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On Saturday morning, I awaited the arrival of Liz Burns to drop off her suitcase at the hotel. Then Carlie Webber, Liz and I took a cab (after a quick Starbucks break) to the Javits Center. I thought I had a plan for the morning, but it kept falling apart as I missed the people I had planned on seeing and was distracted by signings I had not planned on attending. I know that I missed the signings that I had looked at — Jan Brett, Peter McCarty, and Sarah Dessen. I did make the signings for Walter Dean Myers, Peter Reynolds, and some lady who wrote an eBay book.

I spent some of this day wandering through the publishers’ booths. Like I said before, not a lot of ARCs. I was able to pry Neil Gaiman’s Blueberry Girl away from the HarperCollins people. They were giving away coded cards that let you read some of their new offerings online. Hmmm. Wonder if this will be a trend. The Holiday House people were very nice. They couldn’t give me the books I wanted to see then, but promised to send them later, which was actually better for my shipping rate.

So I’m walking around without an agenda, and a particular voice catches my attention. I turn around, and call, “Mo?” He turns, and says, “Blogger!”

He was there with Tom Warburton, a new author of the book 1000 Times No. Tom and I had communicated by email, and I have the book to review this week. Mo introduced me as his #2 fan, since apparently a kid near his current home has that award. I reassured Tom that the restraining order had been removed long ago, and that it was all good now. Mo and I talked about kids, busy schedules, his DC ventures, and the KidLitosphere Conference in October. Tom and I talked about his book, his promotion efforts, and the BEA experience. They both signed my shirt, adding a little artwork. I even got a picture taken. And in case you’re thinking it — no, I did not stalk Mo. I didn’t even think he’d be there that day. It was simply fate.

During a quick lunch with a four-dollar soda, I sat at the same table as some publishing reps. I told one lady how jealous I was of her Catching Fire ARC on the table. She told me that it had been left there, so I could have it. Score!

At 2:00 p.m. I ran to the Book Blogger Panel. I’ll remember it as the meeting where I talked no less than three times, without being on the panel. Is that wrong? Perhaps. The panel was adult book bloggers, though some also review children’s and Young Adult books. Natasha of Maw Books mentioned KidLitosphere Central as a directory of children’s and Young Adult literature blogs and had me stand up. Of course, once I was already standing, it seemed quite natural to talk about the site not only as a directory, but also as a way to connect bloggers and authors. And I may have mentioned the conference. I think I also added my voice to the discussion on blog tours, referencing Chasing Ray. I know for sure that I disagreed with the concept presented that having lots of comments is a way to indicate a healthy blog. I did get some positive feedback from that position. It’s discussed, along with other issues of the panel, at Babbling About Books, Mrs. Giggles, and at Tea Cozy. All in all, a lively discussion of book blogging for fun and profit.

After the panel, it was a few more author signings — Sara Zarr, Michelle Knudsen, Ann Haywood Leal, Mark Teague, and Laini Taylor. Liz Burns and I hung out around Scholastic, talking to Laini Taylor, Jim Di Bartolo, and David Levitan. I had them all sign my shirt. We stopped by the Girl Scout booth, where I picked up some bookmarks, and headed to the shipping area, where I packed up all my books and sent them out. Back to the hotel for dinner, a short rest, a little lipstick and then off to the Geektastic party.

Little, Brown hosted the event in the private room of the Lucky Strike Lanes to celebrate Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci. Yes, there was bowling. But not by me. David Levithan, and Scott Westerfeld (pictured) seemed to be having a good time knocking down the pins. Laura Lutz was playing for the worst position on the board. Sheila Ruth was up against Wendy Mass, Sara Zarr, and I think Alvina Ling. I lost track of that game, because there were far more interesting victory dances at the other one. I talked to most of the “geeks” — Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, David Levithan, Holly Black, Sara Zarr, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Tracy Lynn, Kelly Link, and Cassie Claire — and had them sign my T-shirt. I told Justine Larbalestier how much I enjoyed Liar — and had her sign my shirt.

When the establishment began the process of kicking us out, I grabbed the ARC and made sure I got as many signatures as I could. Then Liz and I walked back to the hotel, stopping for a cookie on the way and discussing Liar in detail.

Sunday doesn’t need a whole new post. I said goodbye to Liz and headed over to BEA. I went to the signing for the new American Girl book, for Erica Perl’s book, and a poster from Jerry Pinkney. I reported to the Blogger Booth at NetGalley at 11:00 a.m. and talked to the folks who came by. Terry was sweet enough not only to stop by, but to donate T-shirts for 48HBC. I ran into Heidi on the shuttle bus, but we talked a bit more at the booth. I didn’t know that Sarah was working BEA, but she took time off to say hello. Ron from GalleyCat and Beatrice stopped by — though not particularly to see me. I had a few discussions about Kidlitosphere Central, and then at noon I was out of there to meet a friend in the village.

After a three-hour visit that included lunch and quality — if not quantity — toddler time, I was back on the bus to DC. I dozed most of the four-hour ride and made my family come into the city to pick me up. I was too tired to face the Metro.

Now I’m excited to get my box of books from UPS. I’m excited to count down the days — DAYS — to the 48 Hour Book Challenge. And I’m excited to show you my new prized possession. (Click to make it bigger and see the signatures.) Yes, I went to New York City and all I got was this T-shirt.

I’m back from Book Expo America and oh, so weary. I’ll take you through the experience for those who want to know what it was like. For those who just want the highlights, I’ll be doing a separate post that will also list the books that I have for prizes for the 48 Hour Book Challenge.

I took the bus from Washington, DC, and highly recommend it for anyone who wants a decent but economical trip between the cities. It was a four-hour ride, with one fifteen-minute rest and food stop. I had two seats in which to stretch out and doze off. I arrived in NYC around 1:00 p.m., walked to the Javits Center, and checked my luggage there. I headed directly to the children’s books and autographing area.

Now, something I didn’t know about BEA is that the books are free. At ALA, the published books are usually about ten bucks. But here, both the ARC’s and the hardcover books could be signed for no charge. Love this! My books are being shipped, so I can’t confirm, but I’m pretty sure that on Friday I got books signed by Bruce Lansky, Craig Hatkoff, Meg Cabot, David Klass, Nick Bruel, Brandon Mull, Darryl Hagar, Mary Amato, Silas House, John Rocco, Don Calame, and Shannon Hale.

Most of these books I had signed to give as prizes for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, so I asked the authors to sign to “You’re a Winner!” Many of them looked at me to question my personal self-esteem issues, but that just gave me the chance to explain about the 48HBC and my blog. I also came up with the brilliant idea — if I do say so myself — of having them sign a T-shirt that I’d made to promote KidLitosphere Central. All of the authors were happy to sign the back of the shirt (I wasn’t wearing it), I got to talk about KidLitosphere Central, and I got my own signature to keep since I was giving away the books. Perfect.

There were many authors that I wanted to see at their signings, but the lines were so long that I had to be economical with my time. Also, there were a lot of conflicts among the schedule making it that much harder. I would have loved to see Gordon Korman, David Lubar, Katherine Paterson, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, John Agee, Amy Hest, and Rosemary Wells. I also missed Suzanne Collins, but I got the ARC of Catching Fire anyway.

Along with the autographing tables, I was checking out the displays of the children’s publishers. I talked to a few reps, ran into a few peeps, and took a few ARC’s. The ARC’s were slim pickings, but I hadn’t been planning on a big haul anyway since I’d have to pay to ship them home. Walking around by Scholastic, I saw Laini Taylor by her pink hair, and talked with her, Jim Di Bartolo, Barry Lyga (who had tried to escape from me earlier — Hah!) and Arthur Levine.

I ran into Trish of Hey, Lady! I recognized her red hair. Distinct hair is very helpful at BEA. We chatted, and then met up again at the Bloggers Booth sponsored by NetGalley where I saw Amy of My Friend Amy and Julie of Booking Mama.

Then I hit the wall. Went to my hotel, where I ended up walking in at the same time as Barry Lyga. And he thought he could escape me. Hah! He was on the phone at that moment with Robin Brande, so I said hi (I owe you a call, Robin!). I checked in the hotel, and took a much needed nap.

On the way to Kid Lit Drink Night, I grabbed food from the street vendors and ate on the way. Barry was already there and we talked for a while before it got too loud and crowded. I saw Betsy Bird immediately wearing a lovely sundress — the only one dressed appropriately for the tropical temperature of the bar — but as the hostess she was too busy for long chats. She brought me over to me two bloggers Pink Me and Pinot and Prose. I said hello, turned around to grab a drink before settling in for a chat, turned back, and they were gone. So it’s possible that upon meeting me, they decided to make a run for it or they think that I blew them off. I don’t know which is worse. Sheila Ruth from Wands and Worlds and Terry from Reading Tub also made the party, but I’m pretty sure that I was nice to them.

I also got some talking time with authors Erica Perl, Rebecca Stead, Michelle Knudsen, Ellen Jensen Abbott, Bonnie Wayne, Melanie Hope Greenberg, Kekla Magoon, Dawn Stephens (whose signing I was too late for, sorry!), Aileen Leijten, Fran Cannon Slayton, Julia DeVillers, Ann Haywood Leal, and Megan Crewe. Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein and I spent a few minutes on the bar stools chatting about picture books, the industry, and hair products. (Her hair is so shiny!)

Bloggers Natasha Maw, Amy, and Trish came over from the BEAtweetup party. Author/Illustrators Brian Floca and Eric Wight came from the ABA Not-A-Dinner party. Eric and I had emailed about his new book, so it was great to meet in person. Especially as he was such an interesting person. We also shared Jeff Kinney stories. Brian told me a little about his new book Moonshot, but was more interested in chilling out than networking.

The party died down around midnight, and I walked home picking up a black-and-white cookie on the way. I spent most of the walk kicking myself for not bringing my camera, so if anyone has any pictures of the Kid Lit Drink Night to share, let me know. I’d be ever grateful for some record of the day and/or night.

Later: Geektastic and Being Mouthy