Marissa Meyer at the Library!

If you ever get a chance to see Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder, take advantage of it.  She is a dynamic and entertaining speaker. 

Her website said she would be speaking at the Bothell Library (in a small suburb of Seattle), and when I arrived, I wondered if the two rows of chairs set up would be enough.  While I was standing there, a woman brushed against me lightly as she went up the space between the rows.  It was Marissa Meyer herself, and I was startled that she’s taller than I am.  (Okay, she was wearing heels, but it still surprised me.) 

Marissa is very gracious and took the time to pose for pictures with anyone who wanted to.  The teenage girls were thrilled at this, since Cinder and its sequel Scarlet are young adult novels.  And yes, the library staff had to about double the amount of chairs they set out. 

Marissa Meyer is an accomplished public speaker:  She spent the first half hour talking about how she got her start in writing, reading an excerpt from Scarlet, and regaling us with the old, non-Disneyfied versions of fairy stories.  Then she spent the next half hour taking questions.  She was able to answer any question with charm and good humor.   

She could tell from my questions that I’m an aspiring author, so the last thing she said to me before tackling the line for her autographs was “Good luck.”  Cinder was the breakout young adult novel of last year, and go see Marissa Meyer if she’s speaking at any location near you, not for the sake of the book, but to hear a personable author. 

She’s mastered her writer’s smile.

I’ll have to work on mine.