14 Sept 2012

The Day I Met Melina Marchetta!

On the 12th of September, I got to meet the one and only, Melina Marchetta! Not only is she amazing (and Australian!) but she is one of my favourite authors. Melina has been touring a lot recently, in the US and Australia, but here’s a recap of what went down, for those of you who are interested!

When Melina arrived, we were all ready and raring to go. Melina covered a wide range of topics; she talked about Looking for Alibrandi and how it was the start of a wonderful journey. For a while, she thought that maybe she was going to be a one hit wonder (not a chance!) but at least her debut had been so well received. Though it took a while for her to write book two, 11 years later, in 2003, Saving Francesca released! She also talked about her first ever research trip to Europe which she went on for Froi of the Exiles. It’s not enough for her to just see pictures of a place and to imagine it, not when the setting she wanted to write about was half way across globe. Whilst she was there she travelled to caves, went exploring every day and then came back to her hotel and put pen to paper, capturing what she had seen that day. Melina also mentioned that she has been working on the script for On the Jellicoe Road for years, perfecting it and making sure that it’s the best it can be, nothing less. Melina revealed that they have approached an actor to play Taylor, but there’s still a long road ahead and that’s all the information she can tell us at the moment.

After answering questions from the crowd, Melina then signed our books. She was lovely and chatted with each and every one of us, even if it was only was for a minute as she had a long line to get through. When it was my turn, I mumbled a sentence or two, said that On the Jellicoe Road is amazing and my favourite of her books. I almost passed out from excitement so I call that a success! ;D

After the book signing, a group of us Perth bloggers grabbed dinner at Grill’d where we continued to squeal and chat. Thank goodness for the loud atmosphere because we were pretty rowdy and at one point, got into a heated discussion over who was Team Dimitri and who was Team Adrian (personally, I’m Team Dimitri all the way!).

From left to right: Hannah @ The Girl in a Cafe, Clair @ Claire Reads, Nicole who guest posts for Claire, Me, Amy @ Following the Reader, Jess @ The Tales Compendium and Taneika @ Flipping Through the Pages
This event would not have been possible without Melina Marchetta, Perth YA Fans Unite and the wonderful Subiaco library! If you’re YA fan and want to help bring more authors to Perth, make sure you head on over to sign the petition and like us on Facebook.

20 comments:

  1. Awww! You summed the night up PERFECTLY Rebecca! I'm still getting all giddy and excited about On the Jellicoe Road being made into a movie :)

    I am so glad we finally got to meet eachother and it was fantastic meeting all the other bloggers too :D All in all, an awesome event/night and that burger WAS awesome okay hahaha!

    <3

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    1. Awww, thanks, Taneika! I am BEYOND excited about Jellicoe Raod becoming a movie. To watch it come to life? Wow, my head is spinning.

      Agreed, it was about time we met IRL! Ha, my chips and drink were rather tasty, too ;D

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  2. Sounds like an awesome night, Rebecca! So happy for you <3

    I can't wait to see MM in Sydney later this month!

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    1. It was. Thanks, Emily!

      You get to meet Melina later this month? Awesome! Hope you have an amazing time meeting her :)

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  3. Such an awesome night! So glad I got to meet you and all the other lovely bloggers :) Awesome post! you summed it up very nicely. I'm still trying to figure out who would play Taylor!

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    1. It was so good to fianlly meet you, too :) Hmm, I wonder. *thinks up actors who could play Taylor* ♥

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  4. Best. Headline. Ever. I would say that you have no idea how jealous I am right now, but I feel like you probably know very well:P So glad to hear that she is taking her time with the script for Jellicoe Road, because I want that movie to be as awesome as it possibly can. Great recap!:)

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    1. Why thank you, Nina! I do, hardly any authors ever make the trip to Perth. A lot visit other states in Australia but they always like to miss us because apparently were too far away :P I'm SO excited and the way she talks about the Jellicoe script, you can tell it means the world to her; she's so dedicated and passionate about it, it only makes me all the more excited! :D

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  5. GRILL'D! OMG, YOU COW. WHY DIDN'T YOU BRING ME CHIPS? HUH?!
    So what they would've been a little cold by the time they got to Sydney, but... yeah... OK. Shutting up now.

    BECCA! YOU GOT MEET MELIIIIINA! I'm so glad you had fun and YES! TEAM DIMKA FTW! ♥

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    1. YOU COW, HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A COW! WHY DIDN'T I BRING YOU CHIPS? MAYBE CAUSE I ATE THEM ALL. I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't know you were a Grill'd fangirl. Forgive me?

      SARAH! I DID I DID I DID. I got to meet Melina and it was amazing and I almost fainted from all the excitement and I got to meet the lady who has written some of my favourite books, along with Jellicoe Road! You can see why I almost might have passed out. SO MUCH EXCITEMENT.

      TEAM DIMITRI! *swoons* ♥

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  6. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic post with us Rebecca, it sounds like you has such an awesome time with the other Perth bloggers too! I think I wouldn't be able to form a coherent sentence around Melina Marchetta either! I really wish we had more events like this over here, so we could meet fab authors and bloggers too! :)

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    1. Happy to, Jasprit! This is the first proper author signing I've ever been to. Perth is kind of isolated so we hardly get any authors visiting us so this is a major success for us! :)

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  7. I met Melina when she appeared out here in the States and I got totally star struck as well, and couldn't form coherent sentences! She probably thought I wasn't quite right in the head! She's so amazing. I hope any movie they do of Jellicoe will get to the US too!

    Sounds like you had a fab time meeting the other bloggers! I've met a couple as well at author events, and it's always such fun to share. Lovely post Rebecca. :)

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    1. Thanks, Rachel! I could have talker her ear off but when I think of Melina and her amazing books, I get that excited, I don't even know what to say. Star struck moment! ;)

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  8. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Melina Marchetta! ♥♥♥

    Oh gosh, I wish I can meet Melina! She is an AMAZING author and I would love to get my copy of her books signed too! I haven't read Finnikin of the Rock yet but I did get a copy of Quintana so I must read the books soon.

    And awwww, love the photo! You guys all look GORGEOUS ♥ AND TEAM DIMKA! (But I do love Adrian after reading Bloodlines and The Golden Lily)

    Thank you for sharing this awesome post with us, Becca! ♥ So glad you have lots of fun ;)

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    1. SQEEEEEEEEE!

      Melina IS an amazing author and I hope you get to meet her one day! I haven't read Finnikin either but must give it another go.

      Dimitri *sigh* ♥

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  9. Aw, yay! I'm so glad you got to meet one of your favorite authors! What a great experience. :)

    I still need to read Melina Marchetta. One of these days...

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    1. Thanks, Kristen! You really must read Melina Marchetta soon - her books? Amazing! *swoons*

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  10. Yay, it's great that you got to meet Melina!! I get to see her again next week, double yay!

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    1. Again? Your meeting her for a second time? That. is. awesome! Woohoo, have a lovely time :)

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