BEA '14: A Tale of Books, Authors, Publishers + Bloggers (Part 2)

I shared about the first two days of BEA in yesterday’s post! And today, here’s the recap for the second half. You may (lovingly) yell at me if I get your name/blog wrong, which I blame on my memory skills. [Please note that I don’t mind if you grab a photo you’re in! But please, please don’t forget to include credit.]

May 30: BEA, Day 2

I didn’t get up as early this morning, since I didn’t have to be at the exhibits until around 9. But once I’d made it in, along with Rachel, we wandered over to the Heir of Fire (Sarah J. Maas’ latest in her Throne of Glass series) and HOLY, HEIR OF FIRE LINE! I actually have a video of the line as it looked at around 9:05AM, and it’s pretty crazy. I also heard that it only got longer – which does not surprise me at all!

Nicole (The Quiet Concert)

Gillian (Writer of Wrongs)

Steph

Lindsey

Jen

Katie

I wound up wandering with Rachel, Jamie, and Gaby since all of us were free till about 11. We went over to Harlequin and snapped a photo with the Let’s Get Lost car, ran into the cover model for Black Ice and hopped on over to Penguin where we spotted Elena, Sasha (Sash & Em) and April. We went our separate ways shortly after, as we each had different signings to go to. Rachel and I lined up to pick up a signed ARC of Ryan Graudin’s The Walled City, and I got to chat a bit with Kara (Great Imaginations). We immediately crossed over and joined the massive line for Morgan Matson – and I finally got to meet her in person after two previous failed attempts!

Gaby

Rachel

Allison (Good Books & Good Wine)

Kara

Kaye (Paper Reader)

Gabbie (Rampant Readers)

Sash

Jamie, Adi Alsaid, Gaby, Rachel & I with the Let's Get Lost car! (Photo Credit: Jamie)

How cute is this car though?

Jamie, Rachel & I with the cover model for Black Ice (Photo credit: Jamie)

Morgan Matson

Rachel and I grabbed a quick lunch, before meeting up with Heather Demetrios to grab our goodies for the Blogger Caravan inspired by her new series. I then went off to meet Elena and Sarah J. Maas for a coffee date, where we chatted about her books and caught up on all the things that had been happening (at BEA and otherwise).

Ashley

Heather Demetrios

Sarah J. Maas

I hurried over to try and catch the world-building panel that Margot (The Real Fauxtographer & Epic Reads community manager) was moderating, but failed. (I have heard excellent things though!). I popped on over into Miranda Kenneally’s signing line for Breathe Annie Breathe before heading back to listen to the Real YA panel (featuring Gayle Forman, E. Lockhart, Meg Wolitzer, and Jandy Nelson). The last thing I did that day at BEA was head over to Heather Demetrios’ line to snag an ARC of Exquisite Captive!

Aubry

Margot

Meg (Cuddlebuggery)

Miranda Kenneally

REAL YA panel

Steph

Kat

Eric Smith

After that, it was time to drop stuff off at the hotel and then head on over to Central Park for the BEA Blogger Picnic! It was the second time I had hosted this event with Andrea (The Overstuffed Bookcase), Jen (YA Romantics) and Katelyn. The weather was less humid this time, so it was definitely more comfortable! We are thrilled with the turnout, even with the sprinkling of rain. Plus, there was plenty of food and drinks, including the dinners that everyone brought for themselves. All in all, it was definitely enjoyable! (And watch out for the full list of attendees to come!)

Andrea, Jen, Katelyn & I

May 31: BEA, Day 3

This was the day I finally, FINALLY got to meet the wonderful Cassie (Books with Cass)! We met up at Penn Station, and it totally made my day. We walked towards the Bloomsbury offices together, where we met up with Hannah and Betty. She and Hannah then went off to have coffee, while Betty and I went in to attend the Bloomsbury Brunch.

Cassie (MUCH JOY AT MEETING HER IN PERSON!)

Betty, Cassie, Hannah

Hannah

We got to hang out with other bloggers (including Estelle (Rather Be Reading) and Andi (Andi’s ABCs)), munch on some donuts and bagels, and wander the Bloomsbury office. It was also a real treat to see Erica Barmash and Emily Ritter, as well as meet Courtney Griffin and Cristina Gilbert in person. (Seriously, I love the girls over at Bloomsbury loads!) There were book shelfies, fun conversations, and Jessica Day George was there too (I really want to read her series!). There was also another chance to chat with the lovely Sarah J. Maas!

Emily Ritter

a shelfie with Murray and Mindy

Sarah J. Maas in the wild (caption credit to Elena)

selfie with Sarah

signing away

After the brunch, Rachel, Heidi, Cassie and I took a cab to the Javits Center. BookCon was in full swing when we arrived, and Rachel and I made our way in so we could stand in line for Jennifer L. Armentrout and her book The Return. We were all the way at the end of the hall, so we avoided most of the chaos. But trying to wade through the crowd before and after? It was insanity, honestly. There were too many people in such a tiny space, and everything just felt so disorganized.

We escaped to the calmer side after that! After walking around a little bit, we decided to go and have waffles and coffee. We parted ways then, and I made my way back to the Javits to meet up with Tiffany (About to Read) and film our collaboration vlogs (which will be up soon!). Shortly after, I found Cassie and we “escaped” the chaos by going to Bryant Park. There was a brief lunch with Estelle, Gaby and Cassie at Panera which was lots of fun!

Heidi

DJ (Website) & Katelyn

How epic is this Epic Reads periodic table?

Rachel

Tiffany & Michelle Madow

Katie (Mundie Moms)

I made a quick pit stop at the hotel, before heading off to pop into the Kids Author Carnival. The way the event was organized was pretty brilliant. There were “teams” named for literary characters (Matilda, Coraline, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl & Lyra Silvertongue), and each team would go from station to station (Pictionary, Writing Round Robin, Charades, Writing Process Q&A, Create a Character and Finding Inspiration Q&A). It was fun to watch, and very well organized indeed! I’m not going to lie –seeing these kids so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about books made me tear up a little.

Writing Round Robin

Writing Process Q&A

Create a Character

Pictionary

Charades

Finding Inspiration Q&A

And then, I made my way to Tir Na Nog for my last official BEA event – the Book Blogger Meet and Drink! I originally wasn’t planning to stay long, since I had been having a headache off and on all day. But it was seriously nice to just unwind and chat about anything and everything with everyone who came! We all got a chance to (figuratively) put our feet up, really relax and just celebrate being together. (Plus, it didn’t hurt that I was able to snag a bound manuscript of This Shattered World that someone brought for donations!)

After that, BEA was officially over for me! I was completely exhausted, hoarse and losing my voice and still suffering from a headache. BUT I was also really happy and content and just filled with so much peace! The one thing I love most about BEA is the fact that I get to see my people, and spend time surrounded by others who understand and embrace my love for books and authors alike. While I’m normally an introvert, my husband and I agree that I turn into an extrovert when it comes to things I love and people who understand that love – which is the case with BEA!

Now that I’m back to reality, I already miss everyone and everything about BEA. It all feels like a dream, and I’m honestly not ready to wake up. Just writing this post made me happy and sad, happy at all I got to do, and sad about everyone leaving the city to head for home! It’s going to be a while yet till I see many of you again, and just know that I am so, so thrilled we met in person, chatted for a bit and just really got to celebrate and indulge our love of books.