Out and About: Bloggers Forum + Signing with Tahereh Mafi + Ransom Riggs

Out and about is a new feature here on Fragments of Life. I have always wanted to cover events and launches but for some reason, they just stick out because I don’t normally post about these things. So I decided to start a feature for events, book launches and movie adaptations.

For the second Out and about, I’ll talk about the Bloggers Forum and Book Signing with Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs.

The Basics:

Who:

Ransom and Tahereh at the Bloggers Forum

The authors are: Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs. The event really is for Tahereh and Ransom is a special guest. :)
The Organizer is: National BookStore.

What: According to the official press release - The New York Times bestselling author of the young adult series Shatter Me, comes to Manila for a book signing event on March 2, 4:00pm, at the new flagship of National Book Store in Glorietta 1. But of course, as a blogger, there are perks. I was invited to an exclusive Bloggers Forum with Tahereh. (So fun!) As of now, the published books in the series are:

Paperback, 340 pages
October 2nd 2012, HarperCollins

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Paperback, 461 pages
February 5, 2013, HarperCollins

Juliette's world is beginning to unravel.
Everything is falling apart changing.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point-the headquarters of the rebel resistance. There she discovers other people with abilities. Abilities they have learned to control. And for the first time in her life, Juliette has hope. Hope that she can have a life with Adam. Hope that her touch can be used to save instead of destroy.

But Juliette is only just beginning to understand the depth of her power, and she's struggling to fight the desire to use it. She's still haunted by her past, terrified by her future, and too tempted by Warner, who still wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart-and Adam's life.

When: March 2, 2013, 1:30 p.m. (Bloggers Forum) and 4:00 p.m. (actual book signing event)

Where: Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4 and National Book Store, Glorietta 1

Why:Why I went to the event: Of course, I was invited to an exclusive invitation only Bloggers Forum! Who says no to that? And of course, I'm excited to meet Tahereh Mafi - and Ransom Riggs, too! I was also ecstatic to see my blogger friends again. :)

How: This is the longish part.

Tahereh answers our questions at the Bloggers Forum.

At the Bloggers Forum, we had a Q&A with Tahereh. Amidst muffins and coffees, we had the pleasure of getting answers straight from the funny and smart author. This was my question to her: "Your narration is photographic, in such a way that it not only captures the moment but it also encapsulates the beauty and essence of change and life. You write in a very breathtaking way. How do you manage this photographic narration?"

She told me: "that's a beautiful question." Then she went about describing how she really tried to get into Juliette's head (who is a little crazy and so the constant counting, the lack of punctuation marks reflect the chaos in Juliette's mind). When Tahereh writes, she locks herself up in her room and write, write, write all day and night.

I learned the following:

• The 3rd book still has no title but in Tahereh's files, it's called Untitle(d) Me.
• Kenji was based on the brothers of Tahereh.
• Tahereh was shocked/surprised when she found out that majority of the readers of Shatter Me and Unravel Me were part of Team Warner.
• Book 2 of Miss Peregrine's will be out in January 2014 (sooo far away!)
• Ransom is in fact, Ransom's real name. And totally NOT a pseudonym people.
• Ransom hasn't read the Harry Potter series. (I haven't too!)

Of course, let's not forget the book signing. Since we finished the forum earlier than expected, all our books were signed there. Scroll down for photos.

Tahereh Mafi and I

Shatter Me + Unravel Me signed to me

Me and Ransom Riggs - forgot to take off that post-it! Photo credit to Dea!

Group Picture at the Bloggers Forum

Another group photo at the actual signing (for everyone)

Tahereh was being interviewed. Photo credit to Kai of Amaterasu Reads

Big thanks to National Book Store for the awesome forum + event!