BEA DAY 2: not as much BEA as you’re expecting

welcome to the second and final installment of our 2010 BEA coverage, in which i attempt to squish all of our remaining adventures (plus the book blogger con) into one post! think of it like an exciting round of chubby bunny, the game that requires you to stuff as many marshmallows into yr mouth as possible without throwing up! this entry is just like that! minus the gross gooey spewage! alright! KILLER INTRO.

when we last saw our heroines, they were open barring it up at the harper collins reception. come with me, dear reader, as we return to find them, bright and early on a sunny wednesday morning, slurping the sweet, sweet nectar of coffee:

PRAISE THEE, OH LIFE GIVING SUSTENANCE.

which brings me to our next pro-tip:

6. FROM NOW ON, DRINK YR COFFEE FROM A BOWL.

that’s actually a piece of life advice, not just for BEA. you’re welcome!

jenny and i decided to play hooky for half of the day, because 1) we were kinda tired of the clustercuss 2) we like the feeling of breaking the rules, cos we were both goody goodies growing up. note that i said the *feeling*, not any actual breaking of the rules, since OMG WE CANNOT GET IN TROUBLE OR WE WILL GO TO HELL.

so instead of heading over to the javitz center, we paid a visit to books of wonder, the famous children’s book store that inspired the shop around the corner, meg ryan’s store in my FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME, “you’ve got mail.” y’all i am not even kidding around. it actually is my favorite. just ask my boyfriend, who’s had to hear me shout the following line about a million times (i.e. whenever i’m bored or irritated): “THIS PLACE IS A TOMB. I’M GOING TO THE NUT SHOP WHERE IT’S FUN!”

7. visit books of wonder, esp. the rare books section!
(bonus: quote steve zahn from YGM while you’re gazing at the $45,000 books and say, “yeah, well, the illustrations are hand-tipped!”).

ok swimfan moment officially over. so books of wonder! totally charming!

this shelf in particular made jenny and i squee like deranged banshees. shel silverstein! CDC! lyle, lyle crocodile!

and… WAIT. is that THE LONELY DOLL?!!!! oh man i LOVED this book when i was little! *picks it up, flips through pages* YOU GUYS i can’t believe they have it! this book is so– whoah. uh… hmm. when did the lonely doll get so, well, creepy?

fortunately i was able to shake off my heebie jeebies cos LOOK DANCING CUPCAKES! all tarted up and high kicking!

after enjoying the edible, less slutty version of its dancing sisters, we walked over to the strand, because apparently we still believe that books are our best friends (lonely childhoods represent!), and therefore we must be surrounded by an entourage of them at all time. here’s jenny, who, by the look on her face, was apparently just elected homecoming queen by her pals in the YA section. AWWW CONGRATS.

given the arduous nature of our morning, it was obvs time for THE COCKTAIL PANEL. we convened at the penny farthing, which we selected because, well, because it had a bar. but also, it had a nice, charming feel to it! but mostly cos the bar.

we cabbed it back to the javitz center around 2 PM so we could meet kirsten miller, author of the upcoming “eternal ones” and creator of the best YA superhero ever, kiki strike! we didn’t take a picture with her, cos we didn’t want to seem too swimfanny, but we DID accept compliments from her! she was super nice and said, “you guys are so cute in person!” oh kirsten, flattery will get you EVERYWHERE WITH US. everywhere like… wanna go get a drink? oh, you have a thousand more books to sign? ok, well, then some other time! like… maybe in an hour?

8. when meeting a favorite author, keep yr swimfanning to minimum because then they might actually think you’re cool and want to be friends with you and come to yr slumber party and OMG WE ARE GONNA BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS 4 LIFE.

pro-tips aside, it really is neat to meet a writer you admire and know that they’re a Real Person. sort of like that moment when you discover that yr teacher doesn’t sleep under her desk at school and like, actually eats things besides apples. plus, kirsten looks eerily similar to kiki strike! check it:

hey let’s go discover some secret underground tunnels! pretty please!

speaking of cool authors, check out this guy! SILLY PHOTO OP!

yep, just chillaxin’ with jon stewart. no big deal.

jenny and i are living proof that you really can be forever young adult at heart. i mean, immaturity is a skill, you guys.

we headed back to the autograph area to score a few more books. here’s a picture so you can feel like you were there, experiencing all of the excitement of waiting! yay!

la la la, just hanging out, hoping the line moves soon and OMG IS THAT TIM GUNN? IT’S TIM GUNN! THAT IS TIM GUNN! the cinna of america!!!

best queue scenery EVER.

i also ran into my friend owen egerton, a writer from austin! we took a picture together since i don’t have to worry about scaring him off with swimfannery (because we are FRIENDS. FOR REAL. i swear). owen’s hilarious and super nice– y’all should totally check him out.

and that, my friends-on-the-internet, was the end of BEA 2010. WE CAME, WE SAW, WE DRANK. i mean, WE CONQUERED.

but even though the convention itself was over, jenny and i still had work to do! so we rolled up our sleeves and GOT DOWN TO IT.

i mean, just LOOK at that form! you think it comes easy? NO SIR. this level of professionalism requires hours and hours of practice, not to mention support from skilled compatriots like– hey, it’s natalie standiford and bennett madison!

that’s right, FYA got to have cocktails with two of our FAVORITE YA WRITERS. DREAM COME TRUE!!!! oh but natalie and bennett, if you’re reading this, i mean, you know, it was cool. i mean, we pretty much hang out with authors every day. so yeah.

*steps into another room and dances idiotically OMGGGG BEST NIGHT EVER!!!*

ahem, where was i? oh yes, being totally cool, calm and collected about the fact that jenny and i went on a pub crawl (literary, in fact! thanks, goodreads!) with the fabulous authors of how to say goodbye in robot and the blonde of the joke. and obvs it was AWESOME! we gossiped about the publishing industry and dished about our YA selves and high school boyfriends and GAH THEY ARE JUST THE GREATEST.

9. if possible, plan all of yr V. Important Business Meetings at bars. i guarantee that they will be the most ridiculous productive meetings you have ever had.

natalie has a new book coming out, “confessions of the sullivan sisters,” and she gave us a copy! so expect to see this little beauty v. soon:

to quote bennett: “that cover is SO gossip girl!”

and just when you thought this blog post was WAY too long and tangent-y, there’s a bonus feature! the book blogger convention (BBC)! sure, it’s no harry potter epilogue but i do want to share a few highlights.

first, at the BBC reception (thursday night), jenny and i finally got to meet kristi from the story siren!

kristi was one of the first sites that linked to FYA, and we are eternally grateful for her support. she also delivered one of my favorite quotes from the week, when she spotted as at the harper collins reception, pointed to our wine glasses and said, “i should’ve known you guys would be here!” ah kristi, you nancy drew, you! what gave us away?

the actual BBC was held on friday from 8:30-5, because apparently the organizers HATE FUN. i’ll let you guess how long i made it before i had to leave for the COCKTAIL PANEL. hint: it was after the pre-paid lunch, cos i’m cheap.

i have to admit, i didn’t realize how insular the book blogging community is! i mean, that’s not a bad thing, cos like any other group of fans, it’s great for bloggers to get together and be friends and nerd out and talk about twitter and why it’s a crime not to serve alcohol at a day-long convention (uh, that latter one may have just been me). but it’s like, this whole world i never really knew existed! and i would hope that FYA will have one foot in that community and one foot firmly rooted outside of it, esp. since our goal is to provide a shame-free zone for anyone and everyone to embrace their love of YA. just like high school, it’s easy to get wrapped up in a clique, and i want to make sure, to bring back the mean girls references, we’re like cady heron at the END of the movie, freely moving between groups (minus the obnoxious zen attitude). wait, i take that back. i just want us to be like damien because DANNY DEVITO I LOVE YR WORK.

anyhoo, stepping off the soapbox, let’s check back in with the BBC. the keynote speaker was maureen johnson, and she was as funny and rambley and this-close-to-trying-too-hard-but-not as i expected. here’s one of my fave moments of the speech, where she talks about law & order (RIP!) and how we shouldn’t be afraid of the internet.

oh and also, check out this painting that’s prominently featured at her high school back in philadelphia. that’s right, it’s nuns… getting shot into a mass grave by nazi soldiers. wheee!

ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE.

i honestly didn’t learn too much at the BBC (although i may or may not have been nursing a hangover), but the one thing that came as a surprise was this slide that popped up during the “blogging ethics” presentation:

wait, WHAT? there was a WAR? and we WON? and i didn’t even have to interrupt my busy YA-reading, cocktail-swilling schedule to take up my arms and fight?!! awesome.

the best part of the whole day (well, until the cocktail panel) was meeting lots of bloggers that i know online. i was particularly delighted to meet maggie, who stood up during a Q&A and told everyone that her favorite blog is FYA (SQUEE ATTACK) and little did she know that i was sitting right in front of her! i totally got to whip around and say, “so, you like our blog, huh?” y’all i almost felt like SANTA CLAUS. thinner, though. way thinner. just for the record.

i also indulged in a little YA snark session over lunch with angie from angieville…

… and lenore, an FYA commenter with a fantastic blog of her own!

unlike a match.com date, lenore in real life is even BETTER than her online personality. although she does have this weird hang-up with being in the foreground of a picture. in fact we should have a contest here on FYA: Who Can Find a Picture With Lenore in the Foreground? the prize will be LENORE’S UNENDING WRATH! hooray!

i already knew lenore was cool, but then she pulled out some GERMAN CHOCOLATE (she lives in germany). um BFF CHARM ADMINISTERED.

10. when you attend BEA, make friends with lenore, aka SOURCE OF CHOCOLATE.

note that the box of chocolate is in the foreground of the picture. weirdo!

after slipping out of the convention, i threw a little fiesta for myself to celebrate the end of a highly successful, new friend & book-filled week. and i invited my close friends, beer and cheese fries! let me tell you, these guys know how to party.

and thus ends the first FYA trip to BEA. i really wish they gave out yearbooks, though, cos i need closure you guys! and also validation in the form of meaningless notes with signatures! LYLAS!

rest assured that next year, WE SHALL RETURN! and in greater numbers (erin and meghan holla)! and ARMED WITH FLASKS.

most definitely flasks.