Veronica Roth Event

Source: Sydney Writer's Festival

I am so excited to talk to you about Veronica Roth's Australia visit! Living in Sydney, we don't get nearly as much Author signings as our fellow US readers, so when someone as HUGE as Veronica Roth comes to town...we get VERY excited! So without further ado, this was Veronica's visit at Seymour Theatre for Sydney Writer's Festival. 

There was approximately 500 people in attendance, I got there 5 mins before the event and was lucky to have been in the second row! The interview was conducted by Amelia Lush, Head of Children's and YA programs at Sydney Writer's Festival. 

The interview component went for an hour and ten minutes, and she spoke about all her books including the bestselling Divergent series. She also talked a lot about herself which I appreciated, I like to get to know the Authors of books I love on a personal level. Here are a few fun facts you may not have known about Veronica Roth.

• Veronica used to wear safety pins as necklaces and she had a punk rocker boyfriend in high school
• She's a hufflepuff and her Husband a Griffindor
• She and her Hubby lived in Transylvania, Romania for 5 months and she is enthralled by Hungarian and wish she could speak it, however if she could learn one language it would be Polish due to her maternal heritage and in honour of her Grandparents and Mother
• She likes tattoos, hence tattoos is prominently featured in her series' but she herself doesn't have one. Veronica and her Hubby is thinking of getting matching curlicue tattoos, she has been considering this for quite some time

Anxiety 

She also goes quite deep and shares with her audience that she has suffered from anxiety and did not want to go on anti-anxiety meds due to the stigma surrounding it, but she went ahead and got on the meds after her Therapist's insistence, and it has done wonders for her and now she is no longer suffering from anxiety, and also did not need her medication anymore. She went on to say that mental health is not always a permanent thing, and that sometimes it's just situational and with treatment, it can go away, as hers has done.

Reader Interactions

Veronica also feels strongly about interactions with readers, and strongly against Authors arguing with readers on social media. She brings to attention that because she writes YA books, if she did do as other Authors do, she could potentially be arguing with an 11 year old. She further mentions that she likes to think of anyone disrespectful or abusive to her about her books as 11 year olds, that way she can handle the situation with more kid-friendly gloves. She respects ALL thoughts on her books but understand that not everyone will like the same things.

Books

• Veronica originally wrote the Divergent series in Four's POV
• **Spoiler Alert** one of her regrets for this series is killing Tris' Father. There was a lot of tension between Father and Daughter and she feels that maybe she could have explored that a bit further
• She was warned by her Publisher that Carve the Mark may not be liked by her fans just because of the fact that it's not the Divergent series, so be prepared!
• The draft  premise of Carve the Mark she begun at only 11 years old!!!

Australia

• Veronica rated Vegemite "ok, bitter in the beginning, then it gets weird, then it's ok" good on her for even trying! 
• Veronica's favourite  Australian "creature" is an echidna
• Amie Kaufman gave her a tour of Melbourne 

The line for her signing was crazy long, but moved so quickly, I was in the middle and got to the front in an hour. She was only signing one book. There were signed books for purchase, but you could only get ONE personalised, which was a bit of a bummer, but due to the number of people it's also understandable, I just wish they tell you this BEFORE the event.

I got my copy of Divergent signed, and also bought a SIGNED copy of Insurgent to match the rest of my series and Fates Divide, Didn't buy a Carve the Mark as they only had the small ones signed...why do they do this? Lets have ONE size, so the series match!

It's such an amazing experience to meet someone like Veronica Roth. She was very down to earth, enjoyed her humour and also enjoyed the fact she didn't talk solely about her book, but her as a person. 

Have you met any famous Authors? Who's been your favourite? What's your favourite part of events such as these?