adventures at BEA
This is a list of great things that happened at BEA 2011, in no particular order, because they were all awesome:
1. I met Sarah Dessen (I stole this photo from her). You guys, she was SO nice, and so pretty, and also so homesick for her little girl but so happy to be at BEA (a feeling to which I could completely relate). I was very thrilled to have the chance to talk with her and completely forgot to tell her that my favorite book of hers (so far!) was JUST LISTEN. I hope I get to see her again, but I feel pretty darn lucky to have seen her once!
2. I had my first glimpse of the ARCs of CROSSED. I got teary. It's a real book. A real book that is dear to me for so many reasons. Oh, how I hope you all love it.
3. There was a crazy long line for the ARCs at BEA. We even got a mention in this article in Publishers Weekly. And Penguin managed the line so well and kept people moving through so that we didn't have people stuck waiting for hours and missing other things. It is thrilling to me that people are invested in Cassia's journey and wanting to know what's next.
4. My lovely, lovely editor took me to lunch at Serendipity, the most adorable place, and then we had frozen hot chocolate. And it was so, so nice to talk with someone so kind and intelligent over lunch like adults. I am really lucky to work with my editor. More proof? We also went to Dylan's Candy Bar where I was able to get lots of extremely exciting gummy items for my kids–like gummy army men and gummy penguins–so that they weren't mad at me anymore for leaving them. Do I look like a girl who has died and gone to heaven or what?
5. I got to be on an awesome panel with Scott Westerfeld, James Dashner, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Kate, and Ellen Hopkins. They were each just as cool as you'd hope they would be. And also just as funny and fun as you would expect.
6. I slept through the night for three straight nights. I don't know how to overestimate the wonderfulness of this.
It's good to be back, though. And there are many excellent bookish events going on in Utah this summer. This Saturday (June 4th) I'll be signing from 2-4 p.m. at BYU in Provo for the Utah Book Festival (click on the Events page for more information). And, if you haven't signed up yet for Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, you can still register for the afternoon sessions! I'll be giving the keynote address on Thursday, June 16th, and I'm very excited.
Okay. Back to work. I'll see you here on Thursday–and I'll answer some of the FAQ I'm getting about CROSSED.
Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
