Born in the BEA

BEA report! I didn't bring my camera and was way too rushed to take photos anyway. Here's the scoop from the day.

The children's lit breakfast was early but worth it. Julie Andrews emceed and she was a delight. A surprise guest came out--Peter Yarrow! From Peter, Paul, and Mary. THe music of my childhood. He had his guitar and he played and we sang along to "Day is Done" and "Puff." It was dreamy.

I did two signings--first in the Bloomsbury booth for The Actor and the Housewife. They gave away real hardcover copies! It was thrilling. I love getting to give away books. I don't know how many I signed, but I signed steadily for my allotted hour and then some. We had to leave after that, and there was a huge stack of A&H at the booth. When we got back an hour and a half later, all the books were gone. How exciting!

My editor and I had an hour to stroll the floor. There were very few books given away, a very visible sign of the economy. In past years, you'd see huge stacks of galleys for the taking. THings were pretty bare. I did score a few very key ones, and one might or might not be Catching Fire, sequel to Hunger Games. I cannot confirm or deny that rumor.

One of the best things about shows like BEA is it's such a reunion! You walk around this exhibit hall and see the most fabulous booksellers who are my best friends whenever I'm with them. There are so many, but Monica and Valerie from Hicklebees I'm claiming as family at this point. Alex from Whale of a Tale (formerly known as Moby Dick and Jane...K, I made that up), everyone from Books Inc, BookPeople, Blue Willow, The Flying Pig, Third Place...am I gushing? I love this business! I was talking with the loveliest bookseller and I'm embarrassed I've forgotten her name, though I can see her beautiful face. And she was saying how as booksellers, they're so eager to preserve and encourage and nurture the authors, to keep us writing and producing. And I said, that's just how the authors feel about booksellers. we're anxious to keep the booksellers thriving and nurtured and out there doing such good things. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship.

And of course, besides booksellers at BEA, you get all the sexy librarians. You gotta love the sexy librarians. In my experience, the children's and teen services librarians are the happiest. And if you haven't been to BEA, imagine walking around and saying, "Look, there's Kate DiCamillo. There's Scott Westerfeld. And Sarah Dessen. And Justine Larbalestier. And Suzanne Collins. And Jeff Kinney" who gave me a hug. I'm totally claiming we're BFFs now. He and his wife were awesome. I had a very brief close encounter with Libba Bray, who was madly signing but I got to kiss her cheeks. Repeatedly. Then happily I ran into Holly Black and got to stroll around with Her Awesomeness for a while. Am I name dropping? Shamelessly. Someday soon someone's going to kick me out of this fabulous club, so I've got to enjoy it while I can. And of course all my Utah peeps--James Dashner (who apparently is going to be an author of rock star proportions), Sara Zarr, Aprilynne Pike, Brandon Mull.

I saw Jane Yolen and said, "Hi, sorry to bother you, but I love you." And I kid you not but she looked at my nametag then said, "I love you too." And she said the loveliest things about my writing. Surreal! Accuse me of making that up. I must be making that up.

Then I did a signing for Forest Born galleys. I was signing in the autograph area next to Julianne Moore, who is a completely gorgeous person in every way--down-to-earth, thoughtful, generous. What a gem. The autograph area is out of the way downstairs and I was so flattered that so many people bothered to come. All so lovely and kind. One woman let me know they were all huge fans at her house, and then it turned out she was the amazing Gennifer Choldenko, author of Al Capone Does My Shirts. She has a sequel coming out imminently.

The emceeing for the ABC dinner was really fun. I prepared very well because I had limited time and I didn't want to go over, and I wanted to make sure I knew my stuff because I was saying some things that I knew I'd be at risk to get emotional. Then I did anyway. Curses! I'd been so determined to remain composed.

But aside from the choking-up-ness, it was a good time. It's fun to make people laugh. I got to poke fun at several authors whom I adore. Meg Cabot was one, and I'd hoped to see her before and give her a head's up so my comments wouldn't come across wrong. I did see her at the Children's breakfast that morning where she was speaking--and she looked fabulous, by the way, and was, as always, a delightful speaker. But didn't get to talk to her. I didn't try to talk to Jon Scieszka beforehand, because everything I said about him is absolutely true and needs to be known. Here's the sillier part of what I said when I introduced Katherine Paterson to give you an idea of the evening (I swear it's funnier in person):

"And now, our grande dame. Or as her grandchildren call her, our damn gran." [Said many nice things here]
"Katherine Paterson is one of the few children's authors who still writes her own books, while the majority of us just outsource to Meg Cabot. Of course, not everyone hires Meg--even she can only write so many books a week. For example, I know Jon Scieszka simply eats a bowl of chili and burps books. Hey, every writer has their own process, and I don't judge."
[said many more nice things]

It was easy to say nice things about Katherine Paterson's books before having met her, and it's even easier now. WOW! She is someone you want to just be around. Funny, humble, sincere, smart, relaxed, elegant, casual, everything wonderful. I thought I was a fan before, now I'm a huge fan.

After the talks were over, there was the silent auction and reception, a couple of hours of bliss, getting to rub shoulders and chat with amazing authors and amazing booksellers. Laini Taylor is as darling as ever. Scott Westerfeld showed me the jaw-dropping sketches for his upcoming Leviathan. And everyone was so complimentary about my emceeing (and books too). I just kept thinking to myself--don't take this seriously. This is not real life. You are going home tomorrow and that will be real life. No one can live feeling so adored all the time and be mentally healthy. So it's good that I'm not in that situation often. But for a couple of hours, it was really lovely.

That was the day. Up early the next morning, long flight, and I'm home. The kids are even more darling two days later. And now that I've had a nap, I'm firmly back in the real world again, where my five-year-old sits on my lap and says, "I love you more than all of space, Mama," and that's all the adoration I could ever dream of deserving.

Comments

[Justine Larbalestier]

I was so thrilled to meet you. I am a HUGE fan of your books and was really hoping I'd get to tell you in detail why. But, alas, it did not happen. Oh well. I still got to meet you. My highlight of BEA.

[Wonderwegian]

You are FUNNY! I don't think I could joke with Katherine Paterson... I'd faint! :) Thanks for sharing!

[Laura]

Wow, that sounds so amazing! It must be wonderful to be around so many talented authors. I think you deserved all the praise they gave you- your books are awesome :) Oh! and keep writing in your blog. I love reading all the posts.

[Q]

You are hilarious. Did you know? And your son is so cute.

[Janssen]

Oh, it sounds so fantastic. Maybe next year I'll make it out there (and hopefully I'll have a job by then as one of those smiling teen librarians).

[Chelsea]

oh I wish something interesting like that would happen around here. Darn it! Why does no one come to Florida? :)
You really are hilarious!
Ohhhh I LOVE The Hunger Games and I cannot wait for Catching Fire.
September will be a good month. Catching Fire and Forest Born <3

[Leslie]

I love BEA. In my previous life I got to go a couple of times and had the time of my life. I'm happy that you were so adored--as you deserve to be.

And by the way, I'm glad to hear that there are people you're enamored with too. I saw you in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago, and it was all I could do to not run up and say ""Hi, sorry to bother you, but I love you."

[Rebecca]

It was such a blessing to get to meet you at BEA. The chance for me to come at all came very last minute, but you were one of the resons I knew I had to come. Meeting you and the great crew at Bloomsbury was the highlight of the day for me! (I can't wait to get into Forest Born :)

[Jenn]

It's so funny that you have a blog post about BEA (wich I wish I could go to...). I only frequently go to a few author's sites, and every day I check your's, Scott Westerfeld's, and Justine Larbaleister's. And all of them have posts on BEA, so I feel like de-javu. And you talk about a lot of the same things, the economy and less books and such. And then you even talk about the other two!
I don't know, it's just funny to me. But I"m glad you had fun!

[rebecca herman]

BEA was awesome :) I picked up a Forest Born ARC signed by you. I got a picture but it's not very good! http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6jWfgCw27uw/SiCB3oajbAI/AAAAAAAAAeY/wbYa2xGxQLg/s1600-h/shannonhale.jpg

[Calliope1of9]

Cute. Soungs like you had tons of fun and got to hand out with some really cool people.

[Karen Pellett]

I am in complete author envy at the moment. I just spent the last few minutes reading off to my husband part of your posts and listing all the people I'm jealous that you got to meet. That just means that I have to work harder and finalizing my book and find some one to sell it to so I can follow in your footsteps. Thanks for keeping us inspired.

[Emma H.]

Oh.My.Gosh. I am sooo jealous. I'd love to be around you and all those brilliant authors- how cool would that be? i would have to pinch myself continually. Although I'd probably freak out being with all that greatness in one room. Still, I love Suzanne Collins, Scott Westerfeld, Sarah Dessen, and your books. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out!

[Meg Lyman]

That must have been a total dream - I don't think I could have kept it under control in the presence of all of those authors (yourself included!). That must have been a ball. Kids do bring reality back quickly.

[The Book Chook]

Thanks for showing me BEA through your eyes and excitement!

[Megan S.]

Thank you so much for signing! I got an ARC of Forest Born, and for once was delighted to have a long plane trip home so I had an excuse to bury my nose in it straight away. BEA is amazing and strange, what with all the suits doing big deals, the librarians dashing about collecting galleys, and the occasional scantily clad woman in extremely high heels advertising who knows what. And of course, the fabulous authors like yourself. I loved it!

[Becky]

I love it that you were as excited by other authors as we are of you! Thanks for sharing all of this with us. :)

[Miss Erin]

All I can say is, I want to be you when I grow up.

And not even because of this experience of yours, but because you have such the best point of view and perspective on everything. YOU ROCK.

[Jena]

Sounds like a great time! Thanks for the update :)

[Avery and the delicious Posie Nubbins]

I really want to go next year. It sounded like a blast.

[Danielle]

Name dropping makes me happy :)

That sounds so fabulous. Anyplace where YA authors hang out and you get FREE books well, that just might be heaven. :)

[Stephanie]

What is it like to be you? Dang! Definitely sounds like heaven on earth. Sigh.

[Melissa]

Someday when I am done with library school, I will be at BEA!! It sounds like heaven!! Thanks for the recap of your experience. :)

[Katie]

Sounds fantastic! And the coming home sounds sweet, too.

[Dr. Sallie N. Cheinsteen]

Oh, it was so fun meeting you, Shannon! Oh, wait. Just kidding. I never have met you. But I bet you're dying to meet me, since I'M dying to meet YOU, right? :) Sounds like you had a lot of fun, and in case you couldn't tell, I'm super jealous...

[Christen]

Sounded wicked awesome, I so WISH I could have been there, I'm glad you had fun, and your speech was hilarious. What a collection of authors! :D

[Katie-wa]

You forgot to mention to auction battle with Scott! LOL I read his blog, too. Sounds like a total blast. *sigh*

[Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit)]

Sounds like you had a great time.

I already have your hardcover adult book, but I missed the signing. That's what I get for pulling together a BEA trip at the last minute.

[Emilie]

I must express overwhelming envy to anyone who attends anything emceed by Julie Andrews:
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also envious of all the other awesome authors you got to see, including yourself. Glad you had such a great time!

[Beth Kephart]

This is the sort of experience someone like you has earned. Thank you for providing such an in-depth look.

[Chelsea]

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's pretty much all i had to say.
Other than i am so jealous. I am going to be a writer just so i can meet awesome people and read books before anyone else.

[julie]

oh it sounds so great to be there and to see friends. I'm anxious to get my book from amazon, and I know you can't confirm or deny about catching fire...

[Kyle]

Why don't any of the author-gatherings happen in Utah? I'm SOOOO jealous of you and those other authors who got to meet you! And sad because by the time Forest Born and The Actor and The Housewife come out, EVERYBODY will have read them except me!!! UGG!! Anyways, you are great!

[Danylle]

BEA is the mecca of book lovers. Thanks for sharing and letting us live vicariously through you. Waiting patiently for the poor masses to get Catching Fire. Oh cruel world.