Michael Grant Author Signing

This past Friday night I had the chance to see Michael Grant author of the Gone series and The Magnificent 12. It was fantastic! I knew it was going to great when he just started chatting with the lady I was with (the media specialist at  my school) while we were walking around the store. Soon we sat down, and he just started to chat with us! He asked if there were any aspiring authors, and I admitted I was and that I had finished the rough draft of novel.  It was awesome because he gave me advice and talked to me like an author!

From there he talked a lot about how he got into writing and what he has written.  If you didn't know, he has had 150 books published! At the start of his career he did some ghost writing for such book series as Sweet Valley Twins!!! I loved those books growing up!  It was a part of the industry I hadn't heard a lot about before, so it was really interesting.

He wrote the Gone series after he told his wife (Katherine Applegate) about the idea.  She told him to stop everything else he was working on and write that!  It was the right thing to do.  Three books are currently out, Gone, Hunger and Lies and three more are yet to come out Plague and Light (and I can't remember the 3rd title!) Light is the last book in the series. 

What was also very interesting to hear about was his take on the covers.  He much more prefers the UK covers because they are ones that would appeal to boys better.  He thinks the US ones come across as a bit to girly and not really showing what the story is about.  Check out the UK vs the US ones below.  I definitely agree with him!

UK                                    US

Lastly he signed books for all of us and took pictures.  It was a great time, and I'm so glad I went!

Now remember I have a giveaway going on for a SIGNED copy of The Magnificent 12.  Fill out THIS FORM to enter.  It ends on Wednesday!

Signing my daughter's book.  She LOVES the Gone series.

This is all of us including the media specialist at my school