YALLWEST 2023 recap!
Admittedly, I was nervous to attend YALLWEST for the first time since I became a professional author. I wasn’t even a featured author yet, but now I had something to promote. A brand to portray. How did authors toe the line between reader and author when they stood in that strange limbo between book deal and tons of lead time? I worried whether I’d feel like I belonged, or if I’d stand on the sidelines of the fancy authors with gorgeous covers to reveal and ARCs to sign with a big POSER sticker on my forehead. Who was I to stand with them, a stack of QR code cards to my Linktree page in hand?
My friends, I was me. And it was awesome.
Fierce Friday
Group dinner! Pictured from left to right: Camille Carine, Karis McPherson, Ananya Devarajan, Morgan J. Watchorn (me!), Miranda Sun, and Hannah V. Sawyerr.
For those who don’t know, YALLWEST is technically a two-day event. A ticketed event called Fierce Friday (two hours of author signings) precedes the main day of the festival, on Saturday. My friend Ananya Devarajan (whose debut Kismat Connection is set to release on June 13th) encouraged me to go on Fierce Friday just to socialize and have fun. I didn’t know what fun was in my strange author-reader stasis. I had no idea how to introduce myself to anyone, but I quickly realized my worry was unwarranted.
Everyone was so friendly. I don’t think I’ve ever seamlessly entered conversation with so many people in such a short time. A group of six of us broke off to have dinner together and talked for another four hours. We had to force ourselves to part and go to bed!
Side note: Check out All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr.
YALLWEST
Quick backtrack to YALLWEST 2019, when Ananya Devarajan and I were still no-name writers who found each other on a critique partner forum. Turns out we were both going to YALLWEST that year, so we decided to meet in person! Since then, we’ve helped each other’s writing improve and celebrated each other’s achievements. This year, we both attended YALLWEST 2023 as authors with forthcoming books from major publishers! We’ve grown! (Though as you can see below, our friendship dynamic clearly has not! LOL)
One of the day’s highlights was reuniting with Alexandra Bracken, the author of the book that inspired me to write (The Darkest Minds). I met her at YALLWEST 2019 as a reader and again at YALLWEST 2023 as an author. Funnily enough, she saw my deal announcement! It was awesome catching up with her. (Go check out her latest release, Silver in the Bone! I loved it so much, I forgot my lunch in the microwave. LOL)
Me pictured with Emily Charlotte and Sana Z. Ahmed. (It’s okay to be jelly, Megan!)
I made so many friends, but a major surprise was meeting friends of friends! My critique partner Megan Davidhizar (author of the upcoming Silent Sister) apparently told her friends about me. They recognized me by name from the QR code cards I was handing out! Sana Z. Ahmed and Emily Charlotte are the coolest people! Naturally, we had to take a picture and send it to Megan, who was immensely jelly of us. I have yet to meet her in person, so it was amazing seeing who else she’s clicked with throughout her career.
The iconic Owlcrate tote to carry my prize!
Not all of YALLWEST was about the people for me, as much as I love them all. It was about the panels! And the books too! I especially wanted to check out the Owlcrate booth. I’ve been a subscriber for a few years now, and I must say, they’ve outdone themselves in this last year! The Owlcrate editions of The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew, Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz, and Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken blew me away. Owlcrate’s team really went the extra mile! I wanted to buy a surprise box to give to a friend. By the time I went to the book, they were out of the YA boxes! However, the salespeople very slyly convinced me to purchase a surprise Owlcrate JR box, which isn’t normally my thing. Turns out they bamboozled me! They’d rigged up a custom box with not only a YA book inside with lots of goodies, but a free 3-month subscription to Owlcrate JR so I could check it out! They truly are the kindest people.
The OG crew.
Of course, there is no crew like my OG critique partners. Someday I’ll gather them all in one place, but for this year’s YALLWEST, I was a lucky duck to have Camille Carine and Ananya Devarajan to be my wingwomen.
Writing can feel solitary at times, and as someone who has prided herself on solving problems alone her entire life, it’s against my nature to see the helping hands around me, let alone take them. In this new chapter of my career, I’m learning how to recognize that often times, support is eagerly given, not a burden. Funny—I love helping people, but somehow I hadn’t thought people would love to support me!
It’s a Wonderful Life said it best: No (wo)man is a failure who has friends.
Thank you, everyone! Thank you, YALLWEST!! I will be back.