BEA!

I was on a 7:33am train this morning, heading to New York.  By 8:45am I was strolling down 34th St., headed towards the Javits Convention Center.  It was an exhausting but fulfilling day.  BEA was huge and overwhelming, but here are a few of the highlights:

• At 9:40am I asked a Scholastic rep where they would be disseminating the Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) at 10am. She pointed off in the distance and said, “They’ve formed a line over there.” “Over there” turned out to be a huge line, wrapped around one whole side of the convention center! But it was well worth it when I was handed my copy of Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games).
• At 10:20am I made my way over to the Traditional Autograph signing area. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the line for Sarah Dessen was just as long as the line I stood in for Catching Fire!  But again, so worth the wait.  Sarah Dessen was a complete sweetheart and I got my class an autographed copy of Along for the Ride! 
• While waiting in line for Sarah Dessen, I struck up a conversation with the nice girl behind me, who worked for HarperCollins.  She actually knew and recognized my blog!  That was pretty darn awesome!!
• Scored an ARC of Kristin Cashore’s Fire. Stumbled upon it in the Penguin booth and it was like Christmas morning!
• Lots and lots of books!  The Bloomsbury Walker booth had tons of ARCs, which was great.  I loved meeting the reps from Egmont, which seems like a fantastic new publisher on the scene.  And did I mention books?!

Now, I am completely drained and exhausted.  I walked around with two tote bags and a backpack full of books all day.  Needless to say, I am sore and tired!  But what a great day!  I just wish I could have stayed longer and met more authors and bloggers!  I am sad I missed out on Maggie Stiefvater, Laini Taylor, Jane Yolen, Kristin Cashore, and so many more!!!!