SARAH J. MAAS PH BOOK SIGNING

Howdy y’all! Last month, I just had the best day of my life when I finally met my favorite author, Sarah J. Maas.

** Thank you so much to Sarah’s team, Bloomsbury, National Bookstore, Louisse Ang and every single person who made this event possible. You guys fulfilled my dream. (Even until now I still feel like it was a dream. Somebody pinch me.)

 

THE TRAVEL

March 13 was a Sunday and since I wasn’t from Manila (I’m from Bicol, in a little town called Pili), I had to leave at 8 on Saturday morning, to make it to Manila and eventually camp out. It took me roughly 14-15 hours to reach Manila (we could have arrived about 3 hours earlier but traffic happened so) and all the while those hours were a mix of anxiety, excitement and worry. I felt so anxious to see the very person who inspires me with her books and created such a huge impact in my life. As cheesy as this may sound, I started believing in myself ever since I read the line “I will not be afraid” in Throne of Glass.

On Saturday noon, I was constantly checking updates on twitter and saw that there were already people camping out that very moment. I panicked. Slots were only limited and I was getting worried I might not make it. Updates were tweeted all throughout the day so you could already imagine how anxious I was.

We finally arrived at Manila around 11 on Saturday evening. But we were still at Cubao where a family friend offered for us to stay while we were there. (My family came along even though I told them they didn’t have to.) So I quickly washed up, *barely* ate dinner – I couldn’t eat much because of too much excitement – prepped myself as best as I could, and left for Glorietta 1, where the book signing would take place.

 

CAMPING OUT

I arrived there at a quarter before 12 and practically walk-ran to the very end of the line. I was 96th. I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Ha ha. Cliches aside, I instantly felt literal relief when I knew I was still part of the first hundred.

This sign was placed right beside where I sat waiting so I decided to take a picture with it. LOL

It was my first time attending a book signing event and my first time camping out as well. It was such an awesome experience! Discussing bookish theories and other books to fangirl over while waiting in line with some people I just met felt like the animal inside me was finally unleashed.

EVENT PROPER

A few hours before the actual event, I got to know more readers and I couldn’t be any happier. And of course, ship wars were an inevitable topic: Celorian, Chaolaena or Rowaelin. And I must say, being a Chaolaena shipper myself, I’m pretty proud with how strong we still are despite our sunken ship. And just to get it straight, I ship Chaolaena and *occassionally* Rowaelin because I consider Celaena and Aelin as two different people, which Sarah has emphasized in several of her interviews and in her books.

I remember checking the clock and realizing it was already 1:54 in the afternoon and started counting down the minutes til I finally see Sarah. The anticipation at the bookstore was so palpable you could literally feel it. The crowd started cheering their ships, and conveniently most of the Rowaelin shippers were on the other side while Celorian and Chaolaena shippers were on the other.

My hands were shaking so hard at this point and they were so cold and I kept looking at my card to check whether the signing pass was still there

When the emcee entered the venue, the screams and cheers were crazy and just when you thought it couldn’t be any crazier, Sarah finally entered and all screaming hell broke loose. And let me tell you, my eyes lined with silver the moment I saw her. Even just thinking about it makes me cry. I felt like I reached reader heaven.

When Q&A came, a million questions streamed in my head but zero words came out from my mouth. Even though I wasn’t able to ask her anything, I had the book signing to look forward to, plus the questions asked were way better than what I could have asked so. 😅

I “patiently” waited for my turn in the signing, I mean I was only 96th and when you’re nervous and excited at the same time, you’ll wonder where all that time went. And then it was my turn.

When she saw my name, she told me that our names were almost alike (my first name and her last) and I couldn’t breath for a moment because all that’s going in my head was she’s actually in front of me — she’s talking to me oh my gosh — she’s so pretty — what do you say to your literary hero???

I just blabbered how thankful I was of her for creating characters like Celaena and Feyre who inspire me every day. And she was so nice for signing all my books and she wrote my name in all of them because of how long I travelled just to see her. I said she didn’t have to but she insisted.

She’s an angel. 💖 I know how exhausted she must be, too, but she’s so selfless, very much like Feyre. I told her I couldn’t believe this was really happening and until now I really can’t. It still hasn’t sunk in.

*This is me shamelessly fangirling in front of Sarah. I was probably already embarrassing myself in front of her but I didn’t mind – I don’t even know what I’m saying here.*

And now this is me when I was internally trying to calm down so I could go home with a picture with her where I actually looked okay.

And I got to meet the amazing person behind the ThroneofGlassPh twitter account, Louisse.:D

I’m sorry this post is very long but I just really had the time of my life that day and I’m happy to share it with you. 💖

Thanks so much for reading! Til the next post 🙂