A Very Late Recap

I don't know why but writing out my thoughts on anything the last few months has been near impossible. A lot happened in July, I honestly could have done several posts. Instead you guys are getting this condensed version. Which might be better anyway.

July started for me at midnight on the 4th when my sister and I pulled an all nighter to binge season 3 of Stranger Things. I hadn't done that in awhile and oddly enough only started feeling sleepy in the last 10 mins of the last episode. It was not the fun, 80's extravaganza I signed up for, but I adored every minute.

It was a blast and we both ended up crying.

Still don't like talking about the end. *cries*

My Havok story was also posted that day, and in my half asleep state I got a bunch of lovely notifications from friends sharing it, and a handful of amazing comments. You guys are the best! Which was a great way to start er end the day. I slept off an on and honestly didn't recover for about three days.

After that I started prepping for Realm Makers. I say 'prepping' very loosely. As most of it was me having anxiety attacks and trying to cancel it. While everyone else was probably cleaning up their manuscripts and preparing pitches. I was watching Gilmore Girls lots of Gilmore Girls. We finished up all the seasons and the revival. It's so good!

Basically I prepared by pretending it wasn't happening. Don't get me wrong I was excited to meet everyone, but I was worried. Worried that I wouldn't fit the image of me that they had in their heads. I was also in a bad place mentally, and I didn't feel like I could pull myself together for it. I'm glad I didn't pitch, because my stress level was already off the charts. 

I'm so glad that I went despite all of that. It was amazing!!!! I wish I had the words to express how much this conference meant to me. The conference itself was so informative and encouraging and I took so many gems away from it, but then there were the people. The people, for the first time in a long time I felt like I fit somewhere.

To be in a room full of writers and creative people, created this buzzing energy that was incredible to experience.

I got to meet so many of you guys!!! That alone is priceless to me. I've been calling you guys my friends for a long time. Which you all are, but getting to solidify that in person was incredible.( Also reassuring for my mom who watches too much true crime)

Katie  was the first person to meet up with me directly. We had bonded over our love of atmospheric settings and Maggie Stiefvater's books. I made my dad wait with me to meet her, because I was incredibly nervous. But as soon as we met, it was honestly like we knew each other forever. She put me at complete ease.We ended up going to Starbucks and for lunch, and got to talk for a long time. We just clicked, She's one of those people you feel you can tell anything to. She has such a calming presence. I remember thinking that if she was the only person I met, all of it would have been worth it. 

After that I started running into everyone at once. It was almost overwhelming but in a good way, there was just so much I wanted to say to each person because they all mean the world to me, and I met them all at once, and kinda attempted to breathlessly tell them that. Not sure if I was successful.

Christine

Christine and I have been fangirling over each other's characters for years. She has kept me writing, just by her pure enthusiasm for my writing. She'll send me all caps emails that make me cry, and I knew meeting her would be like meeting a best friend. We got to have one of those internet friends moment. When I saw her screeched her name and we ran at each other for a squealing hug. I got to have a Christine hug!!! She is an actual human sunbeam, and just being around her is amazing. I love that she is one of the sweetest people I've ever met, but she writes the sassiest characters and these emotionally destructive books. A true hufflepuff! We kept saying it felt like we knew each other for years. 

Deborah

Deborah has this amazing story in the works called the Other Half of Everything, and it's like a marriage of everything that I love, Sherlock, Howl's Moving Castle, and Deborah's brilliance and wit.  We have similar tastes. I'm proud to say I'm Teague's number one fan, so when this story takes off, I can claim him. She's amazing!!! We both share a huge love for Diana Wynne Jones, I think she might even have me beat. She's also so sweet, and just getting to meet her in person was incredible. She gives amazing hugs and has the most soft and stunningly beautiful hair that you've ever seen. Meeting her was a dream!

Savannah

I have never seen someone give off as much joy and enthusiasm as Savannah. She inspired the heck out of me. She was like a ball of energy, she gave everyone her complete attention and was constantly on the move. She would encourage and motivate people with their pitches and honestly just seemed up for everything. Getting to talk about our characters together was amazing. She's an absolute joy to be around. She's also insanely talented, and her stories drip with magic.

Faith 

Again just an absolute sweetheart. Her expression when we were all waiting for her to arrive was priceless. Also somehow managed to wear liquid eyeliner in a heat wave, what a legend. She's a coffee addict too, and loves a good antihero. She also loves to torment her characters and her readers, but we won't talk about that. It was so fun to rant about characters with her. She also draws her characters, a double threat. She's awesome!

Tracey

My fellow Canadian and long time beta reader. She's just a gem, guys! Her Tris Prior costume was perfection, and she has this quiet grace about her, that I wish I had. Her story The Brightest Thread is a stunning Sleeping Beauty story, it has such cool imagery and an amazing male character who gardens in his spare time. Basically I love him. So glad we finally got to meet!!! Wish we had gotten to talk more, but the bit that we did was awesome.

Ashley

I already felt like Ashley and I were best friends. This just confirmed what I already knew. We emailed each other constantly, and her blog is one of my all time favorites. We both love Reid, who she did an excellent cosplay of! Getting to meet her in person was everything. Her, Katie, and I hung out a lot and had a plethora of deep and silly conversations. We all really hit it off. I feel like she really understands me, which is a rare thing for me. She has such awesome style, and a far better taste in music than me. She also seems to have a knack for collecting infj friends. One of my favorite moments was after the banquet we found into this room with a round couch and just tucked in and talked for hours. She's amazing!

Nicole

Another sweetheart. Okay their all sweet, an adorable bean if you will. I think it took me a minute to realize that I did in fact know Nicole, I need to read the name tags next time. Anyway she was awesome and we got to chat quite a bit. She dressed as Luna Lovegood for the banquet which suited her perfectly. She's lovely!

Madeline J

So nice! I'm so mad that I didn't realize that I knew Madeline earlier. She left me the most amazing review for Falling Snow that made me cry, and I've been following her blog for quite a bit. I don't know if  I remembered to thank her. She was so understanding and sweet, and I'm kicking myself that we didn't get to talk more. I'm glad I figured it out who she was before the end of the conference.

Lisa

I've followed Lisa for a bit, and though I'm not the most faithful blog follower, she did end up remembering who I was. We were both part of a beta group called the pack. It was funny moment in the bathroom, where she was like "Oh, your that Skye, my Skye." It was a great moment.

Sarah

Sarah found me on the last night, and I had tried looking for her the previous day. I'm so glad she did. Once again I regret I didn't find her earlier so we could have talked more, but I'm glad we got to meet. She was so nice! I also got to meet Julian too. They were both incredibly sweet.

Victoria

I only got to talk to Victoria for about 5 minutes before the Opening Keynote started. But it was great to see her. She's recently gotten an agent and I can't wait to see her books on shelves sometime soon.(I love the dazed over caffeinated look in my eye. That's what under five hours of sleep gets you)

Christine Eyre is the one in red :)

Christine Eyre

Another beautiful friend I made. Christine is so sweet and talented. She paints gorgeous watercolors and is so easy to talk to. She's smart as a whip too. She walked me to my room the night I left along with Christine Smith. And we had an emotional goodbye with plenty of hugs. I'm really glad I met her. We became fast friends.

I made a bunch of new friends actually. Which honestly is such a rare thing. So shoutout to Mary Liz, Hanna Rothfuss,  Kendra E. Ardnek . Oh and Maria who's a stunning artist. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

All of you were amazing and it was a pleasure to meet you.

Basically everyone was amazing and I wish I had gotten to talk to them all longer. The three days went by pretty quickly. It was such a great trip! I'm so glad I went. My Dad and I had to catch a flight at 6:00 am and waking up at 3:00 am was probably the worst part.We made it home safely, and with no delays, thankfully.

Oh and I dressed up as Blue from Raven Boys for the banquet, I at least attempted to. (Ashley took this photo, it's my favorite)

July was a bit of a whirlwind for me as you can probably tell.

I hope this post wasn't unbearably long.