Kiera Cass in Manila! (Too Awesome For Words So I Put Lots of Pictures)

You wouldn't believe what an incredible Saturday I had last week. 

Photo: National Bookstore

National Bookstore brought Kiera Cass to the Philippines for a 2-day book signing in Manila on August 3rd and Cebu on August 4th. Book signings with foreign authors are rare here so when I found out Kiera Cass would have one I knew I had to get my copy of The Selection signed (and The Elite which I purchased the week before). I was already stoked about going but my excitement tripled when Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm asked me to be her plus one to the blogger forum before the actual signing. HOW COOL IS THAT?! (Thanks, Jesselle!)

With Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm

It's my first time attending an author event and meeting some of my fellow bloggers so I was pretty nervous and excited at the same time. It was a mad dash from my school to Greenbelt. I, unfortunately, had a class till 11 a.m. that day and I worried I wouldn't make on time for the 12:30 p.m. forum. Thankfully, I did and I still had time to spare. I was able to mingle a bit with the bloggers I only met and talked to on Twitter.

Photo: Kate Garidan M

Then the person we've all been waiting for arrived! I easily get starstruck around celebrities/well-known people so seeing Kiera Cass in the flesh was definitely surreal. She was just... there. So close. And upbeat. And friendly! The Q&A started immediately after Kiera was introduced. I learned a lot about the world of The Selection and I was able to appreciate it more when Kiera answered every question. 

Jesselle asked a question on world building

After that we lined up to get one of our books signed. We were only allowed to get one book signed during the forum so we had to get the others signed after.

(L-R) Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm, Dianne of Oops! I Read A Book Again, Marica of Blackplume, Kai of Amaterasu Reads, Lyra of Defiantly Deviant and Leslie of Bibliophilekid 

While waiting for my turn, I thought of things to tell her while she signed my book. The best I could come up with was, "I'm a One Direction fan too!" So yeah, this is pretty much how it went:

Photo: Oops I Read A Book Again

Kiera: Oh, cute top!
Me: *grins* (omg she thinks my top is cute!!!) aww, thank you!
Kiera: *opens my book*
Me: I'm a One Direction fan too!
Kiera: *pause, looks at me* Really??
Me: Yeah but I'm more of a Liam fan. (she loves Harry Styles)
Kiera: Aww, that's alright! *signs my book*

PROBABLY THE BEST 50 SECONDS OF MY LIFE.

Kiera and her husband, Calloway, are so cute! They posed for pictures and even tugged their ears! ADORBS. FOR REAL.

Photo: Kate Garidan M

Ear tugging! Ear tugging!!!
Photo: The Soul Sisters

Bloggers and The Selection PH with Kiera Cass
Photo: Kate Garidan M

Several photo ops and awesomeness later, we went to the book signing. Let me tell you, I honestly was not expecting the turn out. More than 600 people came, all eagerly excited to see and meet Kiera. That is insane! 

A lot of screaming ensued when Kiera walked in. You'd think a rockstar arrived (well, she sorta is). She actually got teary-eyed! There was a short interview wherein Kiera explained how she came up with the book, what she's working on and who's which team she's on (she's on both teams, of course). Fan girls were going crazy trying to defend their ships.  (Go Team Maxon, by the way. Team Maxon!). One girl asked if Kiera would consider Rob Pattinson to be... blah, I didn't even hear the rest of her question because the crowd went BOOOOO! Hah! Poor kid.

Jesselle and a couple of bloggers we met at the signing. Algel of Books and Cozy Afternoon Teas and Kayla of The Bookish Owl

Then it was time to line up for the book signing. This time, I had my copy of The Elite signed. I was number 21. It took a while for me to get to Kiera. But it was worth it!!! 

Wrong angle -hello arm- but I don't care. I have another photo with Kiera!

It was definitely a memorable day for me. Seeing Kiera Cass, getting my books signed, meeting my fellow book bloggers? One for the books. Thank you National Bookstore, HarperCollins, Kiera and all the cool people who made this happen! YOU ROCK!

For more photos, check out my Facebook page Sab The Book Eater