Sarah Dessen Book Signing Meeting One My Favorite Author

When I was a teenager I exclusively read young adult contemporary books. And of course now I read books all over the place from non-fiction to adult fiction, but I will always have a sweet spot for young adult contemporary. For me, there is just something about that genre that I really relate to. One of my favorite authors in that genre is the Queen of Teen Fiction, Sarah Dessen.

Sarah Dessen was one of the first authors that I really followed when she would release new books. Though there are one or two I still haven't read yet I have loved and cared for all of the books from Sarah I have read. So when I found out she was going on a book tour for her new book, The Rest Of The Story and she was going to be in a town I could drive too, I had no doubts that I had to go.

Anxiety Strikes

All week before the event I kept talking to my fiancee, Luke, about how excited I was to finally be able to meet Sarah Dessen. I showed Luke all of the books I currently owned form here, and I constantly followed her on Instagram to hear anything new about the book/book tour. But the night before the event, as I laid trying to go to bed my mind raced and my anxiety came sweeping into my head. Even in the morning, I was feeling sick, due to my rushing thoughts of “what its.”

Take a "Polaroid" picture of me and The Rest Of The Story

It wasn’t until I talked to my friend and I took a nap I started to feel a bit better. Though my anxiety didn’t end there. The whole time I was driving down to Memphis from Arkansas it was raining and I am a nervous driver to start with so that didn’t help. Then I sat in Memphis traffic as I crawled to my exit. The only thing, besides Luke that calmed me down, was when I walked through the doors and a worker greeted me by asking, “Hi, are you here for the signing?”

A Sea Of Teenagers And Young Adult Women

The Sarah Dessen book signing was nothing like I’ve ever been to before. Before the signing started you were able to take a picture of you in a “Polaroid frame” to celebrate Sara’s new book. It was after I was standing in awe of the sea of teenagers I started to feel comfortable again.

I was able to take a seat in the back between two different groups of friends and since Luke went with me, but didn’t want to go to the event I was sitting by myself. I should have known though that Sarah’s fans are so nice. Before I knew it I was able to have conversations with complete strangers about our love for Sarah’s books and what we think about her and the Netflix deal.

Meeting Sarah

The whole room lite up when Sarah took the microphone to introduce herself and The Rest Of The Story. But before she could even speak the crowd started singing “Happy Birthday” to Sarah as she turned 49 that day.

When Sarah was talking, it felt like she was just speaking to me and the whole crowd disappeared. I couldn’t help but think about how if I get a book published our books could be next to each other at the book store. But the time finally came when the signing took place and I was getting closer to my turn.

Me gushing over Sarah

Sarah was so nice and friendly to me, and to everyone else. She was funny and sweet, and even though I only got to talk to her for a few moments I knew at that time she really appreciated my support as a reader.

I walked away from that event basically thinking Sarah and I are now besties. I just wish my anxiety didn’t come up when it comes to social occasions and big events. But even with that at the beginning of the day, I was still able to have a great time and really connect with other people.

In the comments down below tell me what author you wish you could meet or if you’ve met one of your favorite authors, I’d love to hear that story.