A woman was shocked when she visited her local bookstore to find a popular fantasy series, only to unexpectedly meet the author browsing the shelves.
Megan Moeai, an artist known for her gothic style and online presence under ‘moeai.art’, was left gobsmacked during a visit to her local Barnes and Noble in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was on the hunt for ‘Mistborn’, the first instalment of Brandon Sanderson’s seven-part fantasy series, but found the shelf bare.
Her irritation turned to astonishment when she realised the man beside the empty space was none other than Sanderson himself. In a viral video with more than 924,000 likes, their delightful exchange unfolded as she exclaimed: “I’m not even kidding. I was literally here looking for your books and I couldn’t find them.”
Sanderson explained: “The shelf is empty because the bookstore knew I was coming so they pulled them all off. Now there’s this conspicuous hole in the wall. Do you want a paperback? “
To which she humorously responded: “That’s so funny. I was like, who’s that in front of…? I need those books!” Sanderson graciously signed a copy of the book for her, advising it was a “good place to start” and expressing his hope that she enjoys the read.
Megan shared the incredible moment online, with a message stating: “When you’re shopping for the Mistborn series at your local Barnes and Noble and just casually run into the legend himself. I need BookTok to validate how amazing this was because whaaaaat. He was so nice too.”
TikTok enthusiasts were utterly charmed by the encounter, swooning over the author’s perceived shyness and expressing an eagerness to support his work due to his kindness. One admirer remarked: “He was so excited to sign a book for you. He is an absolute gem. I adore him.”
Another added their voice: “I don’t even know what Mistborn is but I’m gonna read it now cos he nice,” while someone else observed: “He was so cutely red lol.”A fourth candidly admitted: “I do not know this author, I never read one of his book, but after this video, I’m going to buy Mistborn and read it.”