AALIYAH: WHEN I MET CATHY!

Sometimes, readers travel a long way to come to my book signings… one reader tells her story!

Aaliyah says:
This all started when I was at my dad's house, on his laptop, looking at cathycassidy.com as usual. I discovered that Cathy does book signings and events and I was over the moon! I told my dad, hoping he could take me to an event in Manchester in the summer. He said he'd think about it but couldn't promise, but I was hoping and hoping. And then the months slipped by and it was summer, and I knew it was too late to go to Manchester.

In August it was my birthday. I went to see Dad for the weekend and we went to Eddie Rockets - I ordered a vanilla milkshake and he handed me two presents, a medium sized one and a tiny one. I opened the medium one first - it was SWEET HONEY, which I had wanted for ages! But when I opened the tiny present, I couldn't believe my eyes - there right in front of me were tickets to see Cathy Cassidy at the Bath Children's Literature Festival!

The day finally came… I stayed at Dad's overnight and on Saturday we set off from Dublin airport. I drew pictures of Honey Tanberry on the flight! Soon, we arrived in Bristol, the smallest airport I have ever been to! We got a bus and arrived at our hostel, which was gorgeous, with ivy growing around the door and big windows!

The next day was the day of Cathy's event. It was a dream come true! We got up and walked around and look a lot of photos. We had breakfast at a small cafe and I ordered a chocolate muffin and toast! We explored some more and then went back to the hostel to pack up our stuff and go into town. We looked at the shops and drank hot chocolate, and after what seemed like a year it was time to go to see Cathy.

We got our seats and settled in and the event began. Cathy talked for forty-five minutes and answered questions, and then she signed books. We were near the back of the queue but it was worth the wait and Dad explained how we had come all the way from Dublin which amazed Cathy! She was such a kind person and she really inspired me. Do you ever get that feeling when you have wanted something forever and finally get it… and you can't help smiling every time you think about it? Well, that's how I feel. Cathy has made me think I could be a successful author myself one day. I will never forget that day!

Cathy says:
Meeting Aaliyah was brilliant - I genuinely do have the coolest readers ever and I was SO impressed at how far she and her dad had travelled to be there! Have YOU ever met someone special or travelled a long way to be at a special event? COMMENT BELOW to tell us more!