BEA: Authors, Celebrities, and Bloggers, Oh My!

Long post coming up!

My third BEA has come and gone. Each year has been a little different, but progressively more fun as I get to better know publishers, my blogging buddies, and even New York. Here's a little about BEA and the people I encountered. I'll do another post or two about the books I received and New York in general.

Authors

I attended the best parts of the BEA Blogger's Conference: The keynote speech and the party. Maureen Johnson gave the keynote address and did just as wonderful a job as I expected her to. The party featured a performance by Tiger Beat, a band comprised of four YA authors: Libba Bray, Natalie Standiford, Barnabas Miller, and Daniel Ehrenhaft.

Maureen Johnson (best picture I got unfortunately)

Tiger Beat. Libba is at the keyboard

I went to lunch at the Little Brown office where I met with the publishing staff, learned about Little Brown's upcoming books, and toured the office. It was such fun! I'll talk more about the books in a later post.

Thursday morning was the Harlequin Teen breakfast. Five fabulous authors: Jennifer Armentrout, Robin Talley, Alexandra Adornatto, Julie Kagawa, and Adi Alsaid. The authors did a speed dating roundtable where they went to each table to chat about their books and life in general. It was just as much fun as last year.

Ann M. Martin!!!! A dream come true. I got to tell her how the Babysitter's Club got me into reading. I think she was flattered. I met her at a signing when I was 14, but I was too nervous at the time to do more than shake in front of her. Lucky for me, I'm more accustomed to meeting authors now, but Ann M. Martin is still someone special.

Rainbow Rowell. I lucked out. This was a ticketed signing, but I walked by toward the end and they had extra books. She was signing ARCs of Landline, her upcoming adult release.

James Frey was dishing up ice cream sandwiches at the Harper booth. I didn't realize it was him until after I took my sandwich.

A really tasty sandwich. Those are homemade snickerdoodles!

Lois Lowry. I was so excited to get a signed copy of The Giver. She was a signing speed demon. I was #140 and got my book signed only 35 minutes after she began signing.

David Mitchell. I lucked out and was really close to the front of the crazy line (or lines, because numerous formed before RH got organized). I picked the winner. Waited about an hour.

Miranda Kenneally. So great to meet her. I've read everyone of her books and loved them all.

Saturday morning, I was fortunate enough to attend the Scholastic BookCon Backstage Pass Breakfast. It was fabulous.

Maggie Stiefvater is near the left. David Levithan is in the white shirt at the back of the photo.

Me with Cassandra Clare and Holly Black!!!!! Aren't their outfits adorable?! They had a joint signing that morning.

My favorite Maggie Stiefvater! I snagged a copy of Sinner at this breakfast and got her to sign it.

Celebrities

Generally, my BEA approach to celebrities is to do a walk-by and take a photo. The lines are too insane. As you'll see, in two instances this year, that strategy didn't work.

Two photos of Neil Patrick Harris. I kinda wish I'd waited in this line, but Ann M. Martin was more important.

Anjelica Huston

Jane Lynch

I walked by Nicky Hilton's signing to snag a photo, but her line was so short that I couldn't politely snap and go. I waited two minutes and got a galley of her upcoming style book. It actually looks pretty good. Her publicist was eager to take photos of everyone with her. Turned out the photos were really good of both of us. She was so pretty, seemed nice, and I felt a little bad that her line wasn't longer.

Bethany Frankel. I am not a fan of hers, but am a celebrity gossip lover, so of course I had to check her out. Her line was super short too. She was signing posters advertising her upcoming children's book, which does look cute. As with Nicky, I only wanted a photo, but to get one unawkwardly, I waited in her very short line. Bethany was pleasantly polite.

BEA Floor

Here are some photos to give you an idea of the spectacle of Javits.

Isn't this cute?

The autographing carrels

These signs were in every toilet stall. I thought they were hilarious.

Bloggers

As much as I love getting free books and meeting authors, my blogger friends are really the reason I come to BEA. And they're the reason I keep coming back.

Me and Lenore Applehans of Presenting Lenore and the book series The Memory Chronicles

Me and Jen from Books and a Latte. This was taken at the MacMillan Blogger Happy Hour. Unfortunately it's the only photo I have from the event. It was lots of fun, despite being extremely loud. Jen and I talked most of the time.

Me and Katie from Mundie Moms blog. I was so excited to meet her. I've followed her blog for years.

Me and Katie of Katie's Book Blog

Me and Karen of For What It's Worth. This was taken Saturday. I had begun to think that I'd never find Karen when I looked up and she was standing next to me in line. What are the chances?!

Danny and Mary. Two of my favorite girls!

And my final blogger photo. My favorite blogger girls!!!! At our second annual post-BEA dinner. Jenny of Supernatural Snark, her mom, and mom-in-law. Me. Mary of Bookswarm. And Danny of Bewitched Bookworms. This isn't a very good photo, sadly. I had to crop it, because my bad posture made me look six months pregnant (which I definitely am not). My vanity couldn't stand for it.

Also an honorable mention. I had a great chat with Caitlin of Sarcasm and Lemons on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo. It was great to meet her after knowing her blog for a long time.

I'll have my BEA books post up soon!

Have you met any authors, celebrities, or bloggers? Which ones?

If you have any good celebrity stories, please tell!