Y’all might remember that little ol’ Pioneer Woman signing we attended in May — the one where we stood in line for four hours (four. hours.) to meet Ree Drummond. That was fun, sure, but the whole waiting in line forever thing sort of made me nervous for last night.
Because I asked Spencer to go with me to another signing. And, like last time, it was filled with ladies and hardly a gentleman in sight — all there for Jennifer Weiner! Good sport that he is, Spence agreed to accompany me — and we didn’t have nearly the issues (or the wait) for this one.
I’ve been a huge fan of Weiner’s since the days of Good In Bed, her debut novel — which isn’t exactly what it sounds like, but also sort of is. (You know, what it sounds like.) She’s an incredibly funny, talented writer — and, as it turns out, an incredibly funny and sweet woman. I would expect nothing less from an author I’ve adored for so long! (Her novel Little Earthquakes is also a favorite, and the first book I reviewed here on write meg!)
Spencer and I arrived in Bailey’s Crossroads, Va., and grabbed dinner at a lovely French cafe, La Madeleine. We waltzed into Borders at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. event only to find most of the seats already taken! We secured one chair and grabbed cupcakes, most of which were also gone. That crowd of 150 people, if I had to guess, was hungry! And excited. The room was buzzing with chatter.
Jennifer took to the podium at 7:30 p.m. to the grand applause of the room, and she spoke for almost an hour. If this whole writing-books thing doesn’t work, I’m pretty sure Weiner could have a career as a stand-up comedian. She came across as confident, comfortable, down-to-earth and hilarious, sharing anecdotes about her mother meeting Rosie O’Donnell — and all the antics that ensued. Despite the fact that Jennifer can easily pepper a conversation with statements like, “When I was on ‘The Rachael Ray Show’ . . .,” she seems the opposite of snobby or rude. I loved listening to her share thoughts on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” (love those shows like crack), just as she does on Twitter, and take questions from the audience.
After the Q&A portion, Spencer and I sat down to relax and wait for our turn to meet Jennifer. After a little bit, I was spotted by sharp-eyed Melissa of Chick Lit Central and loved chatting with her! So fun to meet other bloggers, especially when it’s random. Melissa introduced me to author Sarah Pekkanen, too, and I can’t wait to read her book — it’s been on my bookshelves for a while.
Meeting Jennifer was incredibly fun, though I became uncharacteristically nervous as we drew closer in line. Normally chattering like a monkey isn’t an issue for me, but I did get a bit starstruck — until Jennifer smiled and opened up the conversation. I remember her asking me about what I was reading this summer and I froze. I only read about a hundred billion books a year, but wouldn’t you know I couldn’t think of a single book I was reading right now? Besides, you know, hers. (I eventually mentioned Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay, because who isn’t psyched for that?! It’s on my calendar.) She signed my books — I’d brought Good In Bed, my favorite, and my ARC of Fly Away Home — and Spencer snapped some photos for us. (More are available on my Flickr page.)
All in all, another wonderful author experience! As I once heard someone say, authors are the “rock stars” of the literary world — and meeting them is definitely a celebrity experience. I’m so glad Jennifer comes across as fun and warm in person as she does in her novels — all of which I’ll continue to read for a long, long time.
Jennifer Weiner is on her Cupcakes Across America Book Tour now through August. See if she’s coming to a city near you!
write meg! 
What a great experience. I wish she were coming here. I’ve loved her work since I first read Good in Bed.
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Sounds like fun! I haven’t really read much of her work.
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You telling us what sort of woman the author behind the book was the highlight of this post. I have seen her books all over the shelves but never thought of at least trying.
You’ve convinced me enough.
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Love it! I am so sad I couldn’t go…so I thought…I thought my quilting class was last night, but when I got there, I found out that it is actually next Thursday! Gahhhh! So mad!
Oh, and I recently read The Opposite of Me and really enjoyed it!
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Sounds like the evening was a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing the photos.
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That is so much fun! You’re going to make Spencer a reader and blogger before it’s all over!
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That looks like such a fun time!! I love this author too!
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I like the suggestive autograph. 😉 It looks like a fun (and yummy) event.
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I just finished Little Earthquakes – and I loved it SO so much!
I can’t wait to put her other books on my list!
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What fun! Super cool pictures!
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I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t think to go to her reading in Philly. I’ve read all but Fly Away Home and she’s one of my favorite authors. My sis just discovered her this summer (stealing books off my bookshelf of course) and now she’s a fan too.
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i love it! she looks so down-to-earth with her hair up in a clip during the signing. i’ve read all of her books and enjoyed them. i think she lives (or used to live) right in philly!
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Oh cool! You saw her too! Isn’t she hilarious? I’m not really familiar with her books so I bought In her Shoes.
… and those cupcakes.
lol
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Looks like you had a lot of fun! I love her writing and I wish I could meet her too. And I just love how she signed your book 😉
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I loved Good in Bed. I still suggest. I am hoping Weiner will do a follow up to Goodnight Nobody.
Glad to see the author has such a great turn out and was very nice.
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Great pictures! You and Jennifer look like you could be BFF! Love it.
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Thanks for the re-cap of the event – I love her books! I saw another review of one of her events where they said she could be a stand up comedian – her humor comes through in her books!
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This looks like such a fun event! I love Jennifer Weiner too and I’ll have to see if she is coming to SF!
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I enjoyed reading your point of view about the evening. Very detailed and fun throughout. Great pics too! I enjoyed meeting you and hope we can hang out again sometime to dish about the latest books. 🙂
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I love it, love it, love it! I love Jennier Weiner!
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I’m so glad that you got to go and see her! Sadly, she isn’t coming anywhere close to me as far as I know. Oh, and Spencer is a keeper for going along…Jay had no interest in coming with me to see Emily Giffin but luckily he was happy to watch the kids and told me to take my favourite sister-in-law along 🙂
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