BEA wrap-up

I'm exhausted. I'm beyond exhausted. Zombies are productive, coherent, and fine company compared to me right now. They also probably smell better. To the right is an actual photo from the Javits Center, taken at 8 this morning. I totally swear.

BEA is over. Some awesomeness that occurred for me:

My (more exhausted than me, I've no doubt, since she was at the expo three days in a row and probably needs new feet) wife scored me an ARC of Sara Zarr's new one, How to Save a Life, and I've already started it and it's excellent, and I wonder if maybe it's her best work! Honestly, Mandy is a character you will not soon forget.

I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting (and briefly discussing beer with) Lisa McMann. Bonus: scored an ARC of the The Unwanteds, too.

And finally, right time/right place, I was the first lucky stiff to grab Micol Ostow's autograph on my hardcover of Family. Score.

For me and my book, the crux of it was an hour this morning. That's when I signed the first shipment of Brooklyn, Burning finals. The cover is shiny!


So the signing went well. I was super happy and shocked to see people lining up even a little in advance of the scheduled signing time.

Speaking of shiny finals, my author copies should be arriving soon. When they do, more giveaways are totally in the stars, I think. Don't you?

I have some exciting event news as well, but I'm not telling you yet, because I want it to get its own freaking blog entry. Or else I'll just shout it on Twitter. I don't know.

Winners announced, and BEA.

My trip to New York for BEA and more begins tomorrow, at the crack of holy crap it's early.

I announced the winners of the ARC giveaway. I did so on Twitter, since both winners Twittered their entries. For your enjoyment, here they are:



So anyway. BEA. I'll be at the tail end of the SLJ Day of Dialogue. I'm not sure what I'll be doing there. Signing books? Meeting librarians? Both seem fun! I'll also be at the expo itself, signing copies of Brooklyn, Burning on Thursday at 9:30 in the autographing area. I hope to see some of you there!

In other news, I've started yet another project, with three unfinished WIPs already up to my knees. I hope my agent won't murder me when I see him in New York.

Three great things and a free ARC.

It's almost one now, so the morning is officially over, and it couldn't end soon enough. It sucked. The upshot is that I need a new right-side mirror for my car and I might have a stomach bug.

My wife has a photography blog. Its theme, as the name says, is "one great thing" from the day. It's an exercise, if you like, that forces her to focus on the positive. So this afternoon, I'm taking a cue from her. Here are some things I saw today that I enjoyed:

• A man of about 70 with a proud Elvis Presley hairstyle. Bonus because he was in a work shirt with a name patch: Steve.
• A woman, probably 50 or so years old and heavyset, wearing a gleaming white cloak and a leather satchel around her mid-section, hanging from shoulder to hip such that the pockets sat on her belly and chest. A Celtic-looking medallion hung from her neck.
• "Walk with Prehistoric Beasts" is on Netflix Watch Instantly. I like the bear dogs.

I suppose that'll do for now. In other news, Brooklyn, Burning is now at 100+ adds on Goodreads, so the ARC contest has begun. To enter, comment here, on the Brooklyn, Burning Facebook page, or on Twitter (be sure to @ me: sbrezenoff) with three words that sum up why you love your hometown/city/neighborhood. For example, in Brooklyn, Burning, Kid sums up Brooklyn like this: "blocks and bridges and bottles." Three words! One winner will receive an ARC of Brooklyn, Burning. Second place gets a copy of |-1|.

EDIT: The contest ends at midnight on MONDAY, May 16.

(Y)IPPY!

I'm kind of excited! So excited, in fact, that I'm actually posting on my blog.



The Absolute Value of -1 has been awarded the gold medal IPPY award for juvenile/young adult fiction in a tie with Holly Schindler's A Blue So Dark!