Guest Post – #BEA15 Day Three

Posted June 1, 2015 by Whitley B in Promotions | 3 Comments

Ah, the last day of BEA! And I guess that can be interpreted as both ‘ah’ relief and ‘AH!’ panic, because, well, it’s the last day of BEA! Lots of people had multiple, huge must-have books come out today, so there was a madhouse rush in the morning. On the other hand, after three days, even I was starting to get tired!

Before we had a sanctioned line, we were just “the unofficial Scott Westerfeld mob.”

We started off mobbing up early at the entrance, you know, as one does. About half the crowd was planning to race for Margret Stohl’s Black Widow, and the other half were going for Leagh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, plus there were several drops going on first thing in the morning. There were groups of people making assault game plans. “You take this route, grab that, I’ll go this, you get in that line, she’ll do this, and then we’ll all switch!” Honestly, it was kind of impressive how coordinated people got. And yet, although I’ve heard a few stories of line drama, on the whole people were pretty polite. They would hold your spot in line if you had to go to the bathroom, or even hold your spot if you had to “go to the bathroom” (i.e., hit up another line/drop). We were an excited mob, but a fairly cordial one at the same time.

I enjoyed a leisurely morning jog over to Penguin’s booth to grab Soundless, and then headed over to the autograph lines to line up for Scott Westerfeld. While he didn’t have the same utterly frikkin massive line that Bardugo had, we amassed a crowd about an hour before the signing started. I, frankly, only wanted to be first in line so I could immediately switch to the Katherine Applegate line, since she was signing half an hour later. The absolute highlight of my day was when she recognized me, squealed, and hugged me. (We’ve met a few times, but that was years ago.)

My whole day today was lines. I wanted things signed, so I couldn’t wander as much as I have on previous days. I did try for a few book drops, but since I wanted my signed, must-have books more, I was only able to get one. (One booth gave me candy instead of the book I missed, so still a win?) But today was oddly on point for meeting strangers. I wound up sitting next to the absolute friendliest people on earth everywhere I went. I also saw Dawn Metcalf (author of The Twixt series) in all the same signing lines as me, and it was neat to see her being just as much of a fangirl as the rest of us. She even gave me a fistbump in honor of our similar tastes.

Alas, then I had to leave early and write this wrap-up post while sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight home. Next year’s BEA is in Chicago, which I absolutely cannot wait for! After all, I live (very near) there, so I’ll have all the advantages. 😀

As the first in line, I was the official keeper of the sign.

Dawn Metcalf being a line-standing fangirl.

Of course I gave Katerine Applegate my tiara SHE IS MY QUEEN

Met Christina (@Reader_Fictions) while standing in adjacent lines, then we had to run off in opposite directions. 🙁

The Chinese area was so peaceful and beautiful.

Day Three book haul! Small but concentrated with delight!

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Tagged: BEA, Book Conference, Book Expo America, Bookish Events, Guest Authors, Whitley Says, Whitley's Conference Adventures

Guest Post – #BEA15 Day Two

Posted May 29, 2015 by Whitley B in Promotions | 1 Comment

Today started out better than yesterday. I mean, I was actually on time!

Honestly, it’s more of a circle than a line.

The entrance hall was even more of a madhouse than Day One, with less of a line and more of a mob. Granted, yesterday wasn’t single-file orderly, but but at least people pretended like we were trying to go in that vague direction. Ah, c’est la vie. The people I was with were eager to line for Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. Since that one is not on my “must have it ASAP” list, I was happy to let them rush past me as soon as the door opened. Instead I moseyed around and picked up some of the things I’d missed yesterday, like Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood.

Instead I wandered around the children’s section for a while, despite not knowing anything about children’s books. But, hey, I can’t ignore that huge section of the library I work for, now can I? Had to get them some bookish scoop as well. Got in line for Sandra Boynton and, since I know nothing about children’s books, didn’t realize how jam packed that line would be. I was there half an hour early and there was already a mob!

The HarlequinTEEN line, after they got us organized.

From there I checked out the various international booths, the non-fiction aisles, and got seriously sidetracked in a row of cookbooks. They had free samples out, can you blame me? By the time I went back to “my” corner of the event floor (where most of the big YA publishers sat), the Alexandra Bracken line was still going strong. It was honestly kind of awe inspiring. Once that wrapped up and I was able to snag of copy of Hunter by Mercedes Lackey, however, my morning was pretty much sewn up. I pittered and pattered around, wondering what to do, and kind of accidentally wound up first in line for the HarlequinTEEN book signing, two hours before they were due to start! Honestly, still kind of confused on how that happened, I was just hanging out on my phone and suddenly I’d started a line. But I was surrounded by some very chill ladies (Octavia, Katie, Erin, Christina, and Tawney are the only ones who’s info I got, darnit!) and they made the wait go by fast.

After picking up those books, however, I was loaded down and not too eager to try for anything else. And it was barely after lunch at that point. I finally remembered that there are panels at BEA, since they’re all downstairs and easy to forget about it. So I headed there next. After accidentally crashing a Chinese language panel, I found the right section, only to quickly realize the panels were 1) thinly veiled sales pitches 2) be pitched at actual publishing houses, not really individuals. Ah well, at least they had free water bottles, which were a lifesaver to me by that point!

So I called it a day and did some NYC sightseeing instead. I must be lucky, because so far my BEA experience has been pretty easy. All around me, people complain of stress and fatigue, whereas I’m like “dude, the Intrepid is only a few blocks from here, I wanna climb on it.” (Note: you’re not allowed to climb on the giant aircraft carrier.) Whatever the reason for my relative ease and energy, I am incredibly grateful for it. Here’s hoping it carries through tomorrow!

The country-specific booths all had gorgeous designs.

They’re coming out with a Punky Brewster comic book and it looks ADORABLE.

Alexandra Bracken signed for almost two hours!

Not really sure who he is, but he sounded really good.

Eleanor Herman promoting Legacy of Kings, and looking fabulous doing it.

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Tagged: BEA, Book Conferences, Book Expo America, Bookish Events, Guest Authors, Whitley Says, Whitley's Conference Adventures

A Recap of the Passion and Prose Event in Long Beach, CA

Posted February 29, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Over the weekend, I attended the 2012 Passion and Prose event that was held at the Westin in Long Beach, CA. Lots of awesome authors attended the event and I was able to hang with some of my favorite book buddies and I also got to meet some pretty awesome new book friends too.The event started promptly at 9am, but really all you did was register, get your badge, eat breakfast and meet your friends.

The first person I saw when I got there was Super Librarian Wendy. Wendy is one of my fellow So Cal Blogging buddies and it was good to see her again, we chatted for a little bit and then Lori from I Just Finished Reading arrived and we caught up with Lori, Helen Kay Dimon and Zoe Archer. It was a little early in the morning but that didn’t stop us from laughing it up until 10am came around and it was time to go in and get seated.

Each table seated about 8 people around and an author was seated at each table, so us readers got to eat with our very own author for the entire day. I sat at Zoe Archer’s table and she’s pretty fanfrickin’tastic. She, along with the other ladies at the table kept the conversation going throughout the day and it was great to meet and chat with others who share my love of books for an entire day.

We had a lovely breakfast of danishes, bagels, chocolate croissants and a variety of pastries, a variety of teas and coffee. Everything tasted delicious and I was seriously in Heaven.

They were also selling books that were provided from the bookstore that is literally like two minutes away from my house. Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, I can’t believe that I haven’t been inside this bookstore and it’s so close to my house. It’s a lot closer to my house than my Barnes and Noble store is and that’s the bookstore that I usually go to. After attending this event, I will definitely be checking this bookstore out. I had a blast at the Passion and Prose event.

My table was a bit toward the back so the pictures that I took of the keynote speakers are really grainy because I was taking the pictures with my iPhone and not a camera or anything, so sorry for the grainy pics. The first keynote speaker was Gail Carriger and she had me laughing up a storm that I marched out at the first break and bought her book. I’m not a fan of steampunk, I’m too chicken to try it out (its way outside of my comfort zone) but after sitting through Gail’s speech, I’m definitely going to give it a try. If her books are anything like her personality than I’m totally going to enjoy it.

Gail talked about pretty much everything from tea to her background in academia and she taught me what “killing your darlings” mean and I really just enjoyed her whole keynote speech. She was cute, she was funny and she made me want to branch out and try other genres outside of my comfort zone so steampunk, here I come…=)

Afterward, we broke for the first of a couple of book signings and author chat fests. There were tables set up outside of the conference room where the authors were sitting, ready to get their sign and chat on. This is where I went kind of crazy. Being the airhead that I am, I forgot to bring books for the authors to sign so I had to buy books, not that I was really all that mad about spending money on books.

Sylvia Day and Zuri Day

Tessa Dare

Jill Sorenson

Jill Sorenson and Lori

I’m a huge fan of Jill Sorenson and I was thrilled when I asked her to take a picture with her and she told me that she’s never taken a picture with a fan before. WHAT? Why in the heck not? I mean, she’s pretty awesome so everyone should be taking pictures with her but yay me on being the first fan to ask Jill Sorenson to take a picture. Lori!!! We were the first fans to take a picture with Jill!

After the first book signing, we went back into the conference room and the Breathless Reads panel was up. Can I tell you just how adorable they all were? I really enjoyed listening to them share their stories with us. They shared their publishing stories, their writing styles and funny stories that was totally enjoyable. I run a YA book blog so I thought that I knew most of the YA authors out there but I hadn’t heard of two of the authors but I definitely know who they are now and will definitely be reading their books soon.

Lunch was served while the Breathless Reads Panel was up there talking and I was so hungry that I didn’t take a picture of my food before I scarfed it down but it was good, trust me…that’s why afterward, my plate looked like this:

Before I inhaled that, it was a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. It was fabulous, so much better than the rubbery chicken that people say they usually serve at these kinds of things so I was a happy camper.

After lunch, they served sundaes for dessert and it was delicious!

Oh, and they also served macarons. I’ve been itching to try these out since my friend Foti came back from Paris and was gushing about how good these little things are. I finally tried them and loved them. I’m on a mission to find a bakery that sells these.

I tried the lemon and the coffee one (didn’t want to feel like a total pig) and I’m definitely going to try more of these.

After the Breathless Reads panel, we broke again for another author signing…and this is where I stalked someone’s life. =P This is where I went in search of the YA authors that were apart of this event.

Jessi Kirby.

Andrea Cremer

Beth Revis
Now, after I took this next picture, I could have walked away from this event and my life would have been complete. I mean, if you’ve followed this blog from the beginning then you’ll remember how many books I read and reviewed by this author on this very blog and you’ll remember how much I absolutely LOVE this author.

She seriously rocks my socks! Look guys, it’s me and MEG FREAKING CABOT!

Meg Cabot was the freaking bomb. She’s so funny and super cute and I was thrilled to have gotten the chance to chat with her for a little bit. When we went back into the conference room, it was the last keynote speaker of the day, Meg freaking Cabot.

I can’t express how cute she is. I have a serious girl crush on her. I love her books, I love her personality and she made me the happiest person because she told me little tid bits about THE NEW HEATHER WELLS BOOK! It comes out in the summer and I’m more than a little anxious for it.

Meg Cabot is such an entertaining speaker. She shared story after story and had everyone in the audience laughing and smiling all over the place. She’s got such a sparkly personality that its hard not to get wrapped up in her. She told us the story about how she first got published, she told us stories that happened in her real life that led to books, she told us about Whitney Houston optioning off The Princess Diaries into a movie and she told us the story of the movie premiere for the movie and all of her stories were just as adorable as she is.She wrapped up an event that was fabulous, fun and something that I’d definitely come back to for more. The entire day was a good time and I thought everyone that had anything to do with putting it together did an outstanding job. From the authors to the tiny details of lunch, venue and seating, everything was great. I would definitely recommend this event to readers of romance and young adult fiction. You’ll have a good time, I promise!How can I forget to talk about the goodie bags? Those were fabulous! Check out the swag that we got for coming to Passion and Prose…love it!

And where’s what I bought at the event:

I’m definitely going next year! It was so good to see my buddies Lori and Wendy. It’s always nice to get together with my girls and chat about books and catch up on life. I love my girls!My favorite person of the day was definitely, this lady!

If you haven’t read anything by Helen Kay Dimon, you’re missing out because she’s hilarious and one of the very nicest people I’ve ever met. All in all, it was a fabulous day of books, authors and food- my favorite things in all the world! =)

I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of me, Wendy and Lori. I suck. I’m late adding my recap of the weekend but you can read Lori’s recap here and Wendy’s recap here.

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Tagged: Bookish Events, Passion and Prose, Reader Events

Live Video Chat at Turn the Page…

Posted February 18, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins

The folks over at Avon sent over an email with some pretty exciting news. On February 19, 2011, Avon Romance will be live streaming the book signing at Turn the Page in Boonsboro, MD where the following authors will be:

Nora Roberts
Jeaniene Frost
Pamela Palmer
Grace Burrowes
Mary Burton
Stephanie Dray

Things will kick off at 10:30am EST with a live video chat with the featured authors so you won’t want to miss out on this. This seems like the perfect way to include your readers that live all over the world and I think it’s pretty darn awesome!

For more information on the book signing/livestream session check out Avon’s website here.