book love in bulk

Book Expo America was just over a week ago and I haven't had a chance to even mention it except for a couple of brief twitter entries. I think Twitter and I are going to separate. Really, my lifestyle really doesn't support such a relationship.

BEA is a big bibliophile bizarre. For me, so much fun. I heard other people complain about the hassle of it. Feh! I say to those who complained. It's a huge perk of my job, a perk which I really love. I don't write much about my job here, because you know, Dooce. Things appear to have turned out okay for her, though, so maybe I'll rethink my strategy on that.

I loved BEA. The chaos of Javitz Center, the cramped aisle ways, the mass of people. It was such fun to wander around, spy the occasional author, see the new books, get some author signatures if you're so inclined. This year I was able to get Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson to sign a copy of one of their audio books in the Brilliance Audio book booth. Ridley Pearson looks like an aesthetic librarian. But he and Dave Barry were so nice when I asked them to dedicate the book to my son, who absolutely loves Peter & the StarCatchers as well as the latest Ridley Pearson series, which I cannot remember the name. Samantha Kane and Mari Freeman, over at the Ellora's Cave Publishing booth, signed a couple of their hot erotic romance books. Seriously nice ladies, go buy some of their books! SuperHubby will definitely enjoy the after effect of reading those!.

I try to avoid the huge author crowds, as it's damn hard to fit in all the business meetings and catch the big name authors. There is only so much that can be done in a day, dammit. Back in 2007, Janet Evanovich signed a couple of new books for me, which was cool and since I'm such a nice person, I gave them to my sister, who's the big fan. At the same show Laurell K. Hamilton signed a graphic novel poster of Jean Claude from the Anita Blake series, which was such a great series before it turned to shit. Look, I love me some hawt erotic vampire love as much as the next woman, but this series strayed so much from where it was that it painful to read the last two books. I'll find me some new vampire mayhem and sex, thank you very much, and hope that someday Anita kicks some ass again. That is a completely different bitch rant, because we all know how much it sucks when a favorite series devolves into a puddle of horse piss.

Friday was the only day I could get my ass into NY for the show and my day was fucking packed with meetings. Finding time to stroll the aisles and grab some swag was not so easy. I love to get my hot little hands on the publisher bags, it's my secret addiction (or it was until now). I don't know why I am so attracted to those bags, but damn, I'm a bag whore! Part of the fun is also finding the advanced copies of what the publishers are hoping will be the next big seller. I'm not even sure what books I brought home with me yet. My galley grabbing was pretty lame this year because Hey! Getting paid to work!

All in all, I had a blast and am silly happy that BEA will be back in New York again next year. With any luck I'll be able to get to all three days.