CHCC YA Fest

It has taken me a while to get my thoughts together but here's my update on the marvellous Chadwell Heath Community Centre Young Adult Festival. The first thing that caught my eye as I walked in was the swag table, where I managed to get myself proofs of A Sky Painted Gold and Zenith. There were also some cute badges and bookmarks. In addition there were copies of books hidden around the venue where I found Unveiling Venus.

 

There were lots of interesting panels, with authors discussing Villains, Best Friends and First Loves in their books, as well as a writing workshop and Chloe Seager giving us some Literary Agent tips. When I eventually get round to writing my bestseller I will definitely be getting myself an agent!

I got to meet Will Hill who signed my copy of After the Fire with some very good advice. This is one of my favourite books in a while, if you haven't read it yet then get on it now!

Some of the other authors in attendance were Elizabeth and Katherine Corr, Alice Osman and Non Pratt. Hearing them all speak about their books has definitely made me add a few to my TBR list (already towering and ready to topple and kill me in my sleep) and books were available to buy at the venue.

The festival was a fun, intimate and cosy event. It was very well organised so you could attend all the panels and still have your books signed. At some festivals I've been to there's a trade off between signings and panels which can be very disappointing. At the end there were refreshments, raffles and games where you could win even more books and book-related goodies. The venue was great, what better place for a festival than in a library? And there were some great decorations around the place, including the room of requirement doubling up as the green room.

It's a shame that the festival couldn't go ahead as a 2 day event as originally planned but I had a great time anyway and I'm very glad to hear that it will be back next year. I'm sure it will be even bigger and better.