The time we stopped for macarons

Posted August 6, 2015 by Stacee in Signings | 6 Comments

When I saw the Barry Lyga event go up on the BN website, I tentatively added it to my calendar. I was excited for the book and the event, but there was a chance that Peter Facinelli would also show up. As soon as he was confirmed, it was a definite go.

Keiko and I got to the store around 5pm because we had to make a 45 minute detour for macarons.

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Right after we got there, we ran into Lita. After we chatted for a minute, she walked us up to the event area and let us sit down. So we were able to get front row.

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Barry and Peter got there around 7:15 or so. They did a quick press line for photos. When they got to the table, they talked about the smell of books and how they both loved it. Then they just jumped right in talking about the book.

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B: I was the last one to join. I have the first name, but I was last.

P: My production company had it. I love Barry’s books and he loved he idea. And we gave it to Little Brown and they loved it.

B: It was about 6 months and then we reworked the entire first half.

P: Let’s talk about the world.

B: I tell people it’s the dark ages in the future. It’s been bad so long that no one remembers when it was good. The environment has had a complete collapse.

P: Imagine Manhattan, but all over. It’s been raining red rain for a while and no one knows why. And this takes place right after the rain.

B: There’s only about 50 million people. It was about 100 million.

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P: It was very important to me, especially with 3 daughters that Deedra not be a damsel in distress. Rose sees the beauty in things. What else can we tell them without spoilers?

B: This is the hardest part of events. You can watch the trailer of a movie and know what it’s about.
Speaking of, will there be a movie?

P: I originally thought it would be a movie, but there’s such a big world. And I’ve already done a graphic novel. And with my experience with Twilight, I thought it could be good for YA. I was terrified to write a novel, so I wanted to get an expert.

B: And since he couldn’t get an expert, he got me.

P: There’s a lot of twists and I don’t want to give them away.

B: We wanted to make it different. We know there’s a lot of other dystopian novels. But there’s definitely some things you’ve never seen before.

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What was your experience with the narration?

P: Horrible. I realized that I don’t like the sound of my voice. It took me 2 hours to do the prologue. It’s different when I’m acting, as the character they have a different voice. I had a hard time getting the voices of the characters.

B: I haven’t heard that story before.

P: I fired myself.

B: They just told me that you only did the prologue.

P: They send me offers to do voice over work and I never get them.

What was the inspiration for the red rain?

P: There’s a reason, but I can’t tell you.

B: There have been actual events where there has been red rain. Some have explanations like there was ash in the sky or something. But here’s a place where it rains for 100 years and no one knows why.

P: Some people think it was the government or some people think it’s the rapture. I’m a big watcher of documentaries. I love aliens and the pyramids. History changes so much, you don’t know what is real. {I’m pretty sure there was more to this}

B: Like the part with the DVD.

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P: There’s a scene with a dvd and the girl picks it up and they don’t know what it is. And one girl says it’s a finger mirror. If you didn’t know what it was, but you saw your reflection, maybe that’s what you would think it was.

B: They don’t have the Internet, they have something called wiki. So you know people can change everything. It puts the characters in a weird position because they don’t know what the red rain is. They’re all certain that they know what it was.

Is there a set up for future books?

P: I would love to do more. I think we left it open enough that we can do more.

B: It’s a big world. There’s a lot of things we can do.

P: We were going to start from the beginning and then Barry said we just jump right in. The whole prologue takes place 17 years before the book takes place.

B: Should we read the prologue?

P: Sure. You read first. You did so well in New York.

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P: Wouldn’t you want to see that in a movie?

B: And that was a scene that was added at the last minute. Peter mentioned that we needed a scene to introduce the character.

P: And it doesn’t give anything away.

Did you let your kids read it first?

P: Not first. I turned it in and they read it. My 18 year old loved it and she’s so honest. She told me that she was reading something well known and she thought it was better. My 12 year old is working on it.

B: My daughter is only 9 months.

P: And she’s read it. When we said young adult, we meant it.

B: We didn’t think about writing something for teenagers. We just told a story.

P: I had to keep asking him to take things out because my kids were going to read it. I turned into Tipper Gore.
B: But it didn’t actually go like that. I had to keep pushing and asking why. He finally answered, “Come on. My kids are going to read this.” I asked him if he had read my other series.

P: But now 12 year olds can read it.

B: Peter Facinelli. Making books safe for 12 year old everywhere.

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Is there a chance of you guys working together on something more positive?

P: It is a dark world, but the two main characters are positive. They’re showing you what the world could be. There’s levity and action and a love story.

There were a few more questions, but I was busy taking photos. The signing started and we lined up by row, which made us first.

I got up to Peter and thanked him for coming When he slid the book to Barry, I asked if I could get a photo with both of them. Peter said of course to come up on the stage.

When I got between them, Lita asked if I was going to post it on the blog. I laughed and said that I don’t put my face on the blog. She turned to Peter and Barry and said, “Stacee has a great blog. She might not tell you about it, but I will.”

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Peter asked if I had read the book yet. When I said not, he said that if I didn’t like the book, it was okay to lie. Barry laughed and said that I needed to be sure to tag them when I post. I said I was going to try and finish it tonight and Keiko said that I could work on it while we drive home. They were both surprised to hear that we drove up for the event.

We thanked them again and then I said goodbye to Lita. As we walked out, I realized that my book didn’t get personalized. Keiko offered to go back upstairs, but I didn’t want to.

As always, Lita and the staff at The Grove were amazing.  Barry and Peter had a really great banter that I know I didn’t capture here. I’m quite eager to see how that translates to the page.

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6 responses to “The time we stopped for macarons

  1. Aw, yay :D Sounds like such an awesome event. They both seem amazing :) Thank you for sharing about it Stacee. <3 You are so so lucky. Wishing I could go to author events too. Sigh. You are the bestest :) And yay for stopping for macarons ;) I have never had one of those before. We don't have them here :p And I don't think I would like it at all.. which is depressing, lol. But glad you love them :D

    • Stacee

      Ha! I didn’t think I would like macarons either, but they are absolutely delicious and it’s a mild tragedy that you don’t have them.

      Thank you for reading and commenting!
      <3

  2. Diana Maurer

    My twin sister Athena and I were at the event we were the twins. We had met Peter back in 2012 and saw him in person first time in 2011.

  3. Tammy V.

    My daughter brought us back some from her study aboard to Paris. She picked them up the morning of her flight so they were still pretty fresh.

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