Hello, and welcome back to Blonde Girl Writing, where I talk about writing, God, and reading! Today I wanted to share a bit about my experience at the North Texas Teen Book Festival, or NTTBF '25.
I arrived at NTTBF pretty early, around eight in the morning. I got in line to get in, and ended up in speed dating with books. I ended up with Safe Harbor by Padma Venkatraman, which is a novel written entirely in verse, which is really cool!
After that, we headed upstairs and got into a YA panel called Senior Year and Beyond. Although I didn't recognize any of the authors it was a good time to relax and read a little.
I looked around downstairs at some of the publisher booths and put my favorite ship (Jaya) on a sticky note where everyone could see it--along with probably a hundred other sticky notes, but whatever. I also bought Red Queen from the book shop they had set up there, and it was a signed copy, too!
At 11:30 I got into a YA panel called Swords & Sorcery, which had Victoria Aveyard on it! It was so cool to see her in person and hear here answers to questions. The whole panel was fantastic--the authors were having a lot of fun with each other and they also had some great advice!
Afterwards I went looking for some food, but everything had a super long line so I decided to wait in line for the MG panel A Touch of Magic. This panel had Shannon Messenger in it, and as you can imagine the room was packed with fans. This was another great panel, and Shannon talks in the exact same way she writes her acknowledgments. The other authors were awesome, too, and I loved hearing about their books!
Finally it was time for a late lunch, so I headed to the cafe and ate some nachos. Then I chilled for a bit before getting in line for the author book signing--which was probably the craziest time of day. The line was extremely long, but it went fast and soon I was in the book signing. I had brought my copy of Stellarlune to be signed by Shannon, but her line and the overflow were completely full and closed by the time we got there. Victoria's line had also closed, so I went into Morgan Matson's line, then got Safe Harbor signed by the author--who left a very sweet note!--and headed out.
Overall, I had a lot of fun at NTTBF! I got a free book, a free fanny pack, and one copy of Red Queen, and I got to sit in on panels of published authors. It was a day filled with books, standing in line, listening to authors, and fun!
Tell me below: have you been to the North Texas Teen Book Festival? If so, when, and what was your experience like?
Have a great night!
Best wishes,
~ Jonah
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