My Big BEA 2010 Post

Okay yes, winners. We’ll get to that. Tomorrow, I promise. We’re doing all this home improvement stuff around the house so I’ve been a little distracted.

First up, BEA.

So this was my second time at BEA (last time was 2006, in DC) and I was a LITTLE more prepared for what to expect. This time, I came prepared with canvas bags and comfy shoes. (Well, sometimes.)

I arrived in New York on Tuesday afternoon, checked into my hotel and hurried downtown to meet Angie from Angieville at Otto, a Mario Batali restaurant I like a lot. What I’ve learned from my many many trips to Otto is that it’s nearly impossible to go there for dinner, but off-hour lunches are actually fabulous. Angie is lovely (and much more blonde than I was expecting from her profile picture) and we had a long, chatty lunch and talked books, books, and more books, and I kinda sorta inadvertently spoiled her as to the entire storyline of For Darkness Shows the Stars. Oops. (But seriously, this is what one gets when one asks about an upcoming book while I’m in the middle of writing it.) But it was so nice to finally meet face to face since I’ve been enjoying her blog for such a long time. (You’ll note this is a running theme at this BEA — I met so many amazing bloggers!)

Here we are:

And here’s what we had for desert:

I was very big on desserts at this BEA. Especially ice cream.

After that we went to the Javitts Center to pick up Angie’s badge (I already had mine). It wasn’t too crowded yet, so I got a chance to enjoy the full glory of a promotion for Heather Brewer’s awesome Vladimir Tod series:

Angie also gave me a copy of an Ellen Emerson White book (because she knows I’m a fangirl) that’s out of print, about a Vietnam nurse. I was already devouring it on the subway ride home. Then, I called Julie Leto, who was at BEA to promote her new book Hard to Hold, which is actually based on a true story, and we had dinner at a little pub near Rockefeller Center. I ate salad, short ribs (actually, Julie’s daughter had most of my short ribs) and a brownie fudge sundae.

Tuesday tally:
Ice cream: Otto’s olive oil gelato; Pub brownie fudge sundae
Books: The Road Home, by Ellen Emerson White (OOP), and Beautiful Darkness my Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (ARC brought from home)

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The next morning (Wednesday), I had a few moments to wander around before I met up with my Harper editor and went to Children’s author speed dating, where I FINALLY met the awesome and snappily-dressed and hair-dyed Heather Brewer (and showed her the stairs picture) as well as Lauren Kate and Wendy Loggia. Apparently, Lauren and my editor Kristin used to work together. Speed dating was a lot of fun, if rushed, and my tables of booksellers and librarians could be categorized into one of three groups:

1. “Oh! Rampant! We love this book! We can’t keep it on the shelves!” (Hugs and pictures ensured, such as this one with Talya, a bookseller from Boston):
   
2. “Killer unicorns? Really? Well, I guess if Tammy Pierce liked it…” (puts bookmarks in bags)
3. “Killer unicorns? What the…”

I was so tempted to pull one on this last group. “Just kidding, I mean vampires!” And see what happened. Some people jsut won’t get on board with this concept. I’m learning to accept it. Philistines. 😉

I also saw Mitali Perkins across the room, but I was not able to go say hi.

Afterward, my editor and I wandered around a bit more, and snagged copies of Nightshade, Matched, and Delirium. Then we went to lunch at this cool restaurant called Cookshop, where I ate shrimp tacos (on actual corn tortillas, bless them!) and then the most delicious dessert EVER — a strawberry float made with deep mauve homemade strawberry soda and vanilla ice cream. Wow, it was phenomenal. My editor and I also talked about For Darkness Shows the Stars and what my next project for her might be. (And I feel like I have to let y’all know now there’s no guarantee it’ll be a unicorn book.)

After THAT, we headed back to Javitts (ran into Richelle Mead in the bathroom) and got ready for my signing! I was signing at the table right next to Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier’s Zombies vs. Unicorns signing, which means I got my very own copy of Zombies vs. Unicorns AND got to sign a bunch of copies for people who happened to be standing in line. (My story in the ZvU anthology is called “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn”) and it stands alone as well as serves as a nice segue into Ascendant.) Scott Westerfeld and Alaaya Dawn Johnson, also contributors, were there to sign as well.

In passing, have you seen Alaya Dawn Johnson’s new book, Moonshine? Vampires in 1920s Harlem. People, I’m in lust with this concept (and this cover). I can’t wait to read it.

And then, the Ascendant signing. A huge thank you again to all the folks who turned out for the signing. I really wasn’t expecting that kind of crowd:

Nor was I expecting the signing to go over by an HOUR. We had to move me to an overflow table so Melissa Marr, who was signing after me, could have her scheduled table and I kept expecting my editor (or Justine, who was waiting for me to finish so we could go party) to start telling me to stop talking to all the great readers I met. I met so many people whose blogs I read daily! I met so many Twitter friends. I met so many fans of Rampant. I love you all! Here are a few pictures:

Me with Cassandra:

(That’s Holly and Justine there in the background.)

Me with the Booksmugglers, Ana and Thea:

After that, I went (walked) downtown with Scott and Justine to the Simon & Schuster cocktail party, where I met a bunch of other authors and got to hang out with Simon Pulse editor Anica Rissi, who it turns out I went to college with (though we never knew each other), as well as Sarah Beth Durst and Robin Wasserman.

In passing, are you all watching Robin Wasserman’s Seven Deadly Sins miniseries on Lifetime right now? If not, clear your schedules. It’s divine. I don’t know what I’d do if one of my books was made into a movie, let alone a whole series! No wonder she looked so glowing and happy on Wednesday night!

After that, Robin, Scott, Justine and I met up with Maureen Johnson and Daphne Unfeasible (whose name is really Kate Testerman, but honestly, I wanted to call her Daphne all night long) for dinner. Yes, I had ice cream. I had Mexican Chocolate, Corn, and Kahlua ice cream (different scoops). And a salad. Must save room for the ice cream! The corn ice cream was really much better than I’d feared, but the Mexican chocolate was my favorite.

So that was Wednesday.

Wednesday Tally:
Ice Cream: Strawberry soda float; three flavors at Mexican restaurant
Books: 18 free books, including Rot & Ruin, Zombies vs. Unicorns, Matched, Delirium, Nightshade, Sapphique, Vladimir Tod, The Enemy, a new Jonathan Stroud and many, many more!
Lessons Learned: No matter how adorable your unicorn shoes are, they aren’t very comfortable and no one sees them under the booth anyway.

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Thursday was my “chill” day. My job was mostly to run around and see the sights of BEA. I didn’t do much running. I wore flat sandals. I carried lots of tote bags. I ran into Sarah Cross and Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Angie again. Angie took me to meet the stunningly gorgeous Deanna Raybourn, who really looks like the cover model on one of her books — and I know I get that all the time about Astrid on Rampant, but I don’t see it at all, and yet with Deanna, oh my gosh!), and then Angie and I stood in a VERY long line to meet Mary Roach, who was promoting her new book, Packing for Mars, which looks fantastic.

I also met Leah Cypress, who signed me a copy of Mistwood (yay!) which I hear is wonderful –even better than Graceling, which to me is high praise indeed! — and I can’t wait to read it.

And I also got a signed ARC of Firelight from Sophie Jordan, who I didn’t realize I’d already met.

Then I had lunch with my Random House editor, who had all kinds of great news about my October Ballantine release (it’s killing me not to talk about it, ya’ll. Soon, I promise!) No ice cream there, sadly.

After that, I stumbled across the Running Press booth and I snagged two copies of Kiss Me Deadly ARCS (my July release), hoping to give one away on the blog, but then I ran into a bookseller from Kepler’s and she had such nice things to say about both my book and Carrie Ryan’s that I gave her my spare copy, because it has Carrie and my stories in it (Mine is called “Errant.”) Sorry, guys. I’ll find an alternative giveaway. And then later, when I finally, FINALLY met the awesome and talented Rachel Vincent, after only knowing her online for years, I felt really bad, because they were out of ARCs, and not only does she also have a story in there, but her name is on the cover. Here’s me and Rachel:

Or, as I told Rachel and photographer Lenore I’d title the picture: “Diana Peterfreund with Kiss Me Deadly and Rachel ‘the Hobbit’ Vincent.” Nice framing, that.

However, I did get to meet Laurie Halse Anderson. And yes, I managed to type that without the emphatic expletives that I was thinking when I saw her, which was pretty much, “OMG, it’s ******* Laurie Halse Anderson OMG OMG OMG.” And then, y’all…. she HUGGED ME. Laurie Halse Anderson hugged me, and it was a really miraculous hug, too. Here is Laurie and me, post-hug (you can see how she made me glow):

There was a librarian standing in line with me for Laurie, and I failed to get her name, but she ran out of line to go to the bathroom and I got a copy signed for her and waited around but she never came back and eventually I had to leave. I feel really bad about that, but if you are that librarian — and you know who you are and where you’re from — CONTACT ME, and I’ll send you the ARC.

Ooh, and I finally met my editor of the Smart Pop books from BenBella, Leah Wilson, and we talked about the new cover for the Narnia anthology (isn’t it AWESOME?) as well as future anthologies that I may or may not be a part of (stay tuned)

I also got a copy of the much-acclaimed Shade from Jeri Smith-Ready, and the highly-anticipated Raised by Wolves from Jennifer Lynn Barnes. And oh, so many more!

Me and Jeri at the RWA booth:

Then, I met up with Lenore from Presenting Lenore, and her husband, the talented illustrator Daniel Jennewein, whose children’s book Is Your Buffalo ready for Kindergarten? will be out this month! This was a fabulous two-for one. First of all, I adore Lenore’s blog and was long awaiting a chance to meet her, and secondly, Daniel and I have the same editor at Harper, and I got a chance to read an early copy of Buffalo, which is seriously adorable and I highly recommend it to any kids reading this blog (or adults who are looking for picture books for kids). We went to a nearby diner and ate cake and lentil soup (Daniel and Lenore) and milkshakes (me, of course). We talked books and TV shows and blogging and illustrating and then Daniel gave me the best thing EVER (my editor is so jealous):

And, in close-up:

The caption reads “Buffalo the Great” btw. Clearly from our upcoming release, Is Your Buffalo Ready to Be a Unicorn Hunter?

How awesome is that? I am having it framed and hung in my office. I love it so much I can’t see straight.

One more time to the Javitts Center, this time to go to a blogging reception –which I couldn’t find for like half an hour, but when I did, I was rewarded with some very friendly faces, namely:

Laura Bowers! (who has a new book coming out)

 

The Booksmugglers! (we gossip gossip gossiped, and I totally volunteered Carrie and me to do something for their next Halloween week.)

Kristi the Story Siren! (I wish I’d gotten to talk to her more. We chatted about Rio and Xander, mostly. I love book people who are also dog people.)

And then after that, I ran across town and had Chinese food with newly-minted New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles (who told me all about the incredible in-depth gang research she’s doing for her new book and we dished for a few hours about how much fun it is to research books). Also, I’m sorry to disappoint you Alex-lovers in the blog audience, but though I met the gorgeous model who plays him in the Rules of Attraction trailer, I didn’t grab a pic with him. He did shake my hand though. And then, later, drinks in a VERY VERY loud bar with Simone and her agent, Kristin Nelson.

No ice cream there, either. (Sad face.) If it hadn’t been for that milkshake with Lenore and Daniel, I might have gone into withdrawals!

Thursday’s Tally:
Ice Cream: One little chocolate milkshake
Books: Oh, so many! (Actually, only 18, including the ones listed above — sorry, getting lazy — as well as Halo, Shift, The Marriage Ring by Cathy Maxwell, Hold Me Closer Necromancer, and many, many more!)

Friday morning I was seriously wiped. Too many books, too much socializing, too many days away from my quiet little house with my manuscript and my garden and my puppy asleep on my feet. New York is nice to visit and all, and who doesn’t love book talk with the coolest people in your business, but I guess five years at this job are turning me into an introvert. I was supposed to catch an 11:30 bus home, but I was exhausted and impatient to see Rio and got a 9 AM bus instead. And seriously, wouldn’t you want to get home to this?