This was my second BEA and I had perhaps the best time of my life on the floor of BEA. I met so many people that I really wanted to meet, but before I jump right in, I have to talk about the Teen Author Carnival.
~*~May 28~*~
Held at the Jefferson Market Library, this is an event where authors participate in one of four panels to share their thoughts and then sign books at the very end. You can buy any of the author's books at the book buying table generously supplied by Books of Wonder.
Perhaps my favorite panel of the day was the Diversity Panel. Robin Talley, Michael Barakiva, Aaron Hartzler, and Eliot Schrefer all shared their thoughts on diverse characters because they were all on the panel for a reason. With the We Need Diverse Books twitter trend in full swing, I found this to be especially enlightening.
I was also super excited to meet Michael Barakiva because I adore his book and him as a person. He threw his arms around me because he was just as excited to meet me as I was him. Such instances are awesome, no?
I also caught the Time After Time panel including Gayle forman, Una LaMarche, Tiffany Schmidt, Lauren Morrill, Adi Alsaid, and Jennifer E. Smith. These authors talked about the importance of timelines in the writing process since they all work with them and, once again, I learned a lot. Gayle Forman and Una LaMarche are awesome singers, by the way.
Before the signing, I ran into the wonderful Lenore Appelhans. I actually won her second book, CHASING AFTER, at the carnival and with her beautiful eye make-up resembling the cover, I had to have her strike a pose. Marvelous, is she not?
~*~May 29: BEA DAY 1~*~
The first day of BEA was absolute perfection. There's something about the atmosphere that I love...thousands of bookish people united by one common interest. How much more perfect can it get?
Gillian of Writer of Wrongs was kind enough to let me spend a few nights with her and together we picked up our press passes. Let me tell you, it's so awesome to hold this beauty. I felt so official!
For the morning of day one, I spent a lot of time hanging out with Tabitha. We hit up the Harlequin Teen Group Author signing and I was so excited for these books! First up was Dawn Metcalf's Invinsible, which I was super excited for! Plus, she knew who I was! I also grabbed Talon by Julie Kagawa, Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid, and Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto.
If you've seen my blog, you know I'm a huge Jennifer L. Armentrout nut. I don't think every single piece of her writing is perfection, but I do enjoy everything I have read by her so far. I own 17 of her books, so... Yeah, I'm a little crazy. Meeting her after I waited on line for her Lux Beginnings omnibus was absolutely amazing! She recognized me, too! Ahhhhhh!
Side note, I love my hair in this.
I think that my other favorite moment of day one was meeting Rainbow Rowell for the second time. She had on these awesome whale clogs that I wish I had a picture of, but alas, she's pretty awesome no matter what!
But the best part of day one was meeting all of the people! I am so bad with pictures and I'm missing a lot. As the daughter of a photographer, I am admonishing myself immensely. But I do want to share the few pictures I have and give a shout out to everyone else I met and adored that I was not able to get a picture with.
Me and Alexa! Photo credit to the wonderful Alexa of Alexa Loves Books that's so much better at remembering to take pictures than I am!
Me and the amazing Meg from Cuddlebuggery! This girl is one of the funniest people I have ever met.
Me and Jen Ellision, awesome author and blogger combined. I also met her wonderful Bevy, though I didn't nab a picture with them.
That night, I attended the amazing Macmillan Blogger Happy Hour. Though I am too young to drink, it was really awesome being able to meet up with many other bloggers in a relaxed atmosphere. Below is perhaps my favorite picture of the night.
That is me and Steph from Cuddlebuggery. Thank you Kara for taking this picture. And of course, the lovely Kat from Cuddlebuggery and Ksenia Winnicki from Macmillan are photo bombing. I love how Kat's wine looks like a magical glowing drink.
And I got a picture with the lovely Kara from Great Imaginations because, ahhh, Kara! <3
And, of course, because I suck at taking pictures, there are a ton of other people that I am so happy that I met, but did not get a picture with! I can't believe this is the first time I've met some of you! In no particular order, I love you guys!:
Ashleigh
Ashley
Nicole and Ashley
Rachel
Jessie
Bekka
Briana
Jen
The Entire Bevy!
Jamie
Hafsah
Ksenia
and so many more! <3
And so many more that I am forgetting because I suck with remembering things. Please don't be offended if you are not on here! Tell me and you shall be added~
Stay tuned for a recap of days 2 and 3 and I'll be doing my favorite books from BEA haul on Saturday! <3
Don't hesitate to share your thoughts below and link your BEA recaps if you have one so that I can check them out!