BEA - Part 4....NYC

Times Square

I got to do a few (very few) other things besides BEA while in NY.

*First up was meeting my friend Sherry for dinner Tuesday night at BLT Burger! Burgers, fried pickles, sweet potato fries....yum! For those of you that have been around since my early days of blogging & my auction for Doctors Without Borders may remember that Sherry is the person who won the Jeaniene Frost auction. We've stayed in touch ever since and it was so great to finally meet her - I only wish we could have spent more time with her that week.

*Wedneday night we had dinner at Galanga - a thai resturant that Sherry recommended. (thanks Sherry!) It was SO amazingly good.  Here's a picture of their delicious spring rolls....

*Friday was pretty much the only other day we had to ourselves to be tourists. Since my husband was a trooper at BEA we went to somewhere he's always wanted to go - The American Museum of Natural History- specifically the planetarium. We had a great time although I have to admit I almost fell alseep during the movie about stars.

Ocean Grill - where I had lunch with Julia Hoban

*Next up was a real treat for me! Willow by Julia Hoban is one of my all time favorite books. I won a marked up Willow at an auction last year and I've stayed in touch with Julia by email ever since. When she heard I was going to be in NY (where she lives) for BEA, she asked if I wanted to go to lunch and a movie so we could finally meet. I have to admit that I was kind of nervous at first. Willow holds a lot of meaning for me and I was hoping I didn't act like a fangirl /dork :-)

Julia is the sweetest person and put me at ease immediately as if we've been friends for years already. May I add that she has the most beautiful jet black - long wavy hair and green eyes?? Very old school Hollywood. Argghhh so jealous!

We had lunch at Ocean Grill and then went to see Sex & the City 2 while Kevin (DH) went to see Robin Hood. Then we all met up and took a stroll to the local B&N where Julia signed another copy of Willow for me for a future auction!! then stopped at Magnolia bakery for the most incredible cupcakes I've had in years!! What a thrill to be able discuss a book that is so important to me with the author while chatting about Samantha/Charlotte/Carrie & Miranda....lol

*Here are a few more pictures that I thought you guys might be interested in from Times Square.

The taxi drivers are crazy, the city is confusing and hectic - it truly never sleeps but it has such an energy that pulls you right in. And great food - I can't forget the great food! I had a fantastic time and I can't wait to go again for next years BEA - except I will stay a day or two extra so I can take in more sights and see more of my friends! 

BEA - Part three! The authors...........

A picture of the baggage area - you can check a bag in and unload your books throughout the day so your're not lugging them around. A MUST if you are staying all day! Cost $3.00 per day.

Of course this was the fun part and what you go to BEA for (oh yea...and the free books)

Tuesday night I ran over to the Class of 2K10 book signing at Books of Wonder. I'm SO glad I did because I got to talk to all of the authors there and I never saw them again at BEA with the exception of Alexandra Diaz and a quick glimpse of Jeri Smith Ready!!

                                           AT BOOKS OF WONDER:
*I finally got to meet Jeri Smith-Ready and she was just as nice as I expected her to be! I already have all her books signed but she took the time to talk to me about her different series - especially The Crow - my favorite. A friend of mine tried to make it to the signing but wasn't able to get there in time and asked me to buy Jeri's books and see if she would sign them. Of course she did - all FOUR books and even tweeted Sherry later. A big *squee* moment for myself and Sherry! *Pic of me meeting Jeri - to the left, Leah Cypess to the right*

*I picked up my 13 to Life book and pins/poster that I won at a charity auction from Shannon Delany. She spent a lot of time talking to each fan and although she didn't have her book, she gave out plenty of signed wolfy swag!

*I found out from Leah Cypess that there will be a companion novel to Mistwood. It will take place in the same world but with different characters - although one from the current novel might make an appearance!

*I got to meet Swati Avashti author of Split - who signed a book plate for me since I already read/reviewed her book - so nice!
*Bonnie Doerr signed a book plate for my nieces copy of Island Sting.
*I met Rhonda Hayter (The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams), Erica Perl (Vintage Veronica), Janet Fox (Faithful), Jennifer Hubbard (The Secret Year) and Kitty Keswick (Freaksville) - discussed the plot of her next book Furry & Freaked.

*I bought Change of Heart by Shari Maurer & Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards at B.O.W and had them signed by the authors.

* I met Irene Latham author of Leaving Gee's Bend.....can I just say she is the sweetest southern girl I have ever met!! So adorable!! I wish I could have talked to her a little longer.

*Also finally got to meet Alexandra Diaz - author of Of all the Stupid Things. I won an ARC of her book last year. It was the first book I reviewed and gave away on my blog. We have stayed in touch by email and it was great to meet her. We also were able to catch up again at the end of a very long day at BEA on Thursday. Here's a picture of her book signing at BEA!

I hope I didn't forget anyone!! They were all so kind and generous with their time and everyone remembered my reviews of their books which was pretty surreal for me - a new blogger!

Wednesday & Thursday at BEA:

I couldn't even begin to list all the authors I met! EVERYONE was nice but here are a few that stood out ..........

*Simone Elkeles. I met her three times and now have Leaving Paradise, Return to Paradise and Rules of Attraction signed. She was so sweet and took time to say something nice to every person. Plus at one of her signings she had champagne & chocolate! That definitely earns her brownie points!

*Rachel Vincent - I got My Soul to Keep and Shift signed by her. Her signings were at the Harlequin booth with FOUR other paranormal authors...at the same time!! Can you say clusterf**k?? Despite the chaos she was laid back and nice - also very funny. On the second days signing they attempted to be more organized - notice the term "attempted". You don't want to piss off a group of rabid paranormal fans...just sayin...but we (Heather from Darkly Reading and Tori from Book Faery) were ALL over it and had our three books signed by Maria V Snyder, Gena Showalter, and Rachel in under 2 minutes flat!! Rachel admired our strategy and was one of my favorites this BEA!

Here's a picture of the Harlequin booth and Gena Showalter signing (I'm sorry but I don't know the author next to her) There are four authors signing at each time with a theme - paranormal hour for example.

*Jonathan Maberry - My husband scored Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, and Rot & Ruin - all signed. Very nice - he remembered my husband and signed something unique for each book!

*Brandon Mull author of the children's Fablehaven series. Really took his time talking to you and was great with the kids who were there. He signed a book for my niece and asked where she was from ....wrote a really cute note in her book. Score one for favorite aunt!!

*R.L. Stine - Nice -  Signing Fear - took pictures with all the kids, spent time talking to them!

*Connie Corcoran Wilson - Hellfire and Damnation. VERY nice and wants to establish a relationship with bloggers! So if your a horror fan get in touch with her.

*Konstantinos - Vampires and Werewolves (two different books). Another one for the hubby! This guy is over 6 feet tall with really long black hair - goes with the whole horror thing but shy and very nice. Also got to watch him be fanboy at the Jonathan Maberry signing.

L) Konstantinos (tall dude in black) at Jonathan Maberry signing C) Jonathan Maberry

R) Brandon Mull

Bloggers I met:

Although I know them through our respective blogs and twitter I got to meet in person Heather from Darkly Reading and Tori from Book Faery, Kate from Sit Here and Read, Cat from Beyond Books and a few new people.... Kathrin from Germany at Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic and Jennifer from Bess the Book Bus - a Mobile Litieracy Outreach. I also met more librarians than I can count! Unfortunately most don't visit blogs and they feel there's a void when it comes to Mid-Grade blogs so maybe there's a niche for someone out there! I do a few but not enough.

Next up - NY and I meet a few more friends!!

BEA - Part two!

For this post I'll show you here are more pictures from BEA

*Huge banner for Jon Stewarts upcoming book Earth!

*Another huge banner - for Debbie Macomber

The stairs were painted with Vlad Tod vampire faces - the Vlad Tod bags were also a big hit! 

*The new title showcase - the Class of 2K10 books were displayed in there.

 

*These are pictures from the author's breakfast Thursday morning. Jon Stewart was the host with Condaleeza Rice, John Grisham and Mary Roach speaking.

Kind of a huge *squee* moment for me! I LOVE Jon Stewart! I have seen every single episode of the Daily Show! (sorry about the bad lighting)

*Just some random pictures of booths - the one to the right is the Mystery Writers of America booth - everytime I walked by there was different author signing!

*These are the tables - there were about 28 total - I think. The signings were held either at tables or booths. Some of the table signings required tickets for the bigger authors. It got chaotic at all of them - so it didn't really matter which ones you did!

Next up - the author signings and NY pics!

BEA Part One............

BEA 2010

I think I'll do several postings about BEA so I can get to it all. So here's the part everyone wants to know...what books did I get?

Same books as top picture but close up.

Below is a view of them stacked:

Total: 73 books (one more box of @ 15 will be here on Tuesday)

Almost all are signed.

Here's a picture of the swag:

My most prized posession - the Harlequin bag!

That baby is BIG, sturdy and can hold a ton of books!! AND it's cute!

Here's the other side - look closely - it's the covers of all the Harlequin books:

Very cool - I think I'm bringing it back with me next year!

Next post will have more details about who I met - who was the nicest....more pictures of BEA...

I hope you enjoy my wrap up of BEA!

I'm headed to BEA this week!

I hope to be able to post and let you know who I meet, what signatures and swag/books I get!

Follow me on Twiiter (@teamsheltie) for pictures and more frequent updates.

I have a few reviews and my WoW pick ready to go and the lovely Tiger Holland from Tigers All Consuming Books will be guest posting a few reviews while I'm away.

Going to BEA in May?

If like me, you are headed to NYC for BEA in May and you're looking for things to do after a long day of walking around.....may I suggest this.......

A movie screening of Blood Into Wine and a wine tasting at The City Winery on Thursday, May 27th (which is sold out) but they just added another showing for Friday May 28th at 9:00pm.

Movie trailer:


Maynard James Keenan is well known as the enigmatic frontman for Tool, the driving force behind Puscifier and, to those in the know, he is also crafting quality wines in the arid foothills of Arizona.
Now you have an exclusive opportunity to see just how he does it, with a screening of Blood Into Wine the new documentary that tells the story of Maynard's journey from rockstar to winemaker.
The film has been described as the "Spinal Tap of Chardonnay" with the documentary co-directed by Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke, the team behind critically acclaimed documentaries Moog and The Heart Is a Drum Machine). Winemaking mentor Eric Glomski’s co-stars with Maynard and the film features appearances by friends of both, who star as themselves in comedic segments that highlight the seriousness of Maynard's commitment to his winemaking ventures. Actress Milla Jovovich, actor/comedians Patton Oswalt, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Bob Odenkirk, Puscifer drummer Tim Alexander (ex-Primus) all contribute their own takes on turning Blood Into Wine.
There will be samplings of Maynard's Arizona Stronghold wines and a post-screeening Q & A with special guests who will be on hand to provide personal insight into how the movie came to fruition and what it takes to create wines in the arid conditions of Northern Arizona.
Don't miss this chance to see behind the scenes of what is becoming a cult favorite.The film will be screened on City Winery's large screen and played over the in-house Meyer Sound system.

Sound fun? I think so - and it's only $12.00 for general admission!! You can't beat that for NYC!! So check it out and maybe I'll see you there!

(Thanks to Sherry for letting me know about this great event!!)