The titles in this series so far have been starting with W so I'm just going to keep up with that. Let's see how long it lasts.

So, I'm a bookseller which means I sometimes work book events if my store is hosting them and last minute find out after everyone else that they're going on in other places. Just recently as of April 2023, I actually worked at a book event with V E Schwab for the Canadian part of their tour. It was such a fun experience and I even got my book signed. When this specific event was announced I was the first one in my store to find out about it since someone called to ask my store and I had no clue what was going on. Like, imagine me picking up the phone amidst a national outage of the largest bookstore in Canada and someone asking how they can buy tickets for an event before I panicked to get more details from my managers who also had no clue what was going on. It's funny now that everything is over and the attendees seem very happy with the event (at least from what I could see). It was interesting to hear about this author's publishing journey. They mentioned something about eventually releasing a book with toxic lesbian vampires and that pitch alone tickles me.

Even though this author is a notable queer author that I respect and had the pleasure of making sure their event went smoothly, I'm not a major fan. The books I read so far by her are a mixed bag for me but I'm a harsh critic and I'm reserved when it comes to people I idolize. For example, I had multiple books by Leigh Bardugo I bought myself but I think the books are just okay. I can see why people love them but I'm not a super fan myself. I find it really hard to find myself get attached to authors past just people that happen to write the books I read. I notice other book lovers in my life have like 15 different authors they love but I can't have that enthusiasm for every author. I really like Emily Henry's books and Taylor Jenkins Reid's books and will read every new release by them but I wouldn't be so ecstatic to see them to the point that I would hyperfixate and scream at everyone that they may be coming to my city. If someone argued I was a casual fan of these authors I wouldn't really argue with it but I will take that opportunity to dissect stories analytically and someone will say "Joy, chill it's just a story" and I would probably say "A STORY THAT NEEDS MORE GAY" or something along those lines.

That's why I never really had nor understood the full extent of celebrity crushes when I was younger (oh no, is this an aroace spectrum thing? Oh well). But I have three favourite authors that I look up to as creators and love their work; R. F. Kuang, Xiran Jay Zhao, and Rick Riordan. R. F. Kuang is the closest thing to a celebrity crush (she's so pretty and smart, wtf?), Rick Riordan is like a comforting parental figure, and Xiran Jay Zhao seems like someone I would be friends with.

So, I don't know how many people know but I am a huge Percy Jackson fan. It's what got me into reading and writing and the reason why I got my job at a bookstore. They let me ramble about Percy Jackson for a bit and were like "damn, this person likes books. Here's a job."

The fact that Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro are doing a tour for the upcoming Nico Di Angelo book had me screaming in excitement. My favourite character in this franchise was getting a book and I get to meet and get a signed copy from Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro? I'm ecstatic. Take my minimum wage money. Oh my god, in just two weeks I get to see my biggest inspiration and a queer POC author that I got books on my to-read list in a goddamn church to release a queer book? Iconic. The church can only try to pry queer stories out of my cold dead hands.

And then I find out R. F. Kuang is coming to do a book signing again too. God, I'm being spoilt in May. API heritage month means making me go broke apparently. I cannot do this. I need money for stuff like food and survival.

If Xiran Jay Zhao came from their side of Canada to come to my side of Canada during May, I would be dead. Literally, three of my biggest icons in one month? Too much. Someone would need to revive me. Two within two weeks is more than enough that I can handle.

Book events are really fun. Makes me wonder if I'll ever be big enough to be an author at one of these events. Sounds anxiety-inducing though. Not sure how well I would react to it stress-wise but that probably won't happen anytime soon, at least not on a large-scale crowd like the events I'm used to working at/attending.