about upcoming #LunarChronicles graphic novels starring Iko (The first of which, WIRES AND NERVE, comes out in January 2017), a story in an anthology on March 8th called A TYRANNY OF PETTICOATS, in which she has a short story, & upcoming novel HEARTLESS, which comes out this November and is a stand-alone novel about the origin of the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland!

All in all, I had a FANTASTIC time, and am so happy that Fierce Reads and Macmillan Books came to my area, especially with Marissa Meyer!!!!