Marissa Meyer visits Toronto

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday might seem like a step towards borderline insanity but when someone as incredibly cool and funny like Marissa Meyer comes to town, 6:30 doesn't seems soon enough. Which is what happened to me today.

I set my alarm for 6:30 and found myself awake at 6:15am bursting with energy and excitement for today was the day I'll get to meet Marissa Meyer.

By the time I got to Yorkdale it was 8:30 am which meant that I was finally early enough to get a seating at the actual signing and not just any seat: Front row seats!!!

Since she was scheduled to arrive at 12 pm I had plenty of time to mingle with my fellow eager reading buddy and a few people we met in line. Needless to say by the time we were being seated our legs were begging for the rest (three and a half hours is a long time to stand people).

Finally the wait was over and the beautiful Marissa Meyer came out to a very vocal welcome from her Toronto fans.

Discussing with the crowd on how she started writing

She entertained us with her love of writing and what got her started as a writer (Sailor Moon fanfiction!! Who knew?) and a bit of a back story about her life before writing, how she conquered NiNoWiMo but not Star Trek but more importantly her love of fairy tales.

She then proceeded to tell us a few fairy tales. A rendition of Rapunzel, wherein the evil witch sends Rapunzel out into the world forsaken and proceeds to gorge out the eyeballs of the Prince (don't worry Rapunzel weeps into his sockets and he miraculously grows a pair - of eyeballs that is). A rendition of Cinderella, which makes me think that the Prince is either really cross-eyed, or the most gullible fool in the kingdom. And finally Red Riding Hood, which in the end, little red was able to actually save herself! Shocking, I know.

Then there was the Q and A section which I will now try to emulate in writing to the best of my ability:

Diligently answering questions

Q: Why is the third book called Cress?
A. Cress is a type of lettuce as is Rapunzel thus calling the main character Cress eludes to Rapunzel but also makes her a character all on her own much like Scarlet and Cinder.

Q: Is Cress going to take place in Africa?
A: Yes, In Africa, New Beijing and Space.

Q: Do you write consciously for shipping?
A: Kind of. While writing the characters the heroines and the heroes can sometimes fall for each other, find themselves in other books and play a minor or major part in the other characters' lives. 

Q: Do you write with women's issues in mind?
A: I don't write with it in mind per se, but I like my heroines to be strong and independent female characters. It's more about being strong and less about liking the guy.

Q: When did you start writing?
A: I always wrote but didn't get serious about it until 14 years old when I started my Sailor Moon Fanfiction.

Q: What advice would you give new writers?
A: Write because you love to write. Don't think that you have to write from a deep dark place in order to be taken seriously as a writer. Don't become a cliche instead write from your heart, the story will be more genuine that way. 

Q: What do you love most about reading?
A: I love the fact that I can become a different person. This is with writing too, I get to experience what it's like to be someone else and explore other worlds I would probably not and in some cases never ever get to experience otherwise. 

Q: What is your writing process?
A: I'm an outliner. I like to outline my books, with characters and subplots but I don't do it too extensively. I like to leave a little bit of mystery and the writing won't become boring or too structured.

Q: Are you a Nerdfighter?
A: [Does NerdFighter Sign] (Lol) What counts for a Nerdfighter? I mean I love John Green (and Hank too) but I don't really watch too many vlogbrothers videos. I do love what they stand for and support their causes. 

Q: Do you choose your covers?
A: I don't unfortunately. The publishers have their own design team that chooses the covers for the authors. They usually show it to us and basically tell us "Yes yes you do like these covers." For the most part, I've been pretty lucky with my covers. I love them tremendously.

And Finally:

Q: Who is your favourite Sailor Moon Character?
A: Sailor Jupiter. I mean, she's super strong and badass and always sticks up and defends her friends but there's this soft, gushy, vulnerable side to her too. She's tough but she also just wants to be loved.

Signing some books backstage

After that we got our books signed and grabbed some swag and left the beautiful Marissa Meyer in the midst of Yorkdale with 100+ more books to sign. Envious I was not, but grateful that she took her time to come and meet us. I cannot wait until Cress comes out and I'm hoping that she'll be back to do another signing and entertain us fans once again.

Happy Reading!!