At BEA: Where Sexy Meets Books

Heyyy so I'm back! Even though technically I never left...since I live in NY. Let's start from the beginning. Tuesday night I went to the Class of 2K10 author event at Books of Wonder. It was great seeing ALL of those debut authors in one spot. Here they are:

First they all went down the line introducing themselves and their books. Some actually decided to read a passage or two from it. We got to ask them questions afterward. Someone asked how they came up with the idea for their books. Rhonda Hayton, author of The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams answered that her son turns into a werewolf sometimes and that gave her the idea for one of the characters in her book. Another question asked was what was the hardest thing about writing the novel. Mostly all of them agreed that writing their bio on the back and the book summaries took the longest.  I got over my shyness and asked them all what was the best setting for them to write in. Most of them said they just wrote when they could but Bonnie J. Doerr, author of Island Sting needs to have a fresh flower of the season and something else that reminds her of the book she's writing. So it was really cool getting to know these authors behind the books. Honestly there were a couple books I'd seen before but was on the fence about reading it and certain authors convinced me. I did get some autographs and swag while I was there. Here's me and Irene Latham, author of Leaving Gee's Bend:

And here is me with Erica Pearl, author of Vintage Veronica and Alexandra Diaz, author of Of All the Stupid Things:

Let me be clear why I don't have Alex's book in my hand (yes I've nicknamed her Alex lol), the bookstore did not have any copies of her book in stock. Luckily I saw her again at BEA and was able to get a signed copy :)


Now on to BEA.....


It was AMAZING!!! The authors, the books, all the bloggers I met in the different lines, the publishing houses....everything about it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. I never felt so much love for books in one place. I've been to the Javitts Center a million times for different events and never have I felt like I belonged so much. Some lines for author signings were definitely longer than others but by the second day I realized that I needed to come extra early or extra late. The longest author lines I stood in had to be for Lauren Oliver and Diana Peterfreud. Speaking of Diana Peterfreud, can you believe I'm standing in line for another author signing and she was RIGHT behind me!! I was so nervous, I didn't know what to say or do lol. So I did what any blogger would do. I began to tweet that she was right behind me and to ask for advice on what to say and as I'm typing this she says to the person she was talking to "this girl in front of me is tweeting about me". So yes, I almost died of embarassment HA! But she was cool about it and she remembered me so that was nice. Way to be remembered huh? 

The second day was a lot calmer. Not as much people were milling around and not as many YA author signings. I figured out that for the most part at BEA yes you make a schedule of all the author signings you want to go to but in between those times it's good to walk by some booths because you never know what they're giving out. I got plenty of books and random swag this way. You have to kind of stumble upon some stuff. 

My boyfriend called me a nerd for going BUT here's proof that not only us "book nerds" go to these things.

See? There's Tony Hawk! I also happened to be walking around and my heart just stopped when I saw him... Mr. Nigel Barker Fashion Photographer from America's Top Model!!

Isn't he lovely?? Ah yes... He didn't have his book with him but I was happy to just be in those arms lol.
Anywho back to the books... Here's myself and Simone Elkeles who's truly hilarious.

On the other side of her table was champagne and chocolate for us! Now that's what I call a signing. Even though after that champagne I felt just a little too loose lol. 
Here I am with Lauren Oliver. check out those stacks and stacks of Before I Fall and Delirium! I'd say waiting in line for 45 minutes for her was worth it.

And one more pic of me with Laurie Halse Anderson who is a legend and just so sweet. She loved the fact that we were both wearing purple cardigans :)

I got loads of books. Some books and swag I got just to give away because you guys are awesome. So please do look out for a huge contest coming in a couple of days. By the time Thursday rolled around by back and shoulders were killing me, my feet were swollen and my thighs hurt from chaffing (don't ask). BUT it was all worth it. If you didn't make it this year I truly hope I've convinced you to come next year. Stay tuned for my Imm BEA edition!