The Land of Stories 5 : Book Tour 2016

chriscolfernews

hrhchriscolfer Favorite interview of the week! Thanks for having me Columbus, OH! @scholasticinc #TLOS5

http://colfhummel.tumblr.com/post/147440242671

jenndesq


My littlest niece asked Chris Colfer a question about The Curvy Tree picture book at the Philadelphia TLOS5 tour stop on July 13, 2016.

@hmaz76 @chriscolfer My girls & I had a great time at the event tonight! “Dorothy” says thank you for the audiobooks!

It's so much fun to see the amount of dedicated kid fans growing year by year. And the series is still gathering new readers the whole time as well.

I do like this costume contest idea, and the quizzes on top of the Q&A. It takes so much time and concentration from Chris to do all this on stage. I know he has probably few people running around with the mikes etc, but still having all that focus on him and definately not having any idea what people are gonna through at him question vise. Big kudos for them trying this type of format this year.

More videos at the source.

 

 



 

 



Chris Colfer during the Decatur event for An Author’s Odyssey - July 16, 2016 x x x x x x x x

 






keenbean88

Chris Colfer is a true gem! So happy I got to hear him speak

audrey.lucille Chris colfer Land of Stories book signing today in Chicago!! Thank you so much!

http://chriscolfernews.co/post/147473649611/chris-colfer-reveals-that-downers-grove-il-will


Chris Colfer reveals that Downers Grove, IL will be a setting in Stranger than Fan Fiction - July 15, 2016 in Naperville

 

   

 

 

Chris Colfer during the Naperville event for An Author’s Odyssey - July 15, 2016

audrey.lucille Chris colfer Land of Stories book signing today in Chicago!! Thank you so much!

 



 
 
   

Decatur High School Performing Arts Center - July 16, 2016 [x/x/x/x/x/x/x]

nadiacreek

Oh! I knew I would leave something out! During the Q&A, Chris confirmed that he does sing with Julie Andrews in that kids’ puppet show that’s coming out next year! He talked about it being an amazing experience.

Atlanta Land of Stories Event

We had a great time at Chris Colfer’s event today! Below the cut for length.
When we took our seats, we had about half an hour to wait until the event started. My son read a little of TLOS5, and spent some time talking to the boy sitting next to him, who had a Star Wars shirt on. They came up with the idea that Alex and Connor should visit the Star Wars world. The other little boy said Alex could be a Jedi Fairy. I think Chris would love that idea! Too bad for copyright…
Finally the show started. The lady from the bookstore who did the introduction was a fantastic and hilarious speaker. She came up to the microphone and shouted, “Who’s ready to COLFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and from there on it was a wacky thrill ride of stating all his accomplishments in the funniest terms possible. When Chris came out, he said she should come on the rest of the tour with them!
The next funny moment came when Chris put on his glasses to start reading. A girl near the front row gasped, and all the adults in the audience started cracking up. Chris goes, “Wow, you guys are easy to please.”
The costume contest was fun, though I maintain American Boy was robbed. First prize went, rightfully, to a girl in an amazing rendition of Alex’s butterfly outfit, with butterflies beautifully sewn on to a white dress. It was gorgeous and she obviously spent a lot of time making it, and the audience loved it. Second prize was harder to judge. The two contenders were American Boy and one other kid, both of whom were dressed as the Masked Man and who were standing right next to each other. I think my kid got more applause, but of course I’m biased, and Chris disagreed with me and gave the prize to the other one. Oh well. American Boy was thrilled with the experience anyway, and with his Bookhugger badge. He’d been having major stage fright nervousness all day, and I was so proud of him for going up there after all and even saying his name into the microphone, and I’m glad people liked the costume.
Here’s American Boy in his costume. Chris was very funny when he walked up during the contest. He said something like, “I hope that’s a costume, and not your normal look!” You can’t see it in the photo, but along with the portal potion, he’s holding copies of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.



Q&A was a mix of the usual questions and some new and interesting ones. One person asked about stage fright, which was really nice for American Boy because he could relate based on his very recent experience! Someone else asked Chris what his favorite Glee performance was. He said Bad Romance for a group song, and talked about the shoes. Then for his solo, he said, “As If We Never Said … Being Alive.” Haha, I’ll take it. 
We didn’t win the raffle, which surprisingly was more upsetting to American Boy than not winning the costume contest. The only sadness I had about the new format was that I wouldn’t get a chance to ask Chris to sign my Russian copy of TLOS1, but I figured there’d be no harm in trying to make it happen anyway. I found Alla near where the raffle winners were lining up, and I showed her the book and asked if she could possibly bring it to Chris to be signed. She was so excited to see it! She said she and Chris hadn’t even seen a copy of the Russian version yet, and she wanted to know where I got it, and why I’d even wanted the Russian version in the first place. I explained that my husband speaks Russian to our kids so they’re bilingual. We talked about where in Russia she was born, and where my husband is from, and I told her the whole story of how we tracked down an online Russian bookseller who would ship internationally. She asked what my son’s name was, and then she took the book back for Chris to sign it and personalize it for him. [photos in this post] We didn’t get to talk to Chris personally, but we now own the only signed copy of Russian TLOS in existence, so that’s pretty damn cool.
While we were standing there waiting for Alla to bring the book back to us, Will walked over and stood nearby with the people he’d been sitting with (two kids and two grown-ups). A minute later, the bookstore lady who’d done the introduction walked up and asked if they were Chris’s family, and then she recognized Will and said, “Oh, of course you are! These are the others?” Then said she would bring them back to where Chris was when the raffle winners were done meeting him. So that was a totally sweet moment to accidentally overhear!
The whole thing was an awesome experience. American Boy had the greatest time and got to show off his costume, and we’re all super excited about the Russian book being signed. Lots of fun, hardly any boring waiting around like previous signings, very low stress. I hope he comes back to Atlanta next year!
Also, American Boy is loving the book so far. He’s several chapters in and I keep having to stop him from excitedly telling me spoilers. I need to get cracking and catch up to where he is!

http://nadiacreek.tumblr.com/post/147517239280/atlanta-land-of-stories-event

http://spaceorphan18.tumblr.com/post/147498500980/chris-colfer-naperville-event-photos

It’s almost a ritual now for July – taking some time off to head to Chicago to see the lovely Chris Colfer.  I mean, my family knows, my coworkers know, all you know.  It’s been an interesting journey, seeing the tour/events change from Glee based to The Land of Stories based, from older fans to younger fans.  Last year I thought I’d might stop.  I truly do adore The Land of Stories, but these events aren’t for me – they’re for all the little kids who get a series to grow up with.  I’ve witnessed first hand young readers who’ve just fallen in love with the series, and it’s kind of amazing.  They don’t know Chris from Glee, they know him as this huge figure who wrote this beloved series.  It’s fascinating and fantastic.  
But between having letters from young readers to deliver, the interest of my young, good friend Glory, the change in format, and the fact that now that I have 4, I kind of want them all signed, I decided to go.  
Or maybe I have an addiction.  Hmmm.  
Anyway – I really loved the set-up of this year’s event.  To be honest about last year – he did look a little tired, and uncomfortable, and there was a sense that – yes he enjoys the kids – but it is an extremely tiring thing.  This year, though, it’s trite, perhaps, to say – he looked wonderfully happy, and engaged, and animated, and thrilled to be there.  Maybe because the introvert had the interaction in his own terms – possibly – but I shouldn’t project.  
I took my friend Glory, who’s nineteen and has never been around a celebrity before.  She had a fantastic time, and even though she didn’t get to meet him face to face, she did get to be inspired by him.  It was incredibly cool to see.  
And we met up with Teach (@annecholloway) and her daughter.  This the first time I’ve met up with someone for the tour, and I can only say great things about Teach.  She’s incredibly friendly and funny and I’m said we weren’t able to chat longer – even if the wait in the line was pretty long.  I hope we’re able to do it again sometime!! And her daughter is adorable, and loves the books, and has the makings of a great actress.  She was one of the kids chosen to meet Chris (pic here) and it’s so amazing that someone so in love with the books got to meet the author.  (And on a personal note, thank you both so, so much for delivering those letters for me <3)  
So anyway – we had pretty decent seats, four or five rows back, and directly in front of him.  Close enough that I could see all the expressions on his face as the event went on, and it was kind of fascinating to watch.  
Another aside – It’s interesting to see Chris as Chris.  Chris is not Kurt (not that that needed to be said).  But there is a part of me who does miss Kurt a little bit, as much as I adore and love Chris.  But y’all probably don’t care about that, so….
The first thing was the reading from his book.  I’m not going to lie, I really didn’t pay attention.  I kind of just listened to the flow of his words instead of actually engaging in them.  And watched him.  Which sounds creepy, but I promise it wasn’t – it was more of a – taking it all in kind of thing.  It was nice.
However – for @snarkyhag, a pervvy moment.  When he turned so that his side was facing me, I could see into his shirt.  I mean the thing was unbuttoned halfway down, and I have no idea if there was an undershirt there, but there was a lot of skin.  And I couldn’t believe I was thinking about /that/ in a room full of ten year olds.  He’s very nice to look at though – in case you didn’t notice.  
Also – if you haven’t listened to the audio book, that is something I recommend.  There’s something soothing about listening to Chris read his own work.  He is a great voice actor even if he stutters every once in awhile.  It’s endearing.  And you can tell this story means a lot to him.
Next was the costume contest.  And, wow, this was a fun thing to see.  So many people dressed up, and a lot of them had elaborate costumes on!  Teach’s daughter made an adorable Alice in Wonderland.  Chris had a hard time choosing who to pick – I mean, he went through nearly everyone and spent a good ten minutes looking at everyone’s costume.  I’m sure there are pictures of it somewhere.  The winner was this awesome looking girl dressed as Goldilocks!  But one of the kids dressed as the Masked Man stole the show – as Chris joked that he was dressed as Red and the kid cries out ‘C’mon!!’ (or something to that effect), making us all laugh.  
Oh, I should also mention – as the kids are going up to the costume contest, that’s when the lady next to Teach got about 100 pics of Chris’s butt, and he turned around to tell her to not do that.  You know, looking at the video he posted, everyone laughed, but he said it firmly (not playfully – oops).  He played it off, but I don’t think he was really thrilled with her.  
Trivia was after that.  I knew some of the answers! Go me  Best part – the little girl who was next to me got the question name the parts of the Wishing Spell.  She was so nervous that she forgot half of them – but since I had just spent a good month of my life creating each item, I knew them all! And I fed her the rest of the answers, lol.  
Alright, the Q and A!! As expected, a lot of the questions were repeats of things long time fans already knew – but I’m sure to these kids, hearing them in person for the first time was thrilling.  A lot of them were about where did he get his inspiration for the books, what character was he most like, what’s his favorite book in the series (An Author’s Odyssey, btw, since it about the Twins going into his own stories instead of someone else’s – look who’s growing as an author…), and who his favorite author was.  I was shocked to learn that it was JK Rowling.  He also said he’d co-write a book with Rowling if he had the chance – and gave a hilarious title for a book, but for the life of me I don’t remember what it was.   He also said that he’d live in the Sleeping kingdom (cause who doesn’t love sleeping) – and shoot, I’m sure there are a few more I’m forgetting.
There were two girls who asked him to sing.  And the crowd played it up – they really wanted to hear him sing.  That was a firm no, but he did say he missed singing and that he wanted to do something professionally with music again.  But he was most definitely not going to sing impromptu.  I guess Chicago isn’t the only place he’s been asked, as I read other accounts from other places.  I have no doubt that he will – but he’s never gonna be an on the spot singer.  He is an on the spot comedian.  I don’t ever see him get enough praise for that.  Lol.
There was a question from a 13yo boy, and I don’t remember the question, but after he stated his name – Chris mentioned that the boy’s voice had already dropped lower than his.  It was a cute moment.
The funniest thing was when he a kid asked what his job was before he became a writer.  The entire room laughed before he even answered – and he replied with the “football kicker, Beyonce enthusiast, Vogue.com” line.  And it really was hilarious cause I swear he did a little Single Ladies flounce.  (He did, right Teach? I’m not making that up)  It was also interesting that for a moment, he was trying to think about other things Kurt did on the show, but couldn’t remember them fast enough! And I was like – you were a singing waiter, dear.  But then when he couldn’t remember, he moved on to talk about his cousin’s drycleaner business.  But it was such a nice moment to acknowledge the show we all love.  
And then there was the girlfriend question.  It really wasn’t awkward as one might assume.  The question was from a 9yo girl, who was really innocent in asking it.  The audience reacted in mixed laughter and gasps.  And I was really curious as to how he was going to handle it.  He was rather relaxed about it, and simply stated that he can’t say that he does – and then followed up with the comment about not having a girlfriend since 2007 (oh – interesting, I think), and that he should call her… (implying to inform her that he is, indeed, gay).  – And yes that was all pretty funny, but…
The whole thing made me a little sad.  I wonder, as a kid who’s very openly gay, and especially as of late being open about being in a relationship, (casually dropping info about his routine with his boyfriend in New York Magazine articles), why he wouldn’t correct her.  I know he doesn’t like to bring his private life into these things – which makes sense – and is the primary reason for skirting around the answer.  But also, was it about the parents, too?  I think mostly not – by the reaction of the audience, we all knew the answer.  Was it about the kids? Kids really are really open to these things, I’ve found – my 4yo niece loves Kurt and Blaine, and when she sees them kiss (I showed her the proposal, calm down), she has the same reaction as she does when she watches her Disney movies.  Was it about the fact that he didn’t want to linger on the subject when that wasn’t the focus of the event? Most likely.
I guess I just hope we can eventually get to the day where a 9yo can ask that, and he can reply honestly that he’s gay, and everyone will move on.  
Anyway – he closed with a reading from The Land of Stories Treasury, which is to be released this fall I believe?  And once again, I wasn’t fully paying attention, just kinda soaking it in as everything was coming to a close.  Oh!! I should also mention he will be having a tour in December for the Teen Novel.  Should I go? Should I not? Oh the questions.  I probably will attend the final TLOS event next year though, I mean I need to have a complete set, right?
Anyway – the event was very wonderfully done.  The format suited Chris well, he looked good, everyone was happy, really there weren’t any cringe moments, and it was a lot of fun.  I’m glad I decided to go back – even if I am getting too old.  

actingjunkie
Naperville. The girl on the right is “Goldilocks before she was pregnant.” It was so funny, cute & sweet. Threw Chris completely off, in a good way. She ended up winning after he had the audience applaud for the finalists. She was our favorite & his.

@aplotkin716 Hiding from the rain in Columbus!
PHL➡️CMH
#TLOS5Tour

@aplotkin716 Chris, “Crutchy” and I did a snapchat thing. Thanks Naperville/Chicago, that was awesome!! #TLOS5tour

hrhchriscolfer I hid a twenty in one of these. #TLOS5

struckbystories: Pretty sure this doesn’t need a caption….

hrhchriscolfer Thanks, Atlanta! See everyone later at the 560 Music Center in St. Louis!

carolynosophy

Hi, I met Chris Colfer last week at his book signing in Philadelphia and I will never recover. I’m always afraid of meeting celebrities for fear of having a bad experience that will forever effect my view of him. With Chris it was the opposite - he was incredibly sweet and down to earth and lovely and delightful. I felt so lucky and undeserving to win the raffle to meet him and he was so warm and friendly and I GOT TO HUG HIM and he asked me questions about my life and signed my book (I told him, “Just write whatever you want” and as you can see he did). Basically I rambled about how much I love him and think that everything he does is awesome. I met his assistant Alla Plotkin and thanked her for putting up with crazy fans. She was really nice and super freaking pretty

 


 

 

@ughlambert @chriscolfer with kids tonight. He is so cute   love him so much.

@jessiepntz Look at him he’s so precious #TLOS5tour

hrhchriscolfer Orlando was a hit! Highest number of books signed and longest my hair stayed on point. See you tonight Dallas!! #TLOS5

hrhchriscolfer My reaction learning #TLOS is #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List!!! We did it #BookHuggers!!!