Salem Literary Festival Recap

I had the opportunity to attend the Salem Literary Festival in Salem, MA on Sunday, September 22nd for the YA Day. The festival ran all weekend with programming for children, teens and adults. Hotel Salem, Salem Public Library and The House of Seven Gables were venues for the panels and events. YA Day was hosted in The House of Seven Gables, which is a fantastic location. Not only was the festival well organized but the weather was perfect. Because Boston Teen Author Festival take a break this year, the YA Day was a fantastic replacement for this year.  YA Day took place in The House of the Seven Gables for all of Sunday.

I managed to attend four panels on Sunday with time for lunch. It was a fun filled day in Salem before all the crowds starts pouring in for the month of October. I am very fortunate to live a town away from Salem so commuting back and forth was pretty easy.


The first panel I attended was Meet the Debuts with Laura Sibson, Janella Angeles, Ryan La Sala, Joe Moldover and Rebecca Kim Wells. Lauren Cepero moderated and Alexandra Villasante couldn’t make it to the panel due to car issues. Not only do I love hearing panels about books in general but hearing about debut books is encouraging because there are always new authors sharing their stories with us. Ranging from various genres, there is a book from this panel for everyone.

I didn’t attend the second panel because I wanted to get some lunch and to have enough energy for the rest of the day. I took some photos around Pickering Wharf and met up with Ellie and her friend to grab some pizza at Flying Saucer. Afterwards, we headed back to The House of Seven Gables for the Something Wicked: Witches & Historically Inspired YA panel. Originally, Adriana Mather was going to moderate the panel but because Rebecca Podos and David Elliot were both out sick, there was a modification to the lineup. Instead of just having Adriana have a one-on-one conversation with Kendall Kulper, Mackenzi Lee moderated the panel. Adriana and Kendall talked a lot about their witchy books. I was particularly interested when all three authors discussed how they researched their books and what inspired them to write their books.

I had a mini break between panels which was nice because I got to enjoy the outdoors. The House of the Seven Gables has a beautiful courtyard area and being the near the water was calming. Ellie, Janella, Ashley and I chatted for a bit in the courtyard. Janella was getting ready for the next panel while Ellie, Ashley and I walked around near the water and laid down on the grass.

After the mini break, we attended the Dragons, Dreams, and a Drag Queen Sorceress: YA Fantasy panel with Janella Angeles, Rebecca Kim Wells, Erin Cashman and Ryan La Sala. Matthew Phillion moderated the panel. The last panel but not the least was the Chemistry, Mischief, Escape and Assassins in YA with Meredith Goldstein, Erin Callahan, Adriana Mather and Mackenzi Lee. Ashley Hern moderated the panel.

All the panels were fabulous on this YA Day. Although the event was small, it was a good size to  capture enought buzz and interest. I always enjoy seeing teens get all excited to meet their favorite authors, to get books signed and to take photographs with people they admire.

After all the panels, there was an all author signing to conclude the day. I was so happy to meet with with Adriana Mather. I haven’t seen her since her launch party for Haunting the Deep a couple years back. So it was nice to catch up and she always has the best events in Salem. I am hoping all of her future events will have a stop in Salem. Maybe I am being biased because I love Adriana Mather's books, Salem and because I am fortunate enough to live near Salem.

Ryan and Janella were able to talk about their debut books which are being published very soon. Attendees were able to pick up ARCs of Reverie by Ryan La Sala and Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles at the signing portion of the day. Ryan and I were talking about Sailor Moon and anime. He even drew a little Sailor Moon when he signed my ARC of Reverie. Janella is fantastic and this is her first every signing event as an author! She has always been on the other side of the table reading books and meeting authors but the Salem Literary Festival is definitely a milestone event for her! All and all, the event was a wonderful start to the fall!