BEA 2010 Recap 1: Pre-BEA Activities

After worrying for over a month that the Iceland volcano would ruin our trip to New York, Daniel and I were just happy to get on the plane on the Friday before BEA. But it was nice, too, that Delta upgraded us to business class (medallion status is sooo worth it).

Upon arriving in NYC, Daniel and I checked into our hotel, and headed over to Brooklyn for a dinner party hosted by the very fabulous Lauren Oliver. That’s right, not only can she write and sing, she can also cook and put together a super-fun mix of people. I got to meet four of Lauren’s good friends including two who are upcoming debut YA authors: Leila Sales (MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS, SimonPulse Oct 2010) and Jessica Rothenberg (THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME, Dutton 2011).

Leila is hilarious (she made us watch a clip of Tyra Banks flipping out over Vaseline on YouTube) and has inspired me to join the Facebook group “pretending Jim is short for Jimothy”. My brother has also joined this important cause. I hope you will consider it as well. In any case, she brought me an ARC of MGG, and after I pretty much read the first 20 pages aloud in our hotel room, giggling, Daniel stole it from me.

Lauren with her bookcase.

I was amazed to see just how many owned books we have in common – there’s probably a crossover of about 80%. No wonder we click so well! Read more about the evening at Lauren’s blog.

Saturday was a “free day” for Daniel and me. We shopped and napped and walked around a lot. Then we met Amy (My Friend Amy) and Nicole (Linus’ Blanket) for dinner at an Italian locale. It was so nice to see both of them again and to discuss their new business venture Winsome Media Communications as well as Daniel’s book IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN? (written by Audrey Vernick).

Sunday we met up with Trish of Hey Lady! Watcha Reading? at the Strand bookstore. While there, we ran into Alea (Pop Culture Junkie) and Gail (Ticket to Anywhere). Alea, Gail and I plundered the YA ARCS (I got PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow & RAISED BY WOLVES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes) and I also picked up hardcovers of RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund and SHADE by Jeri Smith-Ready. Then Trish, Daniel and I headed over to The Cupping Room for a delicious dinner of hamburgers with avocado.

The evening was dedicated to a LOST viewing party in Michelle (Galleysmith) and Trish’s hotel room. Also present were Natasha (Maw Books) and Amy. We also had a few other bloggers drop by including Pam (Bookalicious), Laura (I'm Booking It) and Jill (Fizzy Thoughts). During commercials, we chatted and laughed and Trish made us do the Fake vs Real smile test. I got 16 out of 20 right. The finale itself was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. I am still not sure if I liked it or not. Maybe I need to watch it again. Maybe I need to watch the entire series again.

At Random House (photo curtesy of Maw Books)

Monday morning I met Amy, Nicole, Trish, Natasha, Michelle and Ann Kingman (Books on the Nightstand) for a tour of Random House. We ate breakfast in their caf and then got to walk the hallowed halls. We met a bunch of cool people there including cover designer Peter Mendelsund who talked a bit about the process of creating cover art. (He blogs at Jacket Mechanical – check it out!) I finally got to meet the lovely Meg O’Brien and compliment her on the fun Random Buzzers site. She gave me a couple of ARCs including AS King’s PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ *squee*.

The Random Buzzers Cube

Then we set off to our tour of Harper Collins set up by Book Club Girl Jennifer Hart. We met Alea and Gail in the lobby and were soon ushered into a conference room where we were joined by a ton of HarperCollins publicists including Elyse Marshall who I’ve been in contact with for ages. We talked about expectations from both sides which was awesome. Elyse also brought me a copy of Lauren Oliver’s DELIRIUM which made me deliriously happy (I should note that Ive already read it and it is fantastic)! A few of us also did a video in their studio. We really needed a make-up artist to take care of all that shine. Moving on…

Scholastic tour group and the NYC skyline

Our next tour was at Scholastic, but we were a tad late due to the amazing lunch provided to us by Harper Collins. Tyler Reed met us in the lobby and we wandered around a bit looking for the rest of the group (including Daniel). Scholastic had a bunch of surprises in store for us, including a quick visit with Rick Riordan (in the office signing 800 copies of 39 Clues), a talk/signing with Aimee Friedman, and a visit to a free-for-all book table (I picked up Eliot Schrefer’s THE DEADLY SISTER, which was cool, because I was able to get it signed later at the TAC). We also got to visit the massive archives where they have copies of many of their published books including a ton of rare first editions.

This is where the magic happens. Who thinks there is a copy of MOCKINGJAY locked in David Levithan's office?

Then we headed over to the Teen Author Carnival where I met a ton more bloggers (Steph Su and I had a very nice chat) and authors. I really enjoyed the panels and even asked a question in the fantasy panel that garnered me a set of books (including Linda Gerber’s TRANCE) and a Ghost Girl pillowcase (I LOVE pillowcases!). The signing afterwards was insane and loud. But I did get a chance to chat with Elizabeth Scott, Melissa Walker, Sarah Ockler, Amy Brecount White and so many others my brain fries just thinking about it. After being kicked out of the building by an irate cleaning staff, Daniel and I walked with Linda Gerber to the subway and went back to our hotel to rest up for our busy Tuesday.

Eliot Schrefer, Maryrose Wood and Linda Gerber at the Fantasy/Mystery panel

Stay tuned for more BEA/NYC recap fun! And if you've done a BEA recap or an Armchair BEA post, please give me your links in the comments! I'd love to read about your experiences too.