RANDOMS: Amber Benson, Manhattan and a Car Full of Women (@Amber_Benson)

Friday morning finally rolled around and I couldn’t have been more excited! I picked up my fellow road trippers and hit the highway to go meet Amber Benson. The iPod was loaded, the GPS was programmed, my portable office was packed – it was time to go. We hit the road and headed for New York City.

 
The trip down to Manhattan was relatively uneventful. Lola (our faithful GPS unit) was spot on without fail. Even with hitting two accident jams and one slow spot, we still arrived on the right block at around 5:30pm. With about an hour and a half to spare, we parked and started walking the two blocks to the address.

After walking by the address twice and going to the point of walking across the road, we finally realized that we had to look……up. Midtown Comics, the host of the book signing, was on the 2^nd floor. Once we had the location figured out, we grabbed some dinner at a great little cafe called Grand Central Star Cafe. If you’re ever in the area, check them out because the food was awesome.
 
Once we were done eating, we headed up to the store. I grabbed my two copies of How to Be Death and went to the counter. As I was paying for my books, Amber Benson even walked in and I almost freaked out…..almost.
I spent the whole time at the register thinking this is awesome. No line. Not so much. Once I paid for the books, the cashier let me know that I could head outside with my ticket (received when I bought my books) and hop in line. She told me that it had started filling up so I would want to get going.

 (my proof of purchase tickets)

Yeah, in a matter of 15 minutes, we went from no line to this line…

 (the line outside of Midtown Comics)

(me outside of Midtown, freezing my unmentionables off)

Luckily, the folks at Midtown Comics allowed us in 10 people at a time and even that moved relatively fast. We waiting outside for about 20 minutes or so and then it was our turn to head in.  

(my sister and my mom waiting inside)

As we got closer, I was getting seriously nervous.  I am a huge fan and this signing was a big deal to me.  When it was finally my turn, I was so nerved out, I thought there was a good possibility that I was going to be sick to my stomach.  I am happy to report that did not happen.  I walked up and started to introduce myself, completely not expecting Amber Benson to remember who I was, and a look of recognition immediately came over her face.  “You’re Jena from Pure Textuality!”  It totally made my day that she knew who I was!  I instantly calmed down and we chatted for a bit about the fact that I read How to Be Death so fast (I had posted my progress on Twitter).  She ended up signing my copy personalized with a comment about me reading so fast.  She also signed a copy for me to giveaway (giveaway starts tonight!).  My mom and my sister each got a copy signed as well and my mom gave me hers to give away here on the site!  

(me and Amber Benson)

I spent the first hour of our car ride home floored by how awesome of an experience it was.  I have only met two other celebrities in the past – Kyle Petty (a NASCAR driver and I hate NASCAR) and Ben Stein (was a major league weener to everyone) – and this was a much better experience.  Amber is someone that I have always admired and I am incredibly happy that I gave her writing a chance because she’s become one of my favorite authors as well.  She’s super cool to meet in person and if you have the opportunity, you should totally go to one of the signings!!  Click here to see the schedule for the rest of the stops! 

DETAILS FOR THE GIVEAWAY COMING THIS AFTERNOON!!!!