Welcome to my third and last favorite travels post! I’ve had a big year when it comes to bookish shenanigans. I’ve discovered new cities, met with a ton of readers, and spent time with some of my favorite authors as well.
2017 Favorite Travels Part 3
In late September, a French publisher organised the second book festival where they introduced US New Adult authors that have had their books translated to French. This year, the convention was in Cannes in the south of France. The awards ceremony took place at the Cannes Festival Palace, where the movie awards take place every year as well. I traveled with my oldest daughter, Amélie, a friend I met thanks to KA Tucker, and Amélie’s husband, Laurent.
Here’s Amélie and I with KA Tucker. Last year at the festival, I met KA, and she asked me if I knew Amélie. Her reasoning was that we both lived in Geneva and were fans of hers, so of course, we should be friends 😉 As soon as I got back home, I contacted Amélie, and we hit it off. Our love for books is something big we have in common, and we love a lot of the same authors.
When I met Vi Keeland, I hadn’t read any of her books yet… oops! I have now, though, and I loved them!
I also met RK Lilley in Atlanta, and after that meeting, I read all of her already published books. I brought my favorites in paperbacks to have her sign them for me in Cannes.
I think Tarryn Fisher’s books have only recently been translated to French, because her line was very short. But that just made it better for me – as I got some more time to chat with her.
Even with an incredibly long line – all day long, both on Saturday and Sunday, Colleen was smiling and spending time with her fans. She also had a dark tissue that she asked us to sign for her. The story behind that was that when she left the bus that brought her from her hotel to the festival palace, the little cloth on the back of her seat was stuck to her. And of course, that had to mean something 😀
Jay Crownover made me laugh. And she had one of my favorite bloggers with her as her assistant… needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time by Jay’s booth 😉
And here’s Ali of Black Heart Reviews. We have met up at several conventions before, and I was really happy to see her in Europe for once 🙂 And I totally think that shows!
Here’s my daughter and I just before we walked up the red carpet on the stairs for the award ceremony. There was a gala dinner, champagne, speeches and dancing included in our festival ticket, and we had a fabulous evening! Because we were up really early, my daughter left before the end of the party. However, Amélie, Laurent and I went to a bar with several authors afterwards because we were having too much fun.
On the Sunday, the festival was only in the late morning and until around 1pm. Amélie had organised for us to have lunch with KA Tucker, and when we left the festival palace, Tarryn Fisher joined us. And while we were getting seated at the restaurant, Colleen and her husband joined us as well. We did not take any pictures of that – you’ll just have to take my word for it. The authors had just spent Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday smiling and getting their pictures taken with fans, so we figured just having lunch with friends would be nice for them. After lunch, we went on a visit of Cannes with KA Tucker and her husband, and the views were gorgeous.
That’s it for my 2017 Favorite Travels. Although, I might have one more to share in the new year, as I’m currently in Hawaii with Mr. Lex. We are not planning on doing anything bookish there, but I’m sure we’ll have a fantastic time anyway! And I have a lot of bookish travels planned for 2018 already.
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
I hope you’re having the best time in Hawaii! 🙂
I really am, Stephanie. It is SO beautiful here on Oahu, we have been on different hikes, and of course, Waikiki beach is gorgeous, too. It’s so nice to be in warm weather, too 🙂
Twitter: Mlsimmons
That looks like so much fun. I’m glad you had such a great time on your bookish travels. I hope you’re having fun in Hawaii too.
Sounds like a lot of fun! <3