I feel like this post calls for a clever title…but I don’t have one. However, I do want to say: LOOK, I’M BACK!
This is what I do when I'm borg---sorry, bored.
Did you miss me?
Yes?
No?
No? Well, I missed you. And Fred. I’ve been so good about blogging regularly this semester (in spite of the insanity of it all) that this academic hiatus has been most peculiar. But since my last final is on Thursday, I’m going to ease my way back into blogging by doing a post tonight, another sometime later this week, and then returning you to your regularly-scheduled program starting this coming Sunday.
Wooo, exciting! 
Anyhow, if you’re wondering what’s up with my visit to the Big Apple, I’m going to give you a brief summary. ‘Twas a journey of epic proportions, but I needs must pare it down. Just imagine you’re reading the Sparknotes for The Odyssey or something.
Last week, my friend Casey, who runs the ever-popular and awesome book review blog The Bookish Type, invited me to go on an adventure with her. As it turns out, her friend—author Michelle Hodkin—was having a book event/signing on Long Island with none other than Cassandra Clare (she’s a big, big name in YA fiction, if you’re unfamiliar with the genre) to promote their new books.
Casey on the train...
To be honest, at the time that Casey asked me if I wanted to go, I hadn’t read anything by Michelle or by Cassie. I really wanted to attend, but at the same time, I was determined not to go to an author event without knowing the work of either author. So Casey lent me a copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and I used it as an excuse to not study the night before the event (note: there’s something delicious about putting everything on hold to read a work of fiction because you’ve convinced yourself that you “have to”). I finally finished it on the train to NYC.
The actual getting to NYC was fairly straightforward (apart from the fact that I lost my wallet shortly before leaving, but that’s another story). Getting from Grand Central to the event itself was another matter entirely, and it was only after two missed train/bus stops, some doubling back, and asking lots of people for help/directions that Casey and I FINALLY made it to the Carle Place Barnes and Noble! We’d missed the opening discussion, but we still got to slip ahead to say hi to Michelle anyways before heading back to the end of the signing line. Waiting in line was actually great; we ended up getting some down time to catch our breath, get centered, and have a nice chat with some of the store employees running the event. And before we knew it, we were at the signing tables.
Casey meets Cassie
Casey and I chatted with Michelle for a while, which was great—in addition to being lovely and cheery and friendly, Michelle was also quite willing to talk shop, and I got to ask a couple of questions about her book (which, by the way, has an awesome WHAM MOMENT of an ending—keep your eyes peeled for a forthcoming post on WMs). 
She also asked me about my own writing, which led to a hilariously roundabout discussion in which I kept trying to come up with the names of authors who write stories similar to mine and which ended with Michelle kindly pointing out that I could have just said that I wrote YA fantasy (she speaks the truth). *facepalm*
Then, when Casey went to get her copy of Clockwork Prince 
From left to right: me, Cassie, Casey, Michelle, and some of Michelle's many relatives!
And another with all the girls together...Ari, y u no keep ur eyez open?
And then Casey and I went out for dinner and made the epic trip home again. Exhausting, but glorious. (Well, the fact that we got home at 3:30 AM and that I had to get up at 7:00 AM was less than glorious, but once I’d caught up on sleep, I was once more in a fit state to fully appreciate the experience.)
So there you have it! Keep an eye out for a new blog post in the next day or so (*fingers crossed*), and in the meantime, I salute those of you who, like me, are venturing forth into the bloody battlefield of finals. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!
And if all else fails, the internet will never fail to supply you with doses of random cute in times of stress:
BorgTribble courtesy of: http://d.facdn.net/art/noben/1275883618.noben_borgtribble001.jpg
P.S. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow Casey, Cassie, and Michelle! Respectively, they are:
