Gayle Forman signing recap + a giveaway

The first signing of the year, and judging from how it went, I'm pretty sure 2014 is going to be an awesome year for us YA readers and bookworms!

Best selling author Gayle Forman is the first author to visit the Philippines this year for a signing, and she's just lovely! As always, I'm starstruck whenever I get to see an author whom I admired up close. And Gayle Forman is one of them.

One of the things I love about signings, aside from meeting my favorite authors, is meeting my book blogger friends. We don't get to see each other that often, but when we do, it's always a spazzfest of books and authors and fictional hot boys! I love these people here.

Gayle answering questions.

I was lucky to get a chance to ask Gayle a question, and I was so nervous that I didn't even get to say hi. I felt like I was mumbling as well, but it turned out fine in the end. I really need to compose myself during Q&As.

A quick rundown of some of her answers to some of the questions:

- If Gayle was to branch out of YA Contemporary: Some people refer to If I Stay as a paranormal, so she has somehow already "branched out". Gayle loves writing about the world we live in right now, and that's why she writes YA contemporary.

- Gayle was pretty much involved with the making of If I Stay's movie, and she cried 4 times when she was reading the script.

- Gayle has a new book coming out Winter 2015, the name is I WAS HERE.

- The name of the main character in the book is Ben.

- She was pretty much singing a lot of songs because there were a lot of music related questions. *sings Let It Go~*

The public signing, as I expected, was pretty much jampacked. There were a ton of people already waiting for Gayle (that includes us!) and everyone was all smiles and screaming when she walked to the stage. This is what happened once she got on stage:

Gayle removed her jacket (like a rockstar!), walked off the stage and took a selfie with everyone in the crowd holding up their books. I told you, she's awesome!

Ms. Xandra Ramos of NBS asking Gayle some questions before the signing starts.

There was a fan who was crying her eyes out (lucky fan, actually) when she got a chance to ask Gayle a question, and Gayle got off the stage again, this time with a box of tissues ready and offered it to the fan.

A friend of mine got to the signing around 11 am and her number was 454. 454 and the mall has only opened for an hour then! I heard from an NBS staff that the line started around 8 am, two hours before the mall even opened. WOW. Just... wow.

Thank you so much National Bookstore for another wonderful event! It was such a long day, but it's so worth it! I get to much such a lovely lady who is so smart and friendly and sweet and it's another wonderful experience I can add to my bookish adventures.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
A MYSTERY BOOK FROM MY PILE

It totally slipped my mind to buy an extra book which I should've asked to be signed for a giveaway, but to make up for that, if you win this giveaway then I will send you a book from my current pile. It's a secret, and I won't tell you what it is, you just have to wait for the package to arrive at your doorstep and see what it is. I'll give you a clue though: It's going to be an early 2014 and late 2013 release.

Rules:

Open to everyone

Ends Feb. 1

Must be at least 13 years old to enter

Just leave a comment and tell me what your favorite Gayle Forman book is and why. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you help spread the word (Twitter, FB, Tumblr, etc), you get an extra point!

Update:

The winner for this contest has been picked. Thanks to randomizer.org, who picked:

Congratulations Jayvee! Please check your inbox for my e-mail.

Thanks everyone for joining!