Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins event

I was excited to find out that Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins were doing a tour event in my town. Maureen was promoting her new book, The Madness Underneath, which is the 2nd book in her 'Shades of London' series. I loved the first one, and I've been following Maureen Johnson on twitter for a while - she's a very funny person to read on twitter, and was very much like that in 'real life' too.

I went along, met up with some friends from my writing group, and settled in for what turned out to be more of a stand up comedy show. It was absolutely hilarious.
They started by bouncing out after their introduction clutching Sloth and Fox, who I think came from a display in the store:

They talked about funny travelling stories, including strange hotels they had stayed in. 

It won't let me rotate this, but here, Maureen demonstrates the 'glowing orb' version of a ghost, with the aid of Fox.

After much hilarity, they took a couple of questions. I asked about their journeys to publication and how long it took, and Maureen said she liked my accent! That was kind of cool, but I think I was turning bright read. 

Yay! The store also gave out some fun Maureen-related stickers - I'll have to find good places to put them.

  

Pretty signed books!

It was a really fun evening, and if you get the chance to meet either of these authors, I'd definitely suggest it! I can't wait to read these books, and find out what happens next in the Shades of London series.

~Ailsa