BEA 2012
BEA = Book Expo America. What a short strange trip it has been.
Day 1 recap.
I got on the wrong train on my way to NYC. In my defense, it was pre-coffee and 6 AM. I got on the correct train at the next stop and all was well. But then that train got delayed an hour in Philadelphia because of an accident involving one of the train workers. Every train was held at 30th Street Station. We got the all clear to get going, then our train died. I swear this happened. So we had to wait again for them to work on it.When all was said and done, I made it to my hotel by 10 AM.
I hit the ground running and walked the six blocks to the Javitz Center with an excited spring in my step. BEA was all new to me; I couldn't wait to experience it. The Javitz Center is enormous and by enormous I mean like a small city. Sweet mother. And it was filled with thousands and thousands of people. Some bloggers, some authors, lots of publishing people, book sellers, librarians--basically anyone or anything related to books. I'd refer to it as "book mecca".
In the midst of the hordes of people, who was the very first friendly face I saw? Miss Frankie Diane Mallis! Next I met up with my lovely editor and agent and fellow Apocalypsie, Corrine Jackson. We sat and had coffee as we waited for our Meet the Apocalypsies BEA event.
The event was incredible for many reasons, first, I got to meet so many Apocalypsies, second, the room was packed with people, third, I spoke with actual fans of CRACKED.
I took these photos as people streamed in. We had a humongous line!
Massive amounts of thanks go to Lenore Appelhans for organizing the event and to Hilary Weisman Graham and Kat Zangh for creating the promotional materials.
From there I was supposed to go to the Simon & Schuster party, but I got stuck on the shuttle bus--in rush hour traffic--and missed the whole thing. Yes, I cried.
Despite the frustration of missing the party, I did make it on time to the Teen Author Carnival, which was made of WIN. Since my panel was in the second time slot I was able to pop around and listen in on other panels.
The authors on this panel, from left to right:
My panel went really well.
Great questions from the audience and from our lovely moderator, Mitali Dave (co-founder of TAC). Interesting and entertaining answers from everyone on the panel. The audience was big, and composed of a lot of real teens! We wrapped up the night in what I'd call perfection--we signed books and gave away candy.
In my heart, BEA translates to Books Equal Awesome, because my two day whirlwind experience was mindblowingly AWESOME. And by awesome I really mean: infinity amounts of magic + a generous sprinkling of fairy dust + diamonds wrapped in hugs. It was a place where dreams come true.
I kid you not.
Tune in tomorrow for my Day 2 recap. I will share how my dream came true. I can't stop smiling or replaying the moment. You'll see.
Day 1 recap.
I got on the wrong train on my way to NYC. In my defense, it was pre-coffee and 6 AM. I got on the correct train at the next stop and all was well. But then that train got delayed an hour in Philadelphia because of an accident involving one of the train workers. Every train was held at 30th Street Station. We got the all clear to get going, then our train died. I swear this happened. So we had to wait again for them to work on it.When all was said and done, I made it to my hotel by 10 AM.
I hit the ground running and walked the six blocks to the Javitz Center with an excited spring in my step. BEA was all new to me; I couldn't wait to experience it. The Javitz Center is enormous and by enormous I mean like a small city. Sweet mother. And it was filled with thousands and thousands of people. Some bloggers, some authors, lots of publishing people, book sellers, librarians--basically anyone or anything related to books. I'd refer to it as "book mecca".
In the midst of the hordes of people, who was the very first friendly face I saw? Miss Frankie Diane Mallis! Next I met up with my lovely editor and agent and fellow Apocalypsie, Corrine Jackson. We sat and had coffee as we waited for our Meet the Apocalypsies BEA event.
The event was incredible for many reasons, first, I got to meet so many Apocalypsies, second, the room was packed with people, third, I spoke with actual fans of CRACKED.
I took these photos as people streamed in. We had a humongous line!
Massive amounts of thanks go to Lenore Appelhans for organizing the event and to Hilary Weisman Graham and Kat Zangh for creating the promotional materials.
From there I was supposed to go to the Simon & Schuster party, but I got stuck on the shuttle bus--in rush hour traffic--and missed the whole thing. Yes, I cried.
Despite the frustration of missing the party, I did make it on time to the Teen Author Carnival, which was made of WIN. Since my panel was in the second time slot I was able to pop around and listen in on other panels.
The authors on this panel, from left to right:
| Barry Lyga |
| Tom Pollock |
| Hannah Mokowitz |
| Michelle Hodkin |
| Corrine Jackson |
| Rebecca Serle |
| Eliot Schrefer |
| Crissa-Jean Chappell |
| Kody Keplinger |
| Tiffany Schmidt |
| Fiona Paul |
My panel went really well.
| What's In A Name? |
| New Voices |
| Rebecca Serle |
| Alecia Whitaker |
| K.M.Walton |
| Lucas Klauss |
| Corinne Jackson |
| Lauren E. Morrill |
| Katie McGarry |
| Hilary Graham |
| Gennifer Albin |
| Tom Pollock |
| Fiona Paul |
| Tiffany Schmidt |
Great questions from the audience and from our lovely moderator, Mitali Dave (co-founder of TAC). Interesting and entertaining answers from everyone on the panel. The audience was big, and composed of a lot of real teens! We wrapped up the night in what I'd call perfection--we signed books and gave away candy.
In my heart, BEA translates to Books Equal Awesome, because my two day whirlwind experience was mindblowingly AWESOME. And by awesome I really mean: infinity amounts of magic + a generous sprinkling of fairy dust + diamonds wrapped in hugs. It was a place where dreams come true.
I kid you not.
Tune in tomorrow for my Day 2 recap. I will share how my dream came true. I can't stop smiling or replaying the moment. You'll see.
