BEA Recap Part I

And, thus, my third BEA comes to a close. It was so different from my other years for a lot of reasons. I had been on the fence about going until about March of this year, but now that it's over, I can safely say that I'm so glad that I went.

I made a promise to myself that this year I would not get all worked up about books or authors I missed or parties I didn't get invited to. I would control myself and only take books that I knew I would be interested in. And, for the love of all that is holy, just say no to more tote bags.

Want to see how I did?

Tuesday, May 26

I took the train to Penn Station. It was my first train ride, and I rather loved it. It was fast and easy and I read the entire trip. Upon arrival in the city, I walked to my hotel and waited for my roomies, Hannah from The Irish Banana, Val from Stuck in Books, and Andye from Reading Teen, to arrive. Once everyone was together, we grabbed dinner and started setting up for the YA Rooftop Party, organized by Hannah, Andye and author Liza Weimer. This was an especially exciting year for Liza, as it was the first year she was at BEA as a published author. It was so exciting to see her excitement! And, she even had her first signing at the party. It was an amazing time and a wonderful opportunity to chat with publicists, authors and other bloggers, and I'm so glad I had the chance to join in the fun this year.

Leaving the station

Hannah and I on the rooftop - pre-party

YA Rooftop Party in full swing

And the YA Rooftop Party totes were seriously awesome

Wednesday, May 27

The first day of BEA was... weird. I'm so used to getting up at the butt crack 'o dawn to get in line at the Javits before things get crazy. But, with the conference not starting until 1 p.m. on day 1, the morning was rather leisurely. I slept in, got breakfast at the hotel, and then, with nothing better to do, Val and I decided to go get our badges awhile and check out the BEA banners. We ended up just getting into line way early - like, 3.5 hours early. Funny thing - we weren't the only ones. We spent our time chatting with other bloggers, planning out our day and looking through the show daily.

I always feel like somebody's watching me... Val being a creeper while we wait to get in

I hadn't brought a suitcase with me because I knew I wouldn't need it. Turns out, I was right. On day 1, I swung by all the booths to check out the drops, but didn't grab many books. I wanted to make extra sure I was going to read what I picked up. I waited in a few signing lines, got lucky on a few drops and was able to snag books that would free up parts of my schedule later in the week. I stuck to my schedule and got everything I wanted.

Amy Ewing signing The White Rose

And then it was off to the Harlequin High Tea in the beautiful Woolworth building. They were even nice enough to send transportation! We met five of their authors - Kristan Higgins, Marie Force, RaeAnne Thayne, Karma Brown and Jodi Thomas - and heard them each talk about their upcoming books. The food and drink at the Harlequin High Tea is always incredible - these wonderful folks really know how to throw a romantic party.

Kristan Higgins, Karma Brown, Marie Force, RaeAnne Thayne and Jodi Thomas

After chatting with the Harlequin authors for awhile, Val and I sped off for the HarperCollins Blogger Party in the Fox Sports Lounge. Many of the awesome Harper publicists I only know by name were there, as well as some of the authors. We finished filling our bellies with Japanese-themed food and wine before we Ubered back to our hotel just as the rain was starting to fall.

HarperCollins Party

After petting our books and re-packing our totes, we set our alarms extra early so we could get a jump start on the first full day at BEA....

Day 1 Book Haul