Meeting Brandon Sanderson

The Provo Library hosted the Children’s Book Festival yesterday.  I went to it last year and I had a really good time.  A ton of local authors come, hold workshops, sign their books, and there’s a lot of fun things for kids to do, too, like face painting and puppet shows.  This year, they even had surprise appearances from Curious George, Clifford, and one of the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are.

I wasn’t planning to go, but I decided to at the last minute because I really wanted to get Elantris signed by Brandon Sanderson.  Corey and I drove to Borders to get a copy and while we were there, I ended up buying the Mistborn trilogy (also written by Brandon Sanderson), too.

When Corey and I arrived at the library, we ran into our friend Ali and her cousins.  I thought it was quite appropriate to run into her since Ali’s the one who got me to read Elantris in the first place. (It had been on my to read list for a couple of years, but I didn’t actually read it until she lent me her book.)  Ali’s kids, Jack and Sheridan, love books and they love Curious George.  Corey decided to get a picture with him and Clifford so he could show it to them.  I thought it was cute of him to do that.

When it was my turn to talk to Brandon Sanderson, I think I was a little star struck because I just started to babble.  You’d think that after all the authors I’ve met, I wouldn’t get star struck, but I still do.  Luckily, my babbling was somewhat coherent.  I told him I had only read Elantris, but I loved it and I’m looking forward to reading the Mistborn trilogy.  I also told him I loved his acknowledgments page because I had a class taught by Professor Thayer last semester.  He thought that was cool and we reminisced about Professor Thayer’s dislike of fantasy. He was very personable and funny, and it was a lot of fun to meet him.

I also saw my friend Kayla.  She normally works at the library as one of the children’s storytellers, but she was working there as a face painter for the event.  (By the way, she’s an awesome face painter, and she’s available for birthday parties.)  She was also dressed as Olivia the pig.  I didn’t know who Olivia was, but the kids did and that’s what counts. (I did look Olivia up afterward and I realized that I do know who she is and Kayla’s costume was awesome!)

I’m really glad I decided to go.  It was a lot of fun.