Post-BEA Report: One-on-One Time with Amazing Authors

One of the most exciting parts about going to BEA last week was finally getting to meet some of my favorite authors, as well as being introduced to authors I didn’t know as much about.

Here’s a look at some of the authors I met in person, the books they were promoting at BEA, and why you should check them out, too!

Leanna Renee Hieber – Darker Still

I met Leanna at a BBQ held at the “Casa de Blogger” on my first night in NYC. I’d only flown in hours earlier, and swung by the party with my friend Erin after we grabbed dinner on the Lower East Side.

While chatting Leanna told me about Darker Still, a new YA twist on the concept of The Picture of Dorian Gray. She gave me one of the awesome brochures Sourcebooks has put together for her book, which only made me more excited to check it out. I hope you’ll add it to your calendar of “books to covet,” as well. It comes out later this year, and we’re already brainstorming ideas with Leanna!

Ally Condie – Crossed

This was essentially my first stop at BEA proper, and while the line moved quickly, I did get a quick moment to introduce myself to Ally — and she offered very warm thanks for the week-long feature we did on Matched last November when it first came out. You can bet we’ll cook up something equally fabulous when Crossed hits store shelves!

Maureen Johnson – Last Little Blue Envelope & Name of the Star

I confess, I know more about Maureen from Twitter than I do from her books — but I was still super excited to meet her. A friend recently told me I should read Maureen’s 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and on her recommendation, I recently picked up a copy. So when I found out Maureen was signing copies of the sequel, Last Little Blue Envelope, I made sure to swing by. Maureen’s signing line was slow-moving — but that’s because she was taking so much time to chat with the folks she met. Me? I told her how much I adored her contribution to the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology, therefore she signed my book with #TeamZombies4ever and #UnicornsSuck. We also discussed how much Holly Black’s primary dislike of zombies has to do with the shambling.

The next day, I also saw Maureen when she was signing ARCs of her upcoming Penguin title, Name of the Star. At this time, I dispelled the myth that Portland is not exceptionally well-known for being a “brunch” city. We’re known for beer, books, coffee, strip clubs, bicyclists, and many other things. But I’ve never heard of us being known for brunch.

Maggie Stiefvater – The Scorpio Races & Forever

I was one of the first people in line for Maggie’s signing of The Scorpio Races. As much as I love her Shiver series and her faerie books, I’ve been hearing great things about her new standalone — including from the Scholastic folks at BEA. In fact, it was after chatting with Sheila & Charisse at the Scholastic booth that I made my way over to the autograph signing to await Maggie’s arrival.

Maggie was very nice, and even remembered visiting Novel Novice in the past (woo-hoo!!!). She only had copies of The Scorpio Races at the time (which I can’t wait to start reading), but I later snagged a copy of Forever while at the Scholastic This is Teen VIP party on Thursday night.

Scott Westerfeld – Goliath

This is a fun story. Scott had a signing on Wednesday at BEA — my first day there — but it was ticketed, meaning you had to go request a ticket early that morning. I was about 15 seconds too late and didn’t get a ticket. I knew it wasn’t guaranteed, and wasn’t about to lose any sleep over it. Fast forward to later that day, I swing back by the Simon & Schuster booth to say hello to some of my contacts in their marketing/publicity departments — and it just so happens, they’re handing out the last of the Goliath ARCs. Paul, who I was there to meet, offered me the last copy, then asked if I’d met Scott before. I told him “no.”

“Oh,” Paul said. “Well, he’s standing right next to you. Scott, this is Sara from Novel Novice …”

So, yeah. That’s how I met Scott Westerfeld — who graciously offered to sign the copy of Goliath I’d just been handed. We then chatted briefly about Novel Novice and Wordstock, which Scott attended the year before I joined the festival staff. It was a very neat surprise — and it was lovely to finally meet Scott, one of my favorite authors!

Kody Keplinger – Shut Out

I spent most of Thursday at BEA hanging out with Vania (of VLC Productions), and so we headed over to the signing area together to wait for Kody’s official signing of Shut Out, her upcoming new book. While there, another blogger who knows Vania ran up and told us that Kody had a “secret signing” going on in the School Library Journal booth and no one was around. We snuck over, and sure enough, Kody was there! Since it wasn’t crowded, she let us slip in. And when I introduced myself as “Sara from Novel Novice,” I got a very excited “OH!” from Kody, who then gushed that she follows our tweets & loves our blog. I tried not to blush and babble too much at such high praise.

Libba Bray – Beauty Queens

I was lucky enough to be invited to Scholastic’s VIP party for the launch of This is Teen on Thursday night. While there, I got to hobnob a bit with the fabulous Libba Bray, who thanked me for the lovely review I posted of Beauty Queens recently. Besides this lovely photo, there is also a photo of us making an “awesome zombie pose” floating around. (Find it in my post about the Scholastic party from yesterday.)

Meg Cabot – Abandon

Also at the Scholastic party was the fabulous Meg Cabot. We recently did an entire week-long feature on her latest book, Abandon, which I coordinated with her publicist Charisse at Scholastic. When Charisse spotted me waiting my turn at the party, she grabbed me and introduced me personally to Meg — who then gushed about our week-long feature, and especially how much she loved our post on ways to use Abandon in the classroom. Color me flattered beyond belief.

From Author Speed-Dating at Book Blogger Convention

This was an awesome event, that gave us lots of time to meet several authors in quick succession. These are the ones I remember most, and whose books I’m most excited to check out:

Hilary Graham – Reunited

This book doesn’t come out until next year, but it sounds fabulous. The tagline is: “1 concert, 2000 miles, 3 ex-best friends.” Look for it in June 2012.

Joseph Lunievicz – Open Wounds

Joseph was refreshingly enthusiastic in telling us about his debut novel, which just received a starred review from PW. Despite the fantasy-like cover, the book is a realistic historical piece with lots of adventures — and though geared more towards boys, it’s got plenty for the ladies to enjoy, as well.

Lisa McMann – The Unwanteds

Does Lisa really need any introduction? Her Wake series is well-known, but Lisa was here to tell us about her upcoming new Middle Grade series called The Unwanteds, a very gritty, violent, dystopian adventure. I may have to read this one myself before handing it off to our MG reviewer.

Emma Michaels – The Thirteenth Chime

I didn’t get a chance to chat with Emma as much as I would have liked, but she’s got a great paranormal series (book 2 comes out this summer) and a to-die-for cover.

Violet Haberdasher – Knightley Academy

Violet — aka Robyn Schneider — is hilarious to chat with, and her books sound pretty fantastic. They are YA/MG crossover appeal books about a school for knights — and it’s not so much about the fantasy/magic, as it is about the action, adventure & swordplay. Definitely give her books a peek!

Daniel Nayeri – Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow

Besides having a really awesome cover, Daniel completely sold me on his new book — which I now can’t wait to read. A cool twist on the concept of the Three Little Pigs, his book is actually four short novellas that explore modern takes on classic genres like the western, science fiction, detective story, and rom-com. This is going immediately on my wish list!

L.A. Weatherly – Angel Burn

A new paranormal YA, with a twist … what if angels aren’t the good guys? What if they’re evil? That’s the concept behind this new series, which sounds absolutely riveting. I’ll definitely be checking it out!

Elizabeth Scott – Between Here to Forever

I’ve got Elizabeth’s latest book on my TBR pile, and after meeting her, it just shot up to the top. Elizabeth was lovely to chat with, and made me nearly cry with her sweet words of praise to book bloggers. “You guys make or break books,” she told us. But really, we only want to MAKE books. We love them — and it is so nice knowing how much authors appreciate us.

Thanks to ALL of the authors who attended BEA & Book Blogger Convention this year — it was fabulous meeting all of you!!!