Friday Fun Post: My Experience as a TBF Attendee

Hey guys! Katie C. here to bring you the weekly Friday fun post. Today I'm going to talk about my experience as a TBF attendee!

I've been attending TBF since 2014, making this year my fifth year being at the festival! While each year brought on new adventures and new experiences, I'm going to talk about my first time ever attending, back in 2014.

One of the reasons this year stays close to my heart was because of the fact that I had never gone before. I had no idea what to expect, and any of my few previous expectations were blown out the door from what was waiting for seventh grade me at Nazareth College.

While the opening session has changed a bit in the past year, it was truth or talent when I first attended. This game involved each author stepping up the the mic and either telling some wild truth about themselves, or preforming some obscure talent they had. While I can't remember each and every one, I do remember Neal Shusterman's one hand clap, one author (i wanna say Laurie Halse Anderson) swearing in danish, and one author beat-boxing while another sang Selena Gomez's Come and Get it. It was really cool!!!

After the opening session, I started out by attending a panel with Neal Shusterman, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Alex London. Unfortunately, because of flight issues, Alex London couldn't make it that day...or so we thought! In the middle of the panel, the door burst open, and Alex London came running in. He probably said something like "sorry i'm late!" but no one could hear him over the unforgettable laughter and applause that followed his dramatic entrance.

My next two panels I went two were a caricature workshop and lunch, where I met up with the rest of the group I attended with that day. At this point, I already knew that TBF was one of the greatest days of my life, even though I hadn't reached the best part of my day: the fourth panel.

For my fourth panel, I went to see Jonathan Auxier and Aaron Starmer. While I wouldn't read Starmer's The Riverman for another month or two, I had read and fallen in love with Auxier's Peter Nimble and couldn't wait to meet the author behind it. And I was not disappointed!

Auxier was FANTASTIC!!!! Not only did he talk about his book and other things in the works, he also brought a yo-yo and was doing different tricks in between the times he was talking. Every word that came out of his mouth was filled with passion and excitement, especially when he talked about his characters and the different things that inspired them. After meeting Auxier, I quickly read his new release, The Night Gardener, and eventually the sequel to Peter Nimble, Sophie Quire, when it came out years later. To this day, Auxier is still one of my favorite author of all time!

And of course, I ended my very first festival the same way I do every other year then after: meet and greet and autographs.

While this was just my first experience at TBF, each year after never was just as amazing and gave me even more cherished memories that I will hold onto forever. If you're thinking about attending this year (and I highly recommend that you do!!!) remember to save the date of May 19th 2018!!!! I know I'll be there for another fantastic year of authors, fun, and memories!

I'll see you all later. this is Katie C. signing off!