Here I am folks, ready to recap the events of the 27th and 28th down in Austin, Texas. This is going to be a rather huge post as I took lots and lots of pictures and have tons of funny stories to tell.
The book signing was to start at 7:00 pm at The Book People somewhere in downtown Austin. I am not from the area, so I was being toted around by my sister-in-law and her friend, who both LOVE the book. (In fact, said friend, who I will lovingly refer to as “R”, is an avid fan fic reader now and even quoted parts of Pel’s fic “Carnage" to me…which was one of the more strange moments of this trip.) We arrived at the book store at about 6:59 and literally ran into the store thinking we were going to miss it. Of course, the place was already packed full. I stood in the back and looked around for any familiar faces.
Embarrassing moment number one happened when I spotted a figure hiding behind the bookcases off to the side. Stephenie’s publicist is usually standing to her side and can be seen in many photos hiding behind such objects. I approach this person, thinking it’s Elizabeth. I get up to her and say, “Are you Elizabeth?” She says, “Yes!” I say, “I’m Lori! So nice to meet you!” We squeal and even hug…and then she asks me who I am. I froze for a moment and said, “I’m from the Lexicon.” Blank stare. “Aren’t you Stephenie’s Elizabeth?” She says, “No. But I am Elizabeth.” I can’t tell you how horrible I felt at that moment! So I took my totally red face back to my place at the far side of the room and tried not to act as if anything odd had just happened.
Then Stephenie came out to do her normal set of Q&A. Here’s a picture of that for you to enjoy.
Most of the questions were things that we already knew from the FAQs or even from out takes and such. I am a huge fan of people who have taken the time to do their homework and really read what is out there. In fact, my favorite shirt is from one such fan, which you will see later. And FYI – those of you that were there – The very last question about Stephenie’s husband being jealous of Edward came from the previously mentioned “R”. (Come on “R” – stop laughing. You KNEW you’d get mentioned!)
Then Stephenie was taken to her place at the signing table and the rest of the group wound their way around the book store stairs to wait their turn. Having already made arrangements with Stephenie to talk to her AFTER the signing, my sister-in-law and “R” took a seat in the now vacant chairs while I made my way around the store to take a look at the great shirts everyone had made. I must say, Stephenie has some creative fans!!
One by one as I read shirt after shirt, I would ask permission to take a picture and was always granted a yes. Then, after the picture was taken, I would ask if it would be all right for me to post the photo on the lexicon. I think “deer in headlights” just about sums up the wide eyed expressions I got. A few brave fans actually managed to squeak out the question, “Are you…Alphie?” To which I always answered, “Yes, but call me Lori.” I shook lots of hands and felt a little like a politician bothering everyone, but hey, I got some great pictures!
First – the four ROCKIN’ girls who dressed up as Rosalie, Alice, Bella, and Edward.
My first “favorite” shirt and one that proves Jacob has a following. I had to get the front and back of this one!
The Lexicon’s very own Taxi came up to say hi. You are too sweet for words girl! And she snagged the New Moon poster as well.
The largest group of “matching” shirts all home made and decorated to the tastes of each fan. Take note of the rather scary doll. The owner actually got Stephenie to sign the doll!
Two self professed “crazed Edward fans”.
Another favorite, and incidentally the first one Stephenie asked me about. She said, “Did you get a picture of the Team Jake t-shirt?” So it really made an impression on the author.
The first shirt I saw professing love for Jasper!
The Twilight Zone! Love this! And notice the back of Cinderella’s shirt.
These next fans were not only at the book people event, but they also ended up at the book festival as well. Can you see their fangs? Now, we all know that Edward doesn’t have fangs, but these fangs were SOOO cool! And…I have to tell on them for this…but they tried to snap a secret picture of me at the very end! LOL! I said, “If you want a picture, just ask!” I guess I can say I’ve had my first taste of paparazzi!
Embarrassing moment number two happened when I finished taking pictures and went over to chat with sis-in-law and “R” and a few other “mom” types about the appeal these books have to those of us that aren’t teenagers anymore. I noticed from the corner of my eye a group of girls whispering and pointing and looking at me. Soon enough, they sent one of their fathers over to ask me to come and talk to them. One of the braver girls asked, “Are you Alphie?” I said, “Yes.” And with a voice that can only be described as a squeal, she said, “Will you sign my book!??!?!” Here’s the thing folks, I don’t mind giving out an autograph, even if I think that is a bit weird. But I will not sign Stephenie’s book. I might sign Eclipse when that comes out, since my name will be in that, but I won’t sign Twilight or New Moon. I did give them my autograph on random bits of calendar paper though. Here’s the picture of the group.
A few other people in line asked for my siggy, like Karen, but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of them. Sorry ladies! And to the one who told me I needed to update Lion and Lamb – I KNOW! GAH!
When it was all said and done, I got my turn to have my book signed and take a picture with Steph. Here we are.
She said, “Don’t you already have a signed copy?” I said, “I have an ARC, but my hard copy isn’t signed.” I told her she didn’t have to write anything creative, but she did anyway. She signed it “To My Alphie” which made me smile.
Then sis-in-law, “R”, and I all headed off to the Melting Pot to swoon over Edward while eating fondue. While I was there, I was stopped by some fans who had been at the book signing and who hadn’t been to the Lexicon! I told them all about it and that they should get over here FAST! Here they are. Let’s hope they found there way to our site.
Day two started with a trip to the Texas capitol, which is simply MAMMOTH in size.
Stephenie was part of a panel of authors for teen girls including –
ttyl bu Lauren Myracle
Fat Camp by Deborah Blumenthal
Jess by Mary Casanova
Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller
A Bad Boy can be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
Each author had the chance to read a part of their book and explain some of the details. Stephenie read the dream opening to New Moon. Then the crowd asked questions of the authors. Aside from the two questions asked of the entire panel, all the questions were for Stephenie. I felt a little badly for the other authors, but then New Moon is the current number one book and Stephenie’s fans are known to be a bit more rabid than normal people. Ahem…
All of the books sounded very interesting for different reasons. But I must say that the one that sparked my interest the most was Kiki Strike. I bought the book and read half of it on the plane home and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a very creative mystery about a city under New York City and the super spy girl who isn’t exactly who she seems to be.
On my way out of the auditorium I spotted four girls in the most elaborately decorated fan shirts I had seen all weekend! I asked if I could take their picture, and when they realized who I was they all squealed and made me feel like one of the Beatles. Little did I know that they would stalk me for the rest of the day. Even in my car, I look out the window and there they were! STALKERS!
Kahrynn is sporting the Jacob Black shirt. But it is Marissa who gets the prize for most original shirt and the one I couldn’t stop talking about. Her shirt is the Pacific Northwest Trust Fund shirt that on the back says: “I got my college money from Edward.” Proof that she has read EVERYTHING! Love it!
Last, but certainly not least, is the one photo that simply HAD to be taken. MALE TWILIGHT FANS! They do exist. But wait, the story gets better. The one named Chris was video taping the whole thing for his girlfriend who couldn’t be at the book signing. He read the book since she loved it so much and was now making sure her book was signed and that she could experience the signing even though she wasn’t there personally. I recorded a message for her and must say that I wish I had had a boyfriend like that when I was a teenager.
But hey – I have a husband who helped me build a website and let me run off for the weekend leaving the kids behind! So it all worked out for me in the end.
End of VERY long post. Thanks for reading.
Alphie
Hey again. I just read all of that And i am so excited for you. i wish i could go to a book signing. I will next year though for sure and hopefully get to meet you.
The only bad thing is… I am at school and photobucket pix are blocked from the computer.. grr… but i will look when I get home. I was on here before Lunch came back and here was your post. I am planning on making some shirts too. Im excited!!…
I’m Chris (on the far right hand side)
From left to right my friend James, my brother Josh, and my cousin Jonathon.
Huge thanks for you guys going to “Hot books for cool girls with me”
We will never live this down.
And thanks for posting the pic Alphie!
Thank you Alphie, for sharing this with us. For a german fan it’s almoust like being there- just gorgeous !!!
Wow! Amazing! One of my favourite post so long *___*, it made me almost cry.
i like your books. and i m also a fan of anne rice books so it was nice to see another great vampire book writer!! me and my friends are fans of the books you write. i live in canada, edmonton.alberta. and i was wondering if you would be going on tour here to promote new moon. i would love it if you could come.
That’s me that’s me!!! XD
THAT’S MY NAME!!!! THAT’S MY PICTURE!!! THAT’S MY SHIRT THAT I WORE TO SCHOOL TODAY AND NOBODY UNDERSTOOD WHY!!!!
!I’M THAT STALKER!!!
First I must say that in my eyes Alphie is way cooler than the Beatles so the reaction was appropriate. (You are very kind not to put in great detail what it was like when we figured out who you were. Let me just say we were in the capitol of Austin freaking out, shouting, and running. As Texans that is not a good thing to do in the Captol.)The fact that you liked my shirt was awesome…. is beyond words. Staying up till 4 doesn’t seem like much now. This is going in our school’s yearbook now. I can’t believe we didn’t get a picture with you, I mean we saw you EVERYWHERE. Before I go I must say that I highly believe in reading Mrs. Meyer’s site and the Lexicon. Many questions can be answered if you read it. I can’t BELIEVE some people don’t read the outtakes the day it comes out. Shocking.
Umm…all i can say is WOW! I’m glad you found us texans to your liking, we sure did love having you here. I was so thrilled to meet you, for i while i began to doubt your existence. There you were, and might i say i was so dumbstruck when you asked for our pic. I saw the lexicon logo, but i thought you were just another crazed fan…till i saw the back! Gee, i hope we gave you a warm welcoming, and glad you got home safe.
PS, I’ll be first in line to have Eclipse singed by you and Mrs. Meyer!
~Cinderella
I’m totally asking for your autograph when (not if, *when*–it WILL happen eventually!) I meet you, Lori.
Guh, so much awesomeness!
Ooh, and I love the shirt, btw! Pink Lexiconess all the way! Whoo!
Twilighters are so creative.
OH MY GOD MALE TWILIGHT FANS!!!!
It always excites me when I see male Twilight fans.
-nod-
WOO.
Sounds like you had tons of fun, Lori!
CAN’T WAIT TIL NASHVILLEEE!!!
~~~Bree…just seeing a MALE excites you.
Alphie
Sweet lordy!!! That looks like soooooo much fun! All those people…all those fans…all those T-shirts!!! Awesome!
A bit sad…reminds me of what Nashville will be -sigh-
Haha, there’s my picture. I wish I had another Twilight shirt that I could have worn to this one. I’d worn my only Twilight shirt the day before.
I was standing right behind you when you were taking some of these pictures, hee hee.
Oh man, I’m so excited for Nashville. *squeals*
Yes, I DID laugh when you mentioned me, Alphie – ha!
That was my first book signing EVER (and I am well beyond adolescence)… and it was a BLAST. I loved getting to meet my favorite living author (for Austen, Pagnol, Dickens, Lewis, etc. are deceased) and really enjoyed being a part of the crazy excitement that the Twilight fans brought to the event. FUN!
And thanks, Alphie, for treating me and “sister-in-law” to the delectable fondue at our post-party swoon fest.
Oh my gawd!
I went to the Book Festival in Austin.
My dad and I drove from San Antonio just to meet and get my book signed by Stephenie!!!
The line was sooo long.
x___x
I felt sorry for the other authors that were just sitting there.
I also felt bad for the other authors, not bad enough to buy any of the books mind you, but still. I felt bad.
I think the audience members only addressed those 2 questions to the whole board just because they felt bad for them as well.
I wonder what it’s like, sitting there for a book signing with hundreds of people lined up NEXT to you’re table…ouch.
the girl with the scary doll is my best friend and im in the corner of the picture it was so cool to meet you
peace out
Hey! I’m Rebecca of the Team Edward t-shirt, and one of my best friends, Sarah, has the Team Jake shirt. There’s actually an awesome back to the shirt too, and I’m going to get her to send a picture of it since Stephenie liked it so much. Yay!!!! I loved the signing! Stephenie was the first author I’d ever met, and since I want to be a YA writer too, it was a huge thing for me. And it was so great to meet you too, Alphie!! I’m getting excited just remembering it. It also happened to be my birthday, and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. Everything was wonderful. Thanks!!!!
Awesome pictures!!!! I loved all the tees (because I don’t have one myself :c)
Aw, I wish they could hold a book signing event in the Philippines. New Moon has been sold out within less than a week here and it gets harder and harder to come across the book in bookstores… I hope this convinces her enough to visit here
*crosses fingers
WHEN WILL STEPHANIE HOLD A SIGNING IN FLORIDA!!??????????? I KNOW SHE KNOWS SHE HAS FANS HERE!!!!! (and my parents aren’t going to spend the money for me to hop on a plane and my saving up hasn’t done me any good
, not cool) It sounds like so much fun……. I love the tees! (Especially the Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts!) Maybe Eclipse will be better………… *kneals down and prays for a signing anywhere in Florida*
That’s awesome. There’re pictures of asian Twilight fans…and I thought I was the only one! And guy fans are always good; we need more Edward-wannabes (but wait–wouldn’t they be considered posers?)!
~~~Bree…just seeing a MALE excites you.
Alphie
HAHAHAHAHHAHA
Very true, very true.
I want Stephaine To come to Australia. We need to have the fun you’s have over there. I love to hear about the book signings and the shirts are so creative.
You rock Alphie!
Minny
as in Austin texas no fair I am inOklahoma only if she were here I would soooo miss school just to go.
Hey Alphie, thank you so much for posting this!! =)
I love reading all these, coz I can’t go to any of her book signings (I live in Ireland
…I love it but you miss out on seeing Stephenie Meyer!! ), but I’ll wait until she’s able to come on international book tours!
God knows I’ll be the first in line to see her!
Thanks again! You rock!
Awesome post!!! and the tees are really cool!!!
reply to Minny: I WANT HER TO COME TO AUSTRALIA TO!!!!!
I love looking at these posts with my friend!! Sometime I want Stephenie to come to MY city– Cuyahoga Falls– it would be soooo awesome:)
I really love all the pics!! Awesome.
HEY… this is my first time checking out this site and i must say that i’m so nervous typing right now that my hands r shaking.
The posts were awsome but i too cannot see the pics @ school so maybe i’ll c them @ home.
It’s amazing. Guy twilight fans. now that is a rare-ity for me. only about 7 peoples @ my school have even heard about it (twilight).
i would love to go to a book signing too but u may know parents…. Byez
It looks like the signing was a lot fun; I wish I could go to one, but not much seems to happen in the Midwest unless you live in Chicago or Minneapolis.
I just wanted to point out something I noticed, the picture of Stephenie Meyer looks like the description of what she thinks Bella looks like in her frequently asked questions. I didn’t realize this before since it is not as noticeable in some the other pictures of her.
ha ha that sounded incredible! I especially liked the ‘who’s afraid of the big bad wolf’ shirt, i want one of those so bad! ive searched all over the net but nobody is selling twilight t-shirts
. Oh well, i eagerly await when stephenie will come to my town(which prob wont be forever cuz i missed when she just barely came here) those stalkers sounded kinda funny though, ha ha no offense to the stalkers if your reading this.
Wow, that picture you took of me, Marissa and the other 2 chicks, is really popular. It’s on people’s myspaces and even worse!
It’s the librarian’s desktop!!! =O
I heard that the Journalism club is actually going to put that picture in the Ellison yearbook! *shocker!* I MUST send you a copy of the page, and if I have a job, an actual yearbook! And maybe one for Stephenie as well! I’m quite sure that she’d appreciate it. =]
Yeaaah. That "if" and "job" thing are buggin’ me……
~~~WOW! That’s impressive. If they need my permission to print the photo, have them e-mail me at the lexicon. Actually, Kathrynn, send me a PM through the lexicon and I’ll give you my private e-mail address.
Alphie
So close but yet so far. I was there in Austin, but got blocked from a picture by someone’s head! Oh well. It was awesome and I saw Alphie running around taking pictures. I drove from Oklahoma. It took 6 hours and it was well worth it. The Texas Book Festival was fantastic too.
Holy crap, you actually put my picture up. That’s so unbelievable. Hehe, and my crappy shirt (the first Jasper one) that’s all lopsided. Wow. Meeting Alphie was definitely the highlight of my young life. You can ask my mom. I started hyperventilating when I got to the car, hehe. Too bad I missed Taxi, though.
To Justina: Stephenie has a link on her website where you can get the “official” (they are official, right? At least they’re not handmade) Twilight shirts.
Anyways, yeah. I just thought I’d comment and appease everyone I know by shutting up about the book signing now that it was a week ago.
~ Erica
Google is the best search engine
i’ll try if my computer will let me.
wait which outtakes?
i’m a italian syudent and i love Jasper…..my best frind love edward by
OMG,
Me and my step-sis are completly OBSESSED over thouse books!!!!
Like we heard about the special edition New Moon with the first chapter of Eclipes in it, and we went to Chapters to read it, we just sat there in the store and read it!
Sometimes we even, randomly, quote the book if we hear a song or somthing that reminds us of the books then we just say it and the wierd pert is we understand what we are saying!!
I really want to meet Stephanie Meyer do you know if shes been to British Columbia – Canada?
I love this website Alphie!!
hey alphie!
i’ve only been to this site a few times, but i really love it! i think it’s amazing that you’re friends with stephenie meyer and that you do such nice things for her fans and yours! keep up the good work! hopefully, maybe i’ll be able to make it to a book signing one day!
we just want to say that we love twilight, new moon, eclipse, edward, and bella. this is te best book ever I hope the four one is as good as the other i wish the story never ended… we love you 2 spephenie.