This past weekend, I had the fantastic opportunity to attend LeakyCon Lit in Chicago, thanks largely in part to me whining to my mom for, like, ever about how badly I wanted to go, and wouldn’t it be the greatest birthday gift?
Fast-forward six months to August, and we’re flying into Chicago about three hours late. It’s midnight, and it’s raining. In about nine hours, I’ll be in the presence of a slew of amazing YA authors, like Maureen Johnson, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor, and John Green. I’m stoked.
For those of you who’ve never heard of it, LeakyCon is an annual Harry Potter convention that involves a ton of very loud, hyper teenagers dressed in Hogwarts uniforms. With wands. There’s probably more to it than that, but I was specifically part of the LeakyCon Lit track, so my interactions with those in the regular program were limited to the vendors area and elevators.
Since I’m in the minority of Harry Potter readers who have little attachment to the stories, the Lit track was a great alternative for me. LeakyCon Lit is a two day event that involves panels and signings with some of the best authors in YA, and I loved it even more than I thought I would.
Over my next few days of posting, I’m going to be talking in detail about my experiences at LeakyCon Lit, advice I heard, and which authors were totally nice and awesome and cool. (Although, honestly, they all were!)
The panels were not only fun, but they hit on a lot of really important topics, like sexism in the publishing industry, the challenges of writing, and unhappiness with the final result.
Even more than that, though, I learned something else at LeakyCon Lit: Never ever EVER give up hope. On your writing, or yourself.
Inkwell 