It’s possible that I have not entirely recovered from BEA.
Maybe it’ll help if I share some of the goodness with you:
- I got to spend a quiet minute with Suzanne Collins. I treasure that minute. She is definitely a kindred spirit.
- I had a lovely time answering questions and signing books at Books of Wonder with Melissa Marr. I was running on empty by that point, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Melissa is a cool cookie. She gave me swag to throw at the lovely people in the audience, which was nice, because I hadn’t brought anything of my own to throw at lovely people.
- A person in the Penguin booth handed me a Fire ARC for a photo op, then forgot to ask for it back. Naturally, I slipped it into my bag and sneaked away with it. (Authors don’t get a lot of their own ARCs, so I’ve developed a klepto habit. Which is apparently not working, because here in my stash I seem to have a grand total of… *counts* … ONE? Wait, I could have sworn I had at least two. Has someone else developed a klepto habit? CORDELIA!?) Of course, this was before I unexpectedly ran into Sherman Alexie. I pretty much danced around, did cartwheels, threw streamers, crashed cymbals, and ended the Sherman Alexie Hour by pushing my ARC on him. (Poor man. He was very nice about the whole thing.) (Have you read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven? Have you seen Smoke Signals? Do.)
- Shannon Hale gave a speech that made me cry. (And also laugh. She’s hysterical. The entire encounter has inspired me to take The Goose Girl out of the library.)
- I saw Billy Elliot on Broadway. ♥
And these are only maybe a third of the things that happened. I also gave a speech, accepted an award, had tea with lovely people, listened to Katherine Paterson speak, signed hundreds of ARCs, saw old friends and met new ones, hung out with my editor, went to a party, bid in a silent art auction, watched Miami Vice when I really should have been sleeping, and got lost at midnight on the way home from the airport because the construction guys made my I-95 exit disappear while I was gone. ALL IN THREE DAYS. Can you understand why it’s taking me a while to recover?
Here’s some housekeeping:
- There’s still time to register for Sirens in Vail in October, though programming submissions are due by June 7. Catch up with all things Sirens on the LJ.
- There’s also still time to register for the Simmons Summer Institute in Boston in July. Deadline is June 15.
- Here are some amazing cakes.
- I’ve added a new link to the left: My Cover Gallery.
- Graceling is a finalist for the Mythopoeic Awards. Thank you, Mythopoeic Society!
- Here’s a guy I like being funny and smart about beauty pageants, Perez Hilton, and Miss California.
- Here’s a bunny with a pancake on its head.
That is all the important news I have to report.
(Is my center showing any signs of holding yet?)
