Northern YA Lit Fest 2023 in Preston

 As you may remember, I've been to Northern YA Litfest three times before, in 2018, 2019, and 2022. I really support it especially because it is held in the north, and I always have a really good time. This year, they didn't get the funding that they have had before, but decided to have a smaller conference, combining the YA and the children's stuff into one day. I think in general, you could tell there was less money and there were fewer volunteers, but in all, it was still a brilliant day and they had still done really well and I was glad to have gone. We will see what happens next year!

Lee and I set off around 8am and got to Preston about 9.30 even though the rain was really heavy on parts of the M62 (also I really hate the M62). I managed to pick up some proofs from the table which is always exciting, and I looked around some of the stalls. There weren't many but the ones there were were very cute! 

We headed into the "Getting Into Publishing" panel first, which was interesting even though I don't really want to get into publishing! I talked to one of the panellists later and it turned out she grew up in Wakefield like I did! Too weird! Next was "Demystifying the Author Journey" which had Danielle Jawando as one of the panellists. I really enjoyed one of her books last year so I really liked listening to her. She signed my book afterwards which was great too. 

Next was the "Being You" panel which was brilliant - I really enjoyed that one. Sara Barnard is always good and her new book sounds amazing. I bought it and got her to sign it afterwards. It is always a pleasure to see her on a panel. I will have to pick the book up soon! 

The cafeteria wasn't open this year, which was a shame, but I guess it's because it was out of term time. Lee went along to Tesco and got us some sandwiches which we ate in the atrium. That did mean that we were slightly late for the next panel, which was a bit annoying - it wasn't our fault, it was just because of lunch! 

The panel was "The Strange and The Sinister" which included Laura Steven and Cynthia Murphy, both of whom I was really excited to see. It was a funny and fun panel. I spoke to them both afterwards and got books signed. I only bought three books this year which is some kind of record for me! I did also buy some merch - you can see those photos at the end of this post. 

The last panel we saw was You Cannot Be Serious, which again was really funny. I spoke to Dee afterwards and she was lovely. We did another scan of the stalls and stuff, but decided to leave around 3.30. I think there might have been another panel afterwards, but the information wasn't really given, so we didn't know. But! We were glad to get home early and we ordered Chinese food for tea. 

I was wearing my Be Gay Solve Crimes t shirt which is to do with Robin Stevens, and there was someone else there in the exact same t shirt! There were many amazing outfits and some people were really dressed up for Barbie! It was so much fun. I had such a good day, as usual. 

In the very first panel

In the second one

Here's me and Danielle Jawando

And here's the Being You panel with a panel leader in a Topsy Curvy dress which was SO good

There's me and Sara Barnard. My necklace came from Black Heart Creatives in their closing down sale

The Strange and The Sinister panel. We had to sit a bit further up for this one, but this in general is a really accessible room and space for me

The last panel we saw

Here's my outfit when we got home

Here's the books I got! The first five were proofs and the last three I bought, all of which I'm very excited to read

And finally here's the stickers and pin I bought. The pin says "Hello I am a blogger" which I love!

Northern YA Lit Fest 2022 in Preston

It's back! We're back! Back in person at a conference! I was so excited to go! 

I went to Northern YA Lit Fest in 2018 and 2019 and had tickets for 2020 when it had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, so I'm a big supporter of the festival and was so excited to be back. It actually took place over two days, with the second day focussing on middle grade and children's books and authors. However, I know I wouldn't be able to cope with this, so I opted to just go on the YA day. I asked Lee to come with me to carry books and generally be helpful, but actually as the festival was less well attended than previously, I probably would have been fine by myself. But no worries, he enjoyed himself. 

We set off around 8.10 and managed to get to Preston by just after 9.30, meaning we had plenty of time to get checked in and walk round the stalls. There were some good stalls, but I'd have liked a couple more I think. There was also some confusion as to which events were being held where, which could have been avoided by signs or by it being printed in the programme. I had signed up to the two panels featuring agents, as I'm trying to get agented myself, so I headed there. Lee didn't think they sounded too interesting, so he got himself a hot chocolate and sat in the break out areas playing on his Switch. 

I first of all watched "The Publishing Process" which was engaging and interesting, and then watched "Getting Your Pitch Right" which veered off subject slightly but was still fun to watch. There was a lot of talk about Heartstopper and how it has hopefully shown that YA is very sellable, which I liked. 

By this time it was 12 and there were some signings. I had taken some books that I've already read for signing, and bought a bunch more from the stalls. I spoke to Cynthia Murphy and she signed my journal as I read her book but it was from the library so I didn't have it for signing. The signings were a lot better this year, but again that's maybe because there were fewer people there. Queues weren't stupidly long and moved quickly. I was impressed!

There's a canteen right off the room where the stalls are, so we went in there for lunch. It was cheap and seats were plentiful so that was good. Before long it was 1pm and it was time to watch "The World We Live In" which included Simon James Green who was very funny and who also talked about having a school visit to a Catholic boys school cancelled recently, which was sad. It was good. Then came Living, Loving and Laughing which was very good, we both enjoyed that one. Two of the authors managed to sell themselves to me so Lee hotfooted it back to Ebb and Flo book stall to buy their books for me for the signings which were next. I also got copies for my friend Sam for her birthday, and both authors put a birthday message to her in the books which was lovely of them. 

It wasn't obvious who everyone was at the signing tables and obviously, as there were different panels/workshops going on, you may not have seen everyone in the room. Signs on tables could have helped here. As it was I had to google C G Moore to check what he looked like before taking over my copies of his books for signing. 

The last panel at 4pm was one about fantasy, and I found it interesting even though fantasy is not really my genre. Accessibility and accessible seats were a lot better this year, which I'm glad about. At 5pm I took a last look at all the stalls. There were far fewer proof copies this year which is a shame but not really something to worry about. I had bought many books! I had a really good time. 

I had done some research beforehand into good vegetarian food in the area and found RK Dining which is Indian street food that is all vegetarian or vegan. This was extremely exciting to me! It was just down the road from UCLan where the festival had been held, and we got a table easily. The problem was there was too much choice! I went for samosa chaat to start with then masala paneer which came with three rotis so I didn't get rice. I also had a mango lassi. Lee went for a mixed starter (where he let me try everything) and Bombay potatoes, which also came to roti. That cost us the grand total of £25 which was a bargain! 

There's a deli attached to the restaurant so we bought some stuff there to have for tea later in the week which is a treat too! I would recommend the place if you're in the area, it's quick, authentic, and delicious!

My dress, if you're wondering, is the Mary Poppins dress from Carolina Dress Room. I have worn it before but not for ages, and I thought it would be cute for a literary festival. I got a lot of compliments on it. 

I can't wait until next year! 

In the agent events are the beginning of the day

Living, Loving and Laughing

Me and Simon James Green!

The Fight For What's Right

Samosa chaat

Lee's mixed starter

Mango lassi, it was so good! 

Masala paneer

Lee's Bombay potatoes

As I said I did take a few books to get signed that I already owned, which aren't pictured, but there are all the books I bought (most of them are now signed). The middle one at the bottom is a proof I was given!

Northern YA Lit Fest 2019

Saturday the 16th was Northern YA Lit Fest again. I went with my partner Lee again, across to Preston. We set off really early but didn't manage to make it in time for the first panel, so when we arrived just after 10am we wandered round the stalls for a bit. This year the fest was in a different building at UCLan, so there was a big space for around ten stalls. I again had Christmas and birthday money left over so I had made sure to take that with me.

The first panel was Feminist Fantasy with Melinda Salisbury, Samantha Shannon, Laure Eve, and Rose Edwards. I'm not much of a fantasy fan but when I do read it I like it to be overly feminist, so this was ideal. I really liked it, I thought they were all engaging, and Lee said he thought it was the best panel of the day.

Straight afterwards were signings. We were lucky to get pretty close to the front of the queue. I use a walking stick these days and when we got to Melinda she said, "Oh, if you need to push in to the front of the queue ask a member of staff, no author minds if you do that!" I thought this was a really good thing for her to tell me as I hadn't thought about it - I'm just getting used to asking for early access to gigs so this wasn't on my radar yet.  I did ask a couple of times later in the day, and at the very end Lee stood in the queue for me because I was in so much pain. But altogether this venue and organisation were much more accessible than last year's.

I got books signed by Melinda, Laure, and then found Will Hill who had been in the first panel. I read his excellent book After the Fire on Kindle, so don't have a paper copy. I apologised and asked Will to sign my journal instead. I told him that I liked the book especially as my undergraduate degree was in Theology. Cults really are so fascinating; I'm sad we missed the first panel.

It was lunchtime at this point, so Lee and I went into the cafe just next to the stalls, which was ideal. They had quite a few choices and it was cheap, and there were tons of seats. Then we had another wander round the stalls and I bought a few books. We were also offered a few free books, so I picked up Rose Edwards' novel The Harm Tree and then went back to the signing area for her to sign it.

The next panel was Inclusiveness in YA, chaired by Aimee Felone, with Non Pratt, Bali Rai, Mel Darbon, and A J Hartley. I loved this panel, I thought Bali Rai was speaking really passionately about diversity, and I like Non Pratt anyway. In the signings afterwards I had a nice conversation with Bali (and he was being very complimentary about another blogger, I love it when authors love us) and with Non.

2.30 saw us back in the main lecture hall for a panel on Shame with Katherine Webber, Melvin Burgess, Laura Steven, and Tamsin Winter. I was SO excited to see Melvin Burgess - I am sure that I write YA myself partly because of his books. I told him this in the signing and he was so encouraging about my writing which was really nice to hear.

The lecture theatre was a good venue, but I wish there had been a notice to leave one of the front rows for disabled people as going further up really wasn't good for me. The last panel was Mental Health in YA, chaired by Lisa Williamson with Alice Broadway, Sara Barnard, Akemi Dawn Bowman, and Alexandra Sheppard. I took books I already owned to be signed, and bought a bunch more.

It is a fantastic conference, just big enough to feel big and small enough to be cosy. It was well organised. I can't wait for next year!

Feminist Fantasy panel

Inclusiveness in YA panel

Shame-less panel

Mental Health in YA panel

These were all the books I came home with - I bought five of them, and I got The Harm Tree, Watch Us Rise, and the one with the girl on it in the left middle for free! I can't wait to get to these!

Northern YA Lit Festival!

On Saturday I went to the first Northern YA Festival, held in Preston at one of the university buildings. I was so happy when I first heard of this festival, being held in the north, so I knew I had to go. I booked tickets way back in January and booked for Lee to come with me. He hasn't been to anything like this before, but I hoped he would enjoy himself and he also packed his Nintendo Switch in case he got bored.

We set off bright and early on Saturday morning as I wasn't wholly sure how long it would take to get there and find parking. The first panel wasn't until 11am, and we actually managed to get there just before 10! We parked the car and went into the building. There was already a little queue, so we joined it. We were let in just after 10 and were immediately given a very cute tote bag - all book conferences include tote bags and I'm always very happy with them! I use them afterwards for crochet projects and in the supermarket, so they don't go unused.

The whole conference took place in one room. At the back there were some tables for signing, and some stalls. There was someone selling book themed cupcakes, and one stall which was selling books published by UCLan university itself. There was another publisher stall which was giving away two books each as well as a bunch of bookish postcards, stickers, badges, all of that stuff. I picked up a couple of books and Lee picked up a couple for my friend, who had wanted to go to the conference but couldn't due to illness. I bought a couple of books at the UCLan stall. I had some Christmas money left over and let's just say I didn't come home with much of it! There was also a Waterstones stall, where I bought more books, and Taken Moons were there selling their lovely candles! I think the number of stalls was just right for the number of people that were there.

The first panel was Getting Into Publishing and it was really interesting. Anna Day, who wrote The Fandom, was the only author I was familiar with, but they were all really interesting and I enjoyed the panel. I thought the panel leader was especially good, he directed the panel really well.

Then it was lunchtime so Lee and I headed across the road to eat. We were going to go to Subway but it was packed, so we went two doors down to a falafel place. It was SUCH good food, I really enjoyed it. We went back to the venue and spoke to a few people before the Feminism in YA panel started. I thought it was a good panel too. I love Annabel Pitcher, we've met a couple of times before and I like her books. It was really nice to hear Katherine Webber, too. In the signings afterwards I gave them some of my business cards with my blog address on, since I've reviewed some of their books recently. I have to say that the signing queues were really well organised and moved quickly, which was great.

The next event was Alwyn Hamilton in conversation about her books. I haven't read any of hers and they're not my usual genre, so Lee and I sat at the back and he played on his Switch for a bit. I was texting a friend a bit but I was paying attention too, and Alwyn came across really well, very interesting and passionate about her books. I enjoyed this bit more than I thought I would! I didn't think I owned any of her books, but I think I do have Rebel of the Sands somewhere, I'll have to find it!

The last event was Holly Black in conversation about her books. I have read a lot about her stuff and although again it's not my usual genre, I like the sound of The Cruel Prince so I bought it at the conference. I also got a bunch of swag to go with it, including a really gorgeous tarot style card. Holly was really engaging too and I liked this panel even though I was getting really tired by this point! Fortunately I was near to the front of the signing queue for Holly, so once I'd spoken to her Lee and I were ready to go. It wasn't even half past five!

We got home safely and ordered a takeaway, then decided to watch Star Wars. I was so tired as I always am after conferences, but I thought it was really well done. I have a few comments, like I would have liked more booksellers, and maybe a breakout room, but honestly it was really well done to say it was the first one. I hope there'll be another one next year as I'll definitely go!

I took quite a few photos:

Lee and I waiting in the queue

The book themed cupcakes! Can you see your favourite? I actually bought some of the other flavoured ones she had - the mint ones and the chocolate orange ones were really delicious so I'm sure these were too

Getting ready for the first panel

Anna Day and Teri Terry in the signings afterwards. Anna was very nice!

The frankly amazing falafel I had for lunch. 

The Feminism in YA panel. Laura Steven introduced the panel but didn't stay on it, but her book sounded interesting so I bought it too 

The signing queue towards the end - it was much bigger than this at one point

Alwyn Hamilton - this was taken from the very back of the seating so apologies for quality! She was wearing the most amazing jumpsuit

These are all the books I gt signed. I already owned four of these so took them along, but I bought the others

Lee stole the Patrick Ness poster off the wall at the very end of the event when someone was beginning to remove them

Lee picked up Moxie and How To Bee for my friend, for free. The free ones I chose were A Sky Painted Gold and No Fixed Address, they both looked really interesting. Pillars of Light and Cold Bath Street were both published by UCLan's in house publisher, they were £5 each and I was intrigued by them. The Jacqueline Wilson book is like some kind of fanzine, and it was a whole pound! So I had to have it. Oh, and David Massey had a stall too, his books were all £5 each too. I bought these two as they sounded interesting, he signed them for me.

Finally, here's all the bookish swag I picked up. I love the stickers, and the Fangirl postcard is definitely going on my wall. I divided some of this with my friend, she's a teacher so she likes the chapter samplers as they're useful for students. I hope she likes it all!