April 26, 2014
(Saturday)-Filipino bookworms gathered at Glorietta 1 for a very much
anticipated event. It’s the book signing
tour of the three New York Times Best Selling authors, Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me
Series), Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Hollow City),
and Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky Series).
Eager fans of these awesome
authors waited in line as early as 1:45 or 1:54 AM (I’m not sure :P) to
personally meet them and have their books signed. I was 10th in line
at that time. The level of excitement was palpable in the air. I was actually
amazed by the dedication of the early birds. It looked like they camped out for
the said event. There were about 2000 bookworms who attended the event.
Fast forward to the actual event:
Due to the huge number of
attendees, NBS has limited the number of books to be signed per person.
Glorietta Activity Center was packed with fans. We’re kind of cramped in that
small space but hey if you’re cramped with your fellow bookworms while
fangirling..well that wouldn’t be much of an issue. However, I thought ... Is
there any other way that NBS could get a larger venue? (Just suggesting…)
Anyway, after an hour of waiting
(the event was supposed to start by 2 PM), our most awaited moment finally
came. As Mafi, Riggs, and Rossi came out to the stage, we were all shouting. It
was really intense. I was pretty sure it took 5 minutes or more before the crowd
settled and the interview started.
The interview was quite good
though there are some awkward moments with the host. Like seriously, why would
there be a question about how Shatter Me is compared to Disney’s Frozen? Oh and
there’s the microphone issue. Gosh, they could have checked it first before
they went on with the interview. Nevertheless, the awkward moments were filled
with nice ones such as the moment in which the audience even sang Let It Go
when Tahereh Mafi said that she liked the song in Frozen. Another highlight in
the interview was Mafi and Riggs telling us about their love story. We were all swooning over Ransereh. Then, there's Veronica Rossi. She's so nice and gorgeous. I mean, I can't help but be dazzled by her smile (I know I sound creepy) but it's true.
*Look at Ransereh. They're so adorable right? Who's fangirling with me?*
After the interview, the fans
lined up for their books to be signed. In my opinion, that was the moment that
it became really unorganized. People’s numbers were called out and I felt as if
we were hurried by the NBS staff. It’s unfair, especially to the people who
went to the event early. Not even one book was personalized. The authors were
asking the staff if they can put the name but they said that it wasn’t allowed
because of the number of attendees. To be honest, it’s disappointing. Don’t get
me wrong, I am just saying this because this is what happened at the event. As
much as I love NBS for bringing our favorite authors here in the Philippines, I
just hope that they will improve the Book Signing experience for the bookworms.
