Kylara, one of the Lexicon’s oldest members, was at the Mall of America The Host signing last night. This is her report:
I arrived at the Mall of America at about 1:30PM. They had started selling books at 8AM, and I was told that a handful of people had arrived even earlier than that–as early as 5AM. This is what the line looked like when I first got there:
I bought my copies of The Host. At the start of the line there was a box for submitting questions for Stephenie, which a man walked through the line later on with in case anyone came up with questions as they read The Host.
I sat down to read while I waited for 6PM to come. A note for anyone else who goes so early to wait in line: if possible, bring chairs like the smart people in the photograph! Standing for 4.5 hours or sitting on the floor for that long is not fun!
A glimpse of the room that was slowly but surely filling up with people.
By 3:30PM, that empty half of the room was full of people, and we were asked to get up and squish together to make room for more people. We did so and then all sat back down to wait. Once or twice the Community Relations Manager at the Barnes & Noble at the Mall of America came out to talk to us:
About 15 minutes before Stephenie was due to arrive, he came back out to introduce her. She arrived, and much screaming followed. She told us that she had a presentation planned out, and was going to do a reading, but after finding out that we all would be standing for the entire evening decided against that. Instead, she answered probably 10 or so of the questions from the box.
I caught a few of the questions (and Stephenie’s answers!) on camera:
- What inspired The Host?
(video)
- What music was fitting for The Host?
- Why are there blank pages in The Host?
- Will there be sequels for The Host?
(video of the previous 3 questions)
- Do you ever take your kids on tour with you?
(video)
- What characters in The Host did you really enjoy writing?
(video)
Two of the questions were cut off, so here are paraphrased answers:
What inspired The Host?
This answer can be found in a number of articles and I wanted to save space for other questions! One place to find it is at the official The Host website, on the Q&A page.
Will there be sequels for The Host?
Stephenie said that she has outlines for one sequel, and plans for two to make it a trilogy, but doesn’t know if she’ll write them anytime soon. She mentioned that one reason in particular is that she’s grown fond of the characters, and in order for the sequels to be written, characters would need to die and she doesn’t want them to.
Another fun thing I’ll point out since it’s sort of hard to hear in the videos is the 3 songs that Stephenie mentioned are on her The Host playlist:
- Futurism by Muse
- Original of the Species by U2
- My Name is Love by Rob Dickinson
The rest of the playlist will be available on her website once she finishes this leg of the tour and e-mails it to her brother/webmaster.
After the Q&A came the actual book signing, which went very smooth.
I had my books signed by 7:30-8PM or so, and this is what the line looked like after I was finished:
This wasn’t even the entire line–it still stretched out down one of the hallways!
I came back for one last peek about quarter to 9 to see how many people were left, and that large central area was still about half full! It was a long night for the workers, fans, and Stephenie!
ETA: Here are few more videos of the Q&A from the book signing, thanks to Ali:
- Did you know you wanted to be an author when you were a child?
- How involved with the Twilight movie were you?
-Write for Yourself
Thank you to Kylara for an awesome write-up!
WOW! I’m pretty scared now because I just got my tickets…well my parents went. And they sold them WITH the book. But anyway, they said it was a MADHOUSE! They had to re-order some tickets FAST. My parents were lucky, they got their tickets before they ran out. So I’m so happy!!
And now I’m a little afraid that it’ll be a lot of people and so little time. I’m going to have to do my homework very early. Heck, I won’t have TIME to do homework the day I go. WHAT WILL I DO?! :O
I’m going to take lots of pictures and videos for you guys, yay!
That was great………………….well i didnt get the prelast question where everyone started screaming and laughing it was something about Edward in her head and then she said she would never admitt it?
hey was it true that Stephenie was going to be Bella??
well anyway she is TOO OLD! and doesnt look like her…
is anyone gonna HELP??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Hey Nadiya, what was it??? I DESPERATELY want to know!! PLus Rosie, no she wasnt going to play Bella.
i guess not…
oh ok thanx Fatima…
r u a boy??
wow…so ecxited for the host!!
No, why does it sound like it??!!
i am gonna read it, anonymous!
I have no idea and i 2 waint too know desperatly! Fatima lol
That was the most amazing thing that I have ever done. I am glad that I went. Me and two friends skipped our last hour to get there early. I was there about 15 minutes after the first picture. I can’t believe how many people showed up! We were stupid and didn’t think about where we were going to sit, so we ended up sitting/lying on the floor! Haha. I’m glad that I got a first edition! Hope all who went had loads of fun!
GO DANNI!!!!!
I already got to read all of this on your livejournal, but it looks like you had a fantastic time!
I’m going to try to take as many photos at the Tempe signing as I can and I’ll send them to you to see.
You rock girl, awesome job! ^_^
~IC
omg, that was like a lot of people. I wonder how many people will be at the BD tour if there is one.
There’s this video in Twilight Guy and Steph read a question from a girl named Annabel (I think). I didn’t understand what she said so can anyone clear that up for me? Thanks
I was there too I am currently writing a report to post on my blog. the link should be in my name if anyone wants to check it out.
Otherwise got to simplymortal.livejournal.com
No one ever comes to Australia. IS IT REALLY THAT FAR!?
Aw, I love Ian. He is an amazing character.
I luv the pics!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all sooooooooooooooooooo bummed not to be able to go, but at least there are pictures and a comment board to discuss our thoughts!!!! ( Not that that would ever compare to actually being there…)
Aha, thanks Kayli!
My daughter Jeannette and I were there from the wee hour of the morning and camped out all day in line. We made some new friends and we all got together and made a Bear for Stephenie that we named Emmett. I also found some chocolates named Twilight and New Moon that I gave to her. We definately had a blast. Hope she comes back to do a book signing here in Minnesota for Breaking Dawn. Stephenie is an AMAZING and Wonderful giving person. I would also like to Especially THANK her husband and her sons for sharing her with all of us. Hope she has a Fabulous Mother’s Day!!! Can’t wait til August.
u guys know what’s weird? for any of you have finished reading the host… did you notice any similarites in the characters from twilight? haha i couldn’t help thinking that kyle was like emmet and ian was like mike newton for some really strange reason… or maybe thats just me…
I’m in the top picture! I felt really bad after I got my book signed because I was so nervous I babbled and said something stupid and I think I forgot to say thank you. I felt like such a jerk.
omg… i remember this!!! i was there like right when she started her presentation and i had to line up in the hallway! we were i line for about two hours! i had soooo much fun! all my friends at school were soooo jelous i brought only two of my friends and only three people out of umm i think its 3,000 kids got to see stephiene!