Written sometime after April 12, 2008
On Saturday I went to the gym with everything I needed to work out, shower, and go to the book signing in Huntington Beach later that afternoon. Because most of my jeans were dirty that morning I brought a skirt to wear to the book store, and it’s a good thing too because it was HOT. We’re talking upper 90s to near 100 – something that never happens in a West Coast city with “Beach” in its name. So when I got to Barnes and Noble after my workout I abandoned my jacket (usually a staple for me year-round in LA) in the car because the thought of wearing it in that heat was unbearable, no matter how much sun it kept off my skin. Also, taking a shower at the gym seemed useless because I got incredibly sweaty just walking from my car to the book store (I walked a fair distance away because it was a Saturday and the shopping center was quite full). Meeting Cassandra Clare was awesome, though. There weren’t very many people there for the event (and most of the other patrons were giggly teenagers), but she read a little from the draft of her third book and then signed everyone’s copy of her current book. Way back when Cassie was writing Harry Potter fan fiction she sent out Christmas cards to her loyal readers so I brought one with me to prove that I was a long-time fan. She got a kick out of that. Plus, her boyfriend recognized that I was wearing a Potter Puppet Pals t-shirt so I got props for that.

Note (added on 5/23/10): I never really finished off this post when I first wrote it, but I did attend another one of Cassandra Clare’s book signings for her third book on March, 23. 2009 and she remembered me! I think it helped that I wore my Potter Puppet Pals shirt again, but I was probably also memorable for being one of the only fans over the age of 16. That doesn’t keep me from reading her books, though, and I’m looking forward to more of her book signings in the future.