BOOK SIGNING: BECCA FITZPATRICK IN MANILA 2014.

Where I relive the experience and share all the feels before, during and after meeting these fantastic authors WHO ARE BASICALLY LIFE.

I just experienced one of the best days in my bookish life! Yesterday, March 29, 2014, I attended National Bookstore's Bloggers Forum event in Powerbooks, Greenbelt. I met Becca Fitzpatrick up close and this by far has been truly a neat event (not that the past events weren't). The exclusivity of the forum was just so heart-warming that I couldn't stop giggling and fangirling the entire day! It was also super nice to bond once more with my #PHYABookBloggers Team that our friendship grows crazier and crazier! Here are some of the pics we took and I am telling you, WE WILL  BEAT THAT OSCARS SELFIE.

Of course, we had the chance to ask Becca questions and this introvert (she claims it) author isn't just sweet and shy and all that but she's so pretty in person. I love her simple outfit yesterday and OMG HER HAIR?? WE TOUCHED IT. It was just this beautiful golden curly hair that I want to have! I like how she's soft spoken and warm and I really adore her laugh. Okay. Am starting to sound like a creepy stalker already so let's jump over the Q and A!

What is the inspiration behind Black Ice since it is way different from Hush, Hush?

• Her family's camping trip to a mountain in Wyoming when she was in high school. But she was sick and wasn't able to go so she watched a horror movie. Some sort of a Stockholm syndrome. That inspired Black Ice.

How is Hush. Hush series different from other Young Adult novels about fallen angels?

• She have not read any other YA novels inspired by fallen angels. When she gets reader feedback, it is always Patch that they bring up. She thinks Patch is what really draws people to the book.

In Finale, did she plan Scott's death from the start or was it unexpected?

• Scott made this oath in the beginning of Finale that he would do anything to protect Nora. So his death is him fulfilling that oath. She did know from the start that Scott's going to die and that is the only part of Finale that made her cry.

What made her deviate from Paranormal to Psychological Thriller genre and does she think it highlights her diversity as an author?

• It is just so refreshing to try something new, to challenge herself. When she submitted Sapphire Skies' draft to her editor, she was told it was the best book she's written so far which excited her. It made her feel that she can finally branch out to different things and not fail completely.

*teaser from Sapphire Skies*
It tells a story about a girl named Stella from Philadelphia and she witnesses a brutal crime. She's put to a witness protection program in Nebraska. She resents her situation and just wanted to get home. However, she's beginning to fall in love with this handsome cowboy who lives next door. So she's torn to stay for the cowboy or keep moving so the bad guys wouldn't find her.

Is there any vulnerability with Nora and Patch's relationship?

• If she posts new scenes from Patch's point of view, it would be because of Chyna (she's the one who asked this question). There's always vulnerability in every relationship. Like trust and security.

If she could go back and change something in her books, what would those be?

• She wouldn't change the publisher process but there are things she wanted to change. She said she has to think she's done the best she could and let go of whatever she has written and hope that readers would love her stories. Or else, she would just sit in her office and write the books over and over again.

Out of all the characters, to whom she feels so close to?

• Vy. Her character is inspired by two of her childhood best friends. Vy's character takes her back to her childhood because whenever she writes about her, she always knows what the character would say and how she would act because of the inspiration behind the character.

What inspired you to write bad boy Patch?

• Patch was inspired by a guy she knows in high school. When she wrote the very first draft or Hush, Hush, Patch was not a fallen angel. He's just a normal guy but I know Patch has a deep dark secret but she didn't know what it was. She thought at the end of the draft, she would know Patch well enough and know his secret but she didn't. The she thought of his character and realized she wanted him to be a good guy at some point, a guy with morals and someone you look up to. And his fall was literal, he fell from grace. It became perfect for her because Fallen Angels were the original bad boys.

Does she agree to people comparing Nora with Bella from Twilight?

• Since she doesn't read reviews, she didn't know there are comparisons. She personally loves Twilight and she's okay with comparisons. She started writing Hush, Hush even before Twilight was published. Though she didn't have the paranormal aspect in her story back then, it was still about this boy and this girl falling in love, and she feels confident that people will say whatever they want but the story is different. She wouldn't really mind comparisons.

If Patch is real and he wants to take her to a date, what would be her dream date and why?

• She feels she's too old for Patch now but she wants to have a quite and romantic night with him.

 Which of the books she have written is her favorite?

• Probably Sapphire Skies.

If the Hush, Hush movie adaptation will push through, how much hands on would she want to be involved in?

• She feels like her talents aren't in movie making but in writing stories. She would love to visit the set, though.

What is the most challenging part in writing did she encounter?

• Crescendo by far. She was under a lot of pressure after Hush, Hush became successful. To make Crescendo as much as good. She remember turning her draft to her editor and she hated it. It wasn't good enough. She remember feeling demoralized and thinking she will never be able to do this. There was even a point she told her editor, Crescendo will be the last book she'll ever write and she's done, she's retiring from writing. She got through it and she knows she would never hit that low point again. It was a nice experience, to hit rock bottom and only to go up from there. The worst is over and that was when she started to feel a little confident that she could push through. She wouldn't change that experience because that taught her about persevering, believing in herself and keep going.

What are you currently reading?

• Quiet (Non-fiction about introverts), Earthbound and some Nora Roberts book.

Her biggest fears when Hush, Hush was first published.

• She didn't have a lot of fears because she didn't think a lot of people would read the book.

She signed all my books. Even our Polaroid photo (Thanks to Louisse) and the box!

ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EVENT (aside from meeting the Philippines' Sales representative of Simon and Schuster and Alethea of Read Now, Sleep Later) WAS WHEN THEY EACH GAVE US AN ADVANCED READING COPY OF BECCA'S NEW BOOK, BLACK ICE!!!

Selfie with Becca!!

Cannot thank National Bookstore, Simon and Schuster and Becca Fitzpatrick enough for making this day grand!! I am just lost for words. Thank you, thank you!! Definitely one of the best days ever in my bookish life!!