What happens at Yallwest...

...stays at Yallwest? No way! The booksational magic of Yallwest weekend cannot be contained and must be shared far and wide by authors, bloggers, and pretty much everyone else obsessed with books.

If you didn't hear me mention it before, Yallwest is a book festival that happens every spring in southern California. The festival takes over Santa Monica high school and includes about a hundred authors talking and signing, publishers giving out free swag and books, and an In-and-Out Burger truck. A "few" people show up for it. And by "few," I mean thousands:

Also, I'm not kidding about the In-and-Out truck.

My Yallwest weekend started out with "Fierce Friday" at the Santa Monica Public Library. This involved a couple dozen authors doing signing sessions for fans who also got the chance to participate in a whole bunch of other fun activities and giveaways. Dhonielle Clayton kicked things off with a megaphone, so you knew it was going to be good.

For those playing the home game, you might recall that Friday was May the 4th, so Star Wars dominated all the action and activities going on. I saw a life-size (or droid-size) R2D2 roaming the halls, and amazing t-shirts were everywhere. (I forgot and didn't wear one). Here's author Angie Thomas rocking some VR lightsaber action:

I never left my signing station to full investigate a lot of this stuff because I was having so much fun signing books. I haven't done it in a while, and I could spend ages just talking to readers as they come up to me. Since I was signing at one of the library desks, it was also a handy chance to check in some books and charge fines.

The next day, Saturday, was the BIG day, the day the programming really kicks in. I was down for the morning with a migraine but finally recovered just in time to join some other authors in a trivia competition sponsored by Penguin Books. Here we all are, ready to answer questions about the hottest YA books out there!

And this is my awesome team of readers--Yalltergeist. YEAH! They were totally awesome because they were the ones who ended up answering all the questions since I really don't know anything outside of my own books. But I NAILED the question about the Glittering Court!

After that, it was on to more programming. My first panel was with superstars Maurene Goo, Marie Lu, Laurie Devore, Tamora Pierce, and Lauren Oliver. Here, I worked on my hair and answered important questions about tough, ambitious heroines (and also about bearded Captain America).

Then I signed some more books. Cuz that's what I do.

Then, it was back to business--this time on a panel about fantasy and history with the sensational Melissa de la Cruz, Emily X.R. Pan, and Dhonielle Clayton. We talked some writing stuff, and I teased fans about VA stuff...cuz that's also what I do.

Yallwest always wraps up with the "Author Smackdown," which is where authors are forced to do ridiculous and delightful things for YOUR entertainment. Consider it payback for the way we toy with your emotions.

And that was Yallwest! Seriously, if you're able to get to this next year--you should. It's an amazing time and paradise if you love books. Best of all, except for the keynotes and smackdown, it's freeeeeeeeeeee....! And who can beat that price?

BUT RICHELLE, WHAT ABOUT THE CONTEST?

Oh, yeah. Did I mention that I collected a whole bunch of poetry entries throughout the weekend (that almost made me cry on the plane ride back to Seattle)? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it or Adrian's Cinco de Mayo. That news is coming in the days ahead, so stay tuned!

*Many of these pics are mine, but thanks also to the many attendees who shared their own pics on social media!