Rapunzel's Roundup: A Utah Author-fest!

To celebrate the release of their graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge, Shannon and Dean Hale, and their illustrator Nathan Hale, along with the King's English Bookstore and SLC Public Library system hosted a fabulous event in Salt Lake City last weekend. The event was star-studded with appearances made by six YA authors from Utah (not counting Shannon and Dean Hale) which resulted in a book-signing frenzy extraordinare. Okay, so perhaps I'm exaggerating a little, but hey, call it poetic license.
Shannon, Dean, and Nathan, with a few props and a friend or two did a dramatic reading of some key scenes in Rapunzel's Revenge after which each of the guest authors were introduced and asked about their past and present novels and projects. Highlights include watching Dean stage a cross-dressing Jack, Nathan's wild boar impression, Shannon's struggle to control her home-made Rapunzel braids, James Dashner telling everyone his ideal "reality" could be a reality in which nobody wears clothes (how many disturbed mothers of young children do you think complained to the library afterwards?), Sara Zarr constantly laughing at James Dashner's whispered commentary, Jessica Day George's comments on how much more fun and free it was to write her own fairytale instead of re-writing somebody else's, Kimberly Heuston celebrating two weeks of being an officially full-time author, Mette Ivie Harrison's cool bookmarks publicizing the sequel for The Princess and the Hound, and my involved "teacher" conversation with A.E. (Ann) Cannon.
Of course, being me, I walked out with a very large stack of books and a very empty wallet, but how can you pass up these kinds of opportunities? I am now the proud owner of signed copies of Sara Zarr's highly acclaimed Story of a Girl, James Dashner's The 13th Reality (with "Teacher's Rock!" written in silver sharpie on the inside cover), Rapunzel's Revenge with a cool picture of cowboy boots from Nathan Hale and a message from Dean Hale that says I'm cooler than anybody knows backed up by Shannon Hale, A.E. Cannon's A Loser's Guide to Life and Love signed specifically for my future students, Jessica Day George's first original fairytale Dragon Flight, and Mette Ivie Harrison's The Princess and the Hound which is swiftly becoming a favorite. Bottom line: watch for some major book review action from my side of the country!
Now, Alysa told me to shamelessly take pictures, but my camera was not exactly cooperating, and I was more concerned with juggling my books and getting everything signed, and talking to the authors as opposed to blinding them, so what you see is what you get. There's one of Shannon and Dean busily signing away, one with Sara Zarr, me, and Mette Ivie Harrison, and a short video (I hope it works) of part of the dramatic reading performance.
 Note: a longer version of this video is available on the post Rapunzel's Roundup: Extended Edition. :) Also, I've added an affiliate link below, so you can shop easily. - Alysa 10/16/2015.