Step Into Fiction: BEA Write Up!

So, I just go back from BEA (Book Expo America) today and let me tell you...it was a fun by exhausting week! However, I've become more familiar with the subways (about time, with the amount I go to NY as is).

Let's start off the week. I get up there on Monday around 2:00 PM and meet up with Julie Kagawa and Josh Hurley (you may know him as the voice of Puck from "Summer's Crossing" audiobook?) to hang out. (We wanted to play pool but there wasn't enough time to do this...) We go out to lunch talk about all sorts of different things then decide to walk around Central Park.

Myself, Josh & Julie (certainly not the best picture of myself lol)

Had a lot of fun with these two (and Amber from the Musings of aLmYbNeNr) and the rain actually didn't come (which a rare thing when it comes to Josh & I hanging out). We parted ways so Julie could meet her agent for dinner and we could figure out where our hotel in Brooklyn was.

Tuesday started bright and early (5:00 AM which is usually around my bedtime). Got to the Javits Center around 7:15 AM and got in to line. Tried to stay awake. I was successful. They let us in at 9:00 AM and that's where the fun begins. You go around grabbing at cool tote bags and books. The biggest crowd I saw was around Maggie Steifvater's new book, "The Raven Boys" - snagged myself a copy. (Big fan of hers!) Got some other amazing books.

Book haul for day 1 of BEA

Going in to BEA I told myself the one book I will kick myself if I do not get is Marie Lu's "Prodigy", the follow up to last year's "Legend". But fear not, my friends, I got one and she even signed it! :)

All week, I practically stayed in the Autographing lines section. One thing I love about reading (especially YA) is meeting the authors behind all these amazing books. It's the highlight of everything for me. So I wanted to try and meet as many as I could because it's a great opportunity. Every single one I met was amazing. Some stand outs for me were Gretchen McNeil (totally hilarious), Dan Wells (such a great sense of humor), Gabrielle Zevin (so extremely sweet & kind to every single person she met!), Gennifer Albin (super nice and interested in hearing what you had to say). Those are the standouts for me but every single author I met was amazing.

Book haul for day 2 of BEA

Obviously seeing Jeri Smith-Ready again was a bonus. (I actually saw her three times over my week in NY) Probably the most entertaining was running in to her on our way out of Books of Wonder on Wednesday after the YA Rebels signing. After our conversation, we were thinking about remaking the "I'm on a Boat" song to "I'm on a Train" haha.

Sadly, two of the three days I was there idiot me forgot my business cards back in the hotel so I wasn't able to tell people about our new site. Most of the amazing bloggers I met did give me their card so I can go check their blog out & follow them! But that was definitely one of the greatest things about this event was meeting so many bloggers.

I got some amazing books that I'm thankful I get the opportunity to read. Met some amazing authors, most of which I will definitely attend a signing of when they come in the area-ish. (I don't mind traveling for some authors) Extremely bummed I missed out on saying hello to Becca Fitzpatrick and meeting Drew Doyon (aka Patch). I actually run a website for him (though I've been too busy to really update it, which is a bummer). But alas, what can you do? Becca is amazing and I'll be seeing her again when Finale is released (she knows I'll travel!).

Book haul for day 3 of BEA

The Teen Author Carnival which I attended Tuesday evening (wasn't sure how I was going to keep my eyes open but I did!) was really awesome. I had a lot of trouble deciding which panels I wanted to attend. We decided to go downstairs for both panels ("From a Whole Other World" & "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger (Kick Ass Characters)") and they were both amazing. Got to hear from a lot of authors, most of which I haven't read their books (but they've been on my TBR list for awhile) so that was just awesome. They answered some really goofy questions and really, it was just one of the most laid back events I've been to. The authors just mingled afterward and if you had a book to get signed, you just wandered up to them and did so. We talked with Jeri Smith-Ready a bit, we were wearing T-Shirts for her Shade series. (She loved them!) Then I went all the way upstairs to finally meet Hannah Moskowitz. A fellow Marylander and a kickass author. Was super excited. I brought Break & Invincible Summer for her to sign. She was as awesome in person as she is on twitter, got a picture with her and left to go get some food. (Hasn't eaten since 6:30 am so I was starving at this point).

Wednesday evening we attending the YA Rebels signing at Books of Wonder (I love that store!). If I had more money (and more room in my suitcase) I would've bought Karsten Knight's Wildfire and Gretchen McNeil's Possess but sadly, I didn't. It was exciting getting to hear about their books and just listening to them was entertaining enough. I did get to meet Zoraida Cordovia, which was exciting. I wanted to go to her launch party back on May 1 but it was the same time as Veronica Roth's signing in Tribeca so I wasn't able to. I bought Witch Eyes but Scott Tracey while there and got him to sign it. Saw Hannah Moskowitz again and got her to sign my copies of Zombie Tag & Gone Gone Gone. (She was entertaining as hell during the panel)

Here are some pictures (mainly from Teen Author Carnival) - I didn't think to take pictures of stuff at BEA, I'm not sure why I didn't. I fail, I know! Next year, though!