Gayle Forman at Foyles

My busy week came to an end with a wonderful Gayle Forman event at Foyles. As Gayle rarely comes to the UK, this was incredibly exciting, and I couldn't wait for the event. I met up with the lovely Laura, and after buying a few books (not many, really), we headed up to the auditorium to wait.

Gayle is the author of best selling novels such as If I Stay, Where she Went, Just One Day, and Just One Year. If I Stay was made into a film last year, with others due to come soon. Yay! (Although I am hoping for a Where She Went film).

The event itself was great fun. Gayle answered questions, told great stories, and spoke about her writing routine, previous books, I Was Here, the If I Stay movie, and so much more. It was all very inspiring and I couldn't wait to get home and write again! While Gayle said many great things I wish I'd written down, I do remember her talking about I Was Here and discussing how the break up of female friendships partly inspired this book, because they can be so devastating. She also spoke about why she writes about characters who are out of school, and her own writing routines - which was all very inspiring.

Gayle then staged a reading, getting volunteers from the audience to help her. Then she answered questions from the audience - and that was it!

 I got a few pictures, but they came out a little blurry:

Afterwards, we queued up for the signing and were able to meet Gayle! She was lovely and commented on my Hogwarts t-shirt (she's a Slytherin by the way). We had a picture and she signed my books: 

It was a really excellent afternoon, and I am so happy that I've met Gayle. She's one of the inspirations for my own contemporary YA writing and so it was an honour to actually be able to meet her and hear her talk about her writing.

Next month, we're going to see Victoria Schwab - I can't wait!