YALLWEST 2016 Day 2!
~ A photo essay and review by J.W. Lynne (California, USA)
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YALLWEST is a book festival, organized by YA authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz, for those who love young adult and middle grade books. Want to know what it's like? Here's a photo tour of Day 2 of YALLWEST 2016! (To see my coverage of Day 1, click here!) |
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| The Sunday Keynote featured Tahereh Mafi and Marie Lu. |
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| Their message: Be kind to one another. |
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| The "Story on YouTube" panel featured Meghan Camarena, Judy Stephens, Lorraine Cink, Kristina Horner (italktosnakes), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), Kat O'Keeffe (Katytastic), and Jesse George (jessethereader). |
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| Their advice for people who are just starting out making YouTube videos: your videos don't need to be perfect, be truthful, let your personality shine, make friends by posting comments for other people's videos (especially those just starting out), and ignore the haters. |
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| Back at the science quad, YALLWEST merchandise was available for purchase! |
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| My favorite souvenir: YALLWEST pajama pants ($40). So comfy! I wear PJ pants when I write, so I could use about a dozen of these. |
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| I saw sharply-dressed Ransom Riggs take a few moments on his way back from the food trucks to pose with some fans. |
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| A team from UCLA proved that even muggles can play Quidditch. |
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| I hope those boys are wearing protection! |
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| The "Idea to Book to Film" panelists talked candidly about the business of turning a book into a movie or television show. The panel included author Ransom Riggs, author Dan Ehrenhaft, Aimee Friedman (executive editor at Scholastic Inc.), Kassie Evashevski (partner at United Talent Agency), Seth Fishman (agent at The Gernert Company), Isaac Klausner (producer of The Fault In Our Stars, Paper Towns, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Jodi Reamer (agent at Writers House), and Julie Strauss-Gabel (editor who is known for her "stinging critiques" but also her magic touch). |
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| YALLWEST 2016 came to a close with the "YA StoryMob Finale," an audience-participation fan fiction show hosted by Pseudonymous Bosch and C. Alexander London, starring Veronica Roth, Ransom Riggs, Victoria Aveyard, and three volunteers from the audience. |
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| The title of the audience's fan fiction was "Miss Peregrine's Home for Divergent Queens" and it was about a girl, Christina (from Roth's Divergent series), who has exploding poop disease. I guess that's what happens when an auditorium packed with overtired festivalgoers tries to write a book! |
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| I had a blast at YALLWEST 2016. It was amazing to spend a weekend hanging out with fellow YA readers and writers! |
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| I can't wait for YALLWEST 2017! |
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YALLWEST 2016 was held on April 30th and May 1st at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, USA. |
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jen is also known as J.W. Lynne, a best selling author of eleven novels. Click on any of the titles below to see the book on Amazon! THE UNKNOWN: Eight kids learn the shocking reason why they were kidnapped. ABOVE THE SKY: A girl lives in a world where touching her soulmate is forbidden. THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE: A teen is locked in a bunker to take a simulated trip to the moon. KID DOCS: An experimental program turns kids into doctors. WILD ANIMAL SCHOOL: A girl falls in love with a boy at an exotic animal ranch. WHAT HE DIDN'T TELL ME: A traumatized girl meets a boy with a horrible secret. IF I TELL: A teen wonders if her father is a serial killer. Besides reading books and dreaming up stories to write, Jen's favorite activities are singing along to musical theater soundtracks and hiking in California's beautiful parks. **Jen's books are available on Kindle Unlimited.** |
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Heading to Los Angeles for
YALLWEST? Check out Jen's L.A. Bucket List for great ideas of things to do while you're in town! Jen's reviews and photos of other YALLWEST book festivals: YALLWEST 2016 Day 1 YALLWEST 2017 YALLWEST 2018 YALLWEST 2019 YALLWEST 2022 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, YallWest 2020 and 2021 were not held in-person and were rebranded by the organizers as YALLSTAYHOME (Yall Stay Home), a virtual book gathering that took place largely online. The next YALLWEST will likely be in 2024! Other popular posts you might enjoy: Descriptions of great YA books in ten words or less YA Dystopian Book Bucket List YA Contemporary Book Bucket List Go on a blind date with a YA book |
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YALLWEST 2024 tips: Follow YALLWEST on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know the details about the 2024 festival, including the complete author lineup and schedule. Before you go, look over the schedule and program and plan out your day. If you want to be among the first people to walk through the gates when the festival opens, arrive early. For YALLWEST 2023, about 30 people were in line at 7:30 AM (the festival was scheduled to open at 9 AM) and the line grew quickly after 8AM. If there's an ARC of a soon-to-be-published book that is on your must-read list, stop by the booth where it will be given away as soon as you arrive at the festival to make sure you know the rules to get that specific ARC. If there's an author who you'd like to have sign your book, review the signing schedule carefully. Lining up to meet certain authors (generally those marked on the schedule with an *) may require a wristband. Check the rules to see when those wristbands will be distributed. If there's a panel that you MUST attend, arrive at the panel early. At YALLWEST 2023, I saw lines for some popular panels beginning more than 20 minutes before the panel was scheduled to start. A few events (generally the "Keynotes" and "Smackdown") require tickets that you purchase online in advance. Be prepared to wait in long lines for almost everything. Pack a refillable water bottle. There are drinking fountains at the school where you can fill your bottle throughout the day. Dress in layers. In Santa Monica, California, the weather tends to be cool early in the day and in the evening, but temperatures can get hot during the day. Wear comfortable closed-toed shoes. The Santa Monica High School campus is not very large, but you will be surprised how much walking you will do, often on crowded walkways. |