#plya2015

Hi, guys.  Today I am a posting a very late recap of last month's Pasadena Loves YA event. This was the second year of the event and it just keeps getting better each year. 2015 boasted an amazing line up of 20 fantastic YA authors.

Attending authors included Mary McCoy, Katie Alender, Victoria Aveyard, Alexis Bass, Julie Berry, Livia Blackburne, Virginia Boecker, Jessica Brody, Stephen Chbosky, Brandy Colbert, Ava Dellaira, Kody Keplinger, Liz Maccie, Morgan Matson, Lauren Miller, Alexandra Monir, Jennifer Niven, Romina Russell, Sarah Tomp, & Kiersten White.

I was volunteering again this year so I didn't have a lot of time to go to the panels and signings. I was able to pop into a couple of them though for a few minutes. The photos in this post were taken by our good friend Katie F. Katie is an amazing photographer and we are lucky that she makes the time to come to our events to take photos. 

The day started off with a keynote speech by Dead To Me author and LAPL teen librarian Mary McCoy. We have known Mary for a while now and her passion and love for YA shines through in everything she does. She started off the event on the right foot with her wonderful keynote speech. 

First up was the Second Chances panel featuring Brandy Colbert, Morgan Matson, Lauren Miller, and Sarah Tomp. 

Unfortunately I was not able to see any of this panel but I heard later that it was a good one and that it was standing room only. The signing line for the panel was long but everyone was super patient and the authors took a little time with all of their fans.

Next on the agenda was the The First Time: From Draft to Finish Line panel featuring Victoria Aveyard,  Alexis Bass, Virginia Boecker, Kody Keplinger. This was a really fun panel. Several of the authors came from northern California so it was a real treat to have them. Kody Kepliger was a favorite of mine and it was really cool to finally meet her.  Fans were so excited to meet the authors on this panel that they started a line during the panel. 

YA Sci-Fi & Fantasy was up next with Livia Blackburne, Jessica Brody, Romina Russell, and Kiersten White. This was another standing room only panel. Many of our authors were super nice and sat on the floor while watching panels in order to make room for fans. 

The next panel of the day was Dial "M" for Murder. This panel featured Katie Alender, Julie Berry, Mary McCoy, and Alexandra Monir. 

The final panel of the day was Tough Topics with panelists Stephen Chbosky, Ava Dellaira, Liz Maccie, and Jennifer Niven. I was actually able to watch most of this panel. It covered some tough topics from bullying to writing honestly to favorite television shows. Jennifer admitted to being a huge "Supernatural" fan while Liz and Stephen said that they really liked "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." 

The signing line for the last panel was very long, but everyone was extremely patient and cool about the wait. The authors were super kind and stayed until the last person got their book signed.

Overall it was a very successful and, we hope, fun event. Many thanks to all of the authors and attendees. Also many thanks to all of the amazing volunteers for the event. There would be too many to name here but you know who you are. Big thanks to Jane Gov, Bridge to Books and the Pasadena Public Library for organizing such and amazing event. Thanks to all of the wonderful bloggers who participated in the blog tour and came out to the event and to Vroman's for selling books for the event.

If you want to see more pics, head over to Katie F's Flickr set and the Pasadena Loves YA Instagram account. If you attended or posted about the event, let us know in the comments below.