LeakyCon Lit 2012

Maureen Johnson, Lev Grossman, Stephanie Perkins, Robin
Wasserman, Megan Whalen Turner, and John Green
discussing Boy Books & Girl Books and whether there is
such a distinction.

This past week I had the privilege of being able to attend LeakyCon, a Harry Potter convention that was held in Chicago, Illinois, this year. The convention was fantastic and gave my brother and I the opportunity to meet plenty of others for whom the Harry Potter series has been a treasure and somewhat of an obsession.

One part of the convention that I was very excited about was LeakyCon Lit. LeakyCon Lit is a particular set of panels and events that only those with Rockstar or Lit passes can attend. Headed up by Maureen Johnson, LeakyCon Lit gave those who signed up for it the opportunity to sit in on panels between a select number of Young Adult authors who were scheduled to appear, as well as receive the chance to talk with them or go to signings.

These panels proved to be both informative and highly entertaining. The authors assembled were an eclectic and intelligent bunch that, for the most part, know each other well and deeply enjoy discussing the finer points of books and their own work in the literary field.

Because I enjoyed this particular part of the convention, I thought I would give y'all a little rundown of the panels and what I learned from them. So here we go:

Come to this Panel if You Think You Hate Romance
I don't happen to be a hater of romance, but I thought this would be an interesting panel to attend and it was. The panel was made up of Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor, Daniel Ehrenhaft, and Margaret Stohl.  We learned that most romances that people hate are the campy ones with overused phrases and gag-worthy dialogue. When a romance is fresh and new, there is something that draws you to it. Everyone enjoys a good love story, it just has to be done right.

Notable quotes from this panel: 
"Romantic love is the closest thing to magic that we have in real life." -Stephanie Perkins
"Literature is escape, but it's also emotional truth." -Daniel Ehrenhaft

Bad Books and Why We Love Them
In this panel, we discussed what makes a book bad and whether or not we really have the authority to label a book "bad" or not. John Green, Holly Black, Margaret Stohl, Robin Wasserman, Megan Whalen Turner, and Maureen Johnson went back and forth on the difference between books with bad writing, books with bad morals, and books that were so off-the-wall terrible that they turned around and became favorites because of how hilarious it made them.
One very interesting point that was brought up was the fact that we should do our best not to be sticklers about what others are reading because they're doing just that: reading. We should be doing our best to encourage that, even if we aren't very fond of their book choices. Instead of bashing the ones they're already into, we can suggest our own favorites and let them make the choices from there. We don't want to discourage others from reading, and chances are they'll find the really good books on their own if you let them wade around in the water a bit.

Boy Books and Girl Books
This panel may have been the most interesting I attended all week. Hearing from Megan Whalen Turner, Robin Wasserman, Stephanie Perkins, Lev Grossman, John Green, and Maureen Johnson on whether or not there really is much of a distinction between girl books and boys books was simply intriguing.

John Green & Maureen Johnson at a signing. He looked up
just as I took the picture. He wasn't actually glaring at me.
Haha. :P

As an aspiring YA author, I was fascinated and horrified to learn more about the sexism involved in the  book industry: both buying and selling. For years we have been operating under a system where "boy books" are normal books and "girl books" are chick lit. Why is that? What really separates the two? Why are girls encouraged to read whatever we can get our hands on, while boys are told that only these books over here are acceptable?
It isn't fair. Not to authors, not to boys, not to girls. This stigmatizing of certain literature causes boys to think there's something wrong with them if they want to branch out from "boy books" and causes female authors to be set aside in favor of male authors because it's unthinkable that a woman could write something that would interest a man.
Stephanie Perkins referred to an incident when she worked at a bookstore in which a father actually put Harry Potter back on the shelf though his son wanted to read after she casually mentioned that J.K. Rowling was a woman. He actually said "She?" and placed it back on the shelf as if it were suddenly detestable because of the gender of its author.

Notable quotes from this panel:
"I'm not kidding. I would've punched you and then I would've called you a liar, and I would've set fire to your house." -Maureen Johnson [describing her reaction if someone would have told her that she would be writing "girl books" when she was in high school]

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Every Single Harry Potter Novel
This panel was open to everyone, not just those attending LeakyCon Lit. John Granger, known for his in-depth analysis of the Harry Potter book series gave a series of lectures on Christian symbolism, postmodern morality, ring composition, and many other literary devices implemented in J.K. Rowling's books. I only attended one, but it was simply mind-blowing.
Honestly, I walked out of the room both dying to write and never wanting to pick up a pen again, because how could I even come close to the masterful work Rowling did in her series?
Theres no way I can rehash what I learned in only an hour of his class, but I can suggest getting any of his books. If those lectures are any indication, the man is brilliant and should certainly be heard by as wide of an audience as can comprehend what he has to say.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for his books and now have even greater respect for one of my favorite authors, J.K. Rowling, for her masterful work.

I Was a Teenage Writer
Maureen Johnson is always telling those who want to be authors that one of the key factors is to "learn to let yourself suck". By that, she means that no one is great from the beginning and sometimes you have to put out a lot of bad writing in order to improve enough to make something great. In this panel, John Green, Margaret Stohl, Holly Black, and Kate Schafer Testerman supported her statement by producing some work they created in their teenage years. The result was hilarious. Needless to say, many were comforted by the end of the meeting. They saw how far these authors had come in only a decade or so and knew that if they worked at it, they would likely be able to do the same.

Ask Me Anything: Book Editors
My brother and I chose to attend this panel last minute, but it was definitely worth it. In fact, the panel convinced him to consider becoming a book agent because of how excellent the job sounded and how much the agents present were passionate about what they did.
Rebecca Sherman, Jennifer Laughran, Kate Schafer Testerman, and Daniel Ehrenhaft answered questions that ranged from "What does your job entail?" to "Should I follow book trends and try to produce something along those lines?" Hint (on the second question): a book is generally bought three or four years in advance of it being put on the shelf, so unless you can predict the future, you won't have much luck trying to ride on the coattails of current trends.

My LeakyCon swag. It includes 3 new books I can't wait to
read: Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman; Geektastic by
Holly Black and Cecil Castelliucci; and Wizards, Wardrobes
and Wookies by Connie Neal.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. I look forward to attending more book events in the future and learning even more about the books and craft I adore so much.

I would go again in a heartbeat.