What do Collin Firth, aprons, pie, and karaoke have in common?

They were all part of the fun I had with my sister and niece at a Shannon Hale book signing. If you're not familiar with her, you need to be, especially if you enjoy reading young adult fiction. Her books are absolute gems. She's written eight books: "Princess Academy" (a Newberry Award winner), Three Books of Bayern (soon to be four), "Book of a Thousand Days," "Rapunzel's Revenge," and two adult books- "Austenland" and her newest book, "The Actor and Housewife." I've read all but the newest, and they were wonderful. She is getting nationwide recognition for her books and rightly so. She is a gifted writer.

I've never been to a book signing, but I happened to be reading her blog and learned about her book signing at The King's English bookstore in Salt Lake City (which was a great find! If you like bookstores, you'll love this place. It will make you want to go home and watch "You've Got Mail"). I never do anything too much out of the norm, but since I love her books so much I thought it might be fun. I was sold on the idea when I learned she wanted everyone to come sporting aprons and geared up to eat pie. So, I called up my sister who is also a big Shannon Hale fan and proposed we do it together. She loved the idea and thought her daughter would enjoy it too since she is a budding author herself (do not be surprised if one day you find books by Kristen Fairbourn at your local library). Going to the book signing ended up being a bit of an adventure in and of itself, but I won't get into that. I loved every minute of it, though. Not just the opportunity to meet Shannon Hale, but getting spend the day my sister and niece.

This is the book that got released last week and, therefore, the reason she had the book signing. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you met your Hollywood crush? What if you became friends with him? That's what this book is about. I've started it and it is so stinking funny. Hale's narrator is a scream.

The idea for this novel came after Hale wrote "Austenland," which is a must read for every Jane Austen/A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (ahem, the one with Collin Firth). It's about a girl obsessed with that particular movie and the Mr. Darcy in it. She is given a vacation to a fictitious place in England called Austenland where people go back in time for three weeks to the Regency period and live like Jane Austen did. It's such a fun book. If you haven't read it, read it now (that's an order)!

You also need to know who "Austenland" is dedicated to:

For Collin Firth

You're a really great guy, but I'm married, so I think we should just be friends.

Knowing that, this is what we saw when we first walked into the book signing:

Mr. Darcy, holding a copy of "Austenland," wearing an apron. Of course we had to take a picture with him! What self-respecting girl wouldn't?

I don't know what other book signings are like, but Shannon Hale's are a party! She was an absolute riot, and she had us rolling most of the time. My favorite was when she shared an email from her greatest fans. In it, they described how "Austenland" was the perfect book for their little community. The were nuns. A joke? Nope. She met them in Arizona, fully adorned in their nun garb. Isn't that great?!

I could go on and on about things she said and funny she was, but you just had to be there, which is why I recommend you go to her next book signing. I guarantee it would be more fun than what you normally would do on a Friday night.

We got to meet her husband, who co-wrote "Rapunzel's Revenge." He was equally as fun as her. They make a very cute couple. Here they are demonstrating their skills at karaoke singing.

Here's me with Shannon (Pay more attention to her. Ignore the chubby girl on the left). She signed three of my books: "Princess Academy," "Book of a Thousand Days"(my favorite of hers), and "The Actor and the Housewife."
I'm so glad we went. It was such a blast! Thanks Shannon Hale for writing such wonderful books and inspiring others to write too.