Grand Rapid Comic Con and Meeting Susan Dennard

(Banner from website)

A few weeks ago I went to my very first Comic Con. Yeah, it's just the Grand Rapids one, which is pretty small when compared to others. But it was still super huge for me. This was my first Comic Con, any type of Con in general, and my first time meeting an author. What can I say? Authors rarely visit the MidWest, Michigan especially. I think we're pretty cool for looking like a mitten, but I guess you can't please everyone. This was just so cool because Susan Dennard, one of my all-time favorite authors was there!

*BEWARE: Be prepared for mass amounts of fangirling*

Susan was there giving a presentation about writing, publishing, and being an author. Her advice on her website is amazing, so being able to see a presentation in person was really helpful. By the way, if you haven't read any of her advice, go do it now. It's fantastic and she has advice for pretty much anything and everything. Her advice made me feel like I could actually do this writing thing! She's just so encouraging and will break everything down so it doesn't look so big and scary. Many authors tell people to just write when they ask for advice; Susan gives in depth how-tos. You can tell she puts so much effort into it.

Anyway, her presentation was super helpful and funny and she answered so many questions. She used her experience as an example and emphasized that the process is different for everyone and how the process of writing, getting an agent, editing, finding a publisher, and finally getting published is long. It's not immediate. It takes years. Yeah, that doesn't sound super positive, but it's worth it in the end! I learned so much during the presentation, and have a lot of extra advice to look back on while writing.

Afterwards, she had a signing and that was definitely the highlight, I'm not saying her presentation wasn't great, but I was super excited for this part. I was like second in line or something and the line got long pretty quickly. I just have to say how incredibly nervous I was. I was super excited and was shaking like a chihuahua. And I can't blame it on too much coffee, which I'm actually happy I didn't have any. But I met her and I was super awkward and I was embarrassed and felt terrible for it. I feel like I need to apologize for the rest of my life.

I got a picture with her! (Look at me in all my awkward glory)

She signed my books! (But I guess that's what the purpose of a signing is)

And I got swag!(I've been eyeing those character cards for a while)

And I got the Truthwitch poster!

And I finally got to use the tote I won from Bookiemoji! (Isn't it cute!?)

I actually didn't get many pictures of the Con itself, but it was so cool. There were a couple other YA authors who did panels, Kody Keplinger and Mindy Arnett, but those were on different days, so I didn't attend them. I'd love to go back next year, and hopefully more authors can come!