Velveteen was on my radar right away and when I found out that Danny Marks was going to be signing at MGRB, I knew I was going.
We got up to the store early and when I walked by LeAnna’s office, Danny was already there. LeAnna waved me over and somehow I ended up sitting in the back room, listening to all sorts of stories. Some about Toddlers and Tiaras. Most which I am not allowed to repeat, but all hilarious.
We were back there for over an hour and when the event started, Danny, LeAnna, Hubs and I walked out to see there were 2 other people in the audience. Danny immediately told them that he was there strictly for their entertainment as he had already told us all sorts of things.
He talked about Velveteen and ended up reading a section of chapter one. There wasn’t a copy of the book set out for him, so I gave him mine. And when he opened the book, he saw my post it and said, “This is Stacee’s book”.
After reading, he asked if anyone had questions. Gretchen McNeil was there and acted as a back row moderator, prompted Danny to tell different stories. He commented on not wanting to repeat himself since Hubs and I had heard a lot of things. I told him he could just tell the same stories.
And this was the look I got as he told me that there were a lot of things that couldn’t be repeated.
Instead he talked about a “new adult” book he is working on, but it’s something that will probably take him years to finish. The current book he’s working on is called Spaz and is described as “Home Alone meets Last House on the Left“. He went into detail, but I didn’t write it down. I just know that I’ll be reading it.
Danny also talked about how he used his 12 year old goddaughter to preread a middle grade book for him. After she was done, she asked him for a lunch date and produced a list with bullet points on how he scarred her. Since he was a child and family psychotherapist in his former life, he has committed to providing her future therapy.
The signing started quickly after that. Instead of standing at the podium and being all official like, he just walked around and signed. He was unhappy with how he signed his name in my book, so he scratched it out and then signed again on the side.
This could be my favorite inscription and all time best event. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more charismatic person or heard more lively stories. If you’re a fan of snark and awesomeness, I can’t recommend Danny enough.
Sounds like a fun event! I love living vicariously through you.
It was awesome. There were so many things said that I can't/won't put in the blog post.
Absolutely hilarious doesn't even cover it.
I love hearing about authors who are not only stellar writers, but awesome people to be around as well. We're quite lucky to have so many amazing folks in the YA community.
This has just bumped Velveteen up on my TBR list! Thanks for sharing!