{Event} Maggie Stiefvater Signing at Half Price Books + Giveaway

On Wednesday night, I was lucky enough to attend the Maggie Stiefvater signing and Q&A session at the flagship Half Price Books here in Dallas.  For the last few releases of her books, I've pre-ordered Maggie-doodled copies from Fountain Bookstore, and the release of The Dream Thieves was no different. I own all of Maggie's books, though -- with the exception of the anthologies that her work appears in -- so I had quite a collection that wasn't signed.  And, well, we can't have that.

This was my first time to ever meet Maggie, so I was a lot excited and a little nervous.  But I had no reason to fret.  Maggie is just as personable and approachable in person as she is online.  She's this little ball of energy that just won't quit, and it's no wonder she writes some of the craziest, most unique books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.  Oh, AND she recognized the name of my blog! Squeeeeee!!!  :D

Maggie read a scene from The Dream Thieves, with some help from the audience, and it made me want to read the book all over again.  I've just about determined that it's my new favorite Maggie book, barely squeaking past The Scorpio Races on its way to the top.

In addition to the signing and reading, Maggie also took questions, and here are some things that were mentioned:

• Every character she writes starts from a blank human mold and then she changes it as she writes.  In fact, she and Ronan share some DNA...she based Ronan's character on herself at that age.  Except he has reasons for the way he is and she really didn't at that age.  =)
• Kavinsky's character in The Dream Thieves was a challenge for her to write because she always tends to write her villains bad "but with a heart of gold" and he had to be all evil.
• Maggie writes by scene count, not by word count.  If she sets out to write a certain scene for the day and it only takes her twenty minutes, she's done for the day.  Conversely, she'll still be pecking away at the keyboard until the wee hours of the morning until said scene is finished.
• She had just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife for the second time when she decided that that's the type of book she wanted to write.  One that left you ugly crying no matter how many times you read it.  And soon after, Shiver was written.  Maggie is diabolical.
• Her favorite scene to write in The Raven Boys was the one where "Adam gets the shit kicked out of him by his father."  She said it had "action and cars...what's not to love?"
• She actually started writing The Raven Cycle when she was nineteen, and at the time, Ronan was the main character.
• The Scorpio Races was the book she wanted to read as a teen.  Maggie says to write the book YOU want to read.
• When asked if she'd ever write a sequel to The Scorpio Races, she responded that the characters got to the end of their story arcs so she has no plans to, but maybe in fifty years or so she'll revisit them if the whim hits her.
• The Scorpio Races used to be Maggie's favorite book that she'd written, but that changed with The Dream Thieves.  (Seriously, it's that good.  If you haven't read it yet, well, you'll get your chance below.  :P)

Hope you learned something new about one of my favorite authors!  :)  It was rough rearranging schedules and such so both Mendy and I could attend, so I want to give M a big shout-out for coming with.  [She also wants Emily to know that she totally owes her for pretending to be her and getting her books signed so I didn't look like a total ass with like 20 books to get signed.  =)]

So, I was totally thinking of you guys while I was there, and I picked up an extra signed copy of The Dream Thieves to give away to one lucky reader!

Rules:

• This giveaway is US only.  Sorry, international peeps, but I do have another giveaway open that's international.
• One entry per household.
• Entries will be verified.  Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Winner will be notified via email.  Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected.  Please check your SPAM folder!!!
• I am not responsible for lost packages.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you all get the chance to meet Maggie one day.  She's so much fun and just so witty and weirdly charming.  :D

Thanks for stopping by & happy reading!