Friday Five: BEA edition

BEA is over.

1. For me, it began Monday night with the Lerner librarian preview. I met a few folks, got to chat with the AE about |-1| in front of a small but apparently interested crowd. Also I drank a high ball. For supper, alone, I visited Zen Palate, a vegetarian restaurant I miss pretty regularly, and Simon's favorite:


After ordering, and while I ate, and after I finished, I finally started The Freak Observer. It is a difficult book to put down. Loa really pulls you along. There is great pain.

2. Tuesday, the first official day of BEA, was a visit to Simon & Schuster and therefore several of my favorite people. That was followed by a great lunch with my wife and our good friend, also once from S&S. We met halfway between Midtown and Soho, at Elmo in Chelsea. Good sandwich. Hip place. And Samantha and I got to exchange ARCs. Tuesday night at eight (the latest I've started supper in a dog's age), I met ENIV and the AE for a completely awesome burger and a few awesome beers and plenty of awesome conversation. Excellent day of old and new friends. Good stuff.

3. Wednesday morning, after an excellent breakfast with the Lerner crew at the hotel restaurant and a quick tour of the BEA floor, I needed to rest the dogs (shout out to Heidi -- orange Chucks look cool, but hurt!), so I sat down on a comfy couch far from the exhibition and took the opportunity to get back to Blythe's debut. Soon it was noon, and that meant lunch with several Tenners, and meeting several awesome bloggers. Please see this photo that Berk and I keep stealing from Heidi.


4. For me, BEA ended Wednesday at around 5:15. That's when I signed the last available copy of |-1| and got up from the autographing table. I admit it: I was worried the line would consist of exactly 8 people, all of whom I knew personally. But we gave away 100 copies of the book, and I got to meet many a librarian and blogger and reader and writer on that line! It was pretty great.

5. And now I'm on Long Island, and vacation. We have many friend and family and new-baby visits to make! Ta!

SOLD!

This had been a pretty stellar day.

First of all, my latest Eric Stevens/SAB title, about basketball, BTW, is nearly done. It's due tomorrow, and I shouldn't have a problem wrapping it up before lunch. Tomorrow, that is. I would have finished it today, perhaps, but for. . . .

Lunch with Roo. That was great! Great conversation, great food even at Pizza Luce (apparently the vegan food is also quite good, as Roo was happy with his), and great to feel a sort of connection to back east. Though I know Oz would be better all around, it might be pretty cool to have a dude like Roo in the neighborhood. Okay, in the state. Of course, the downside of lunch, besides not finishing my Eric Stevens work, was missing a phone call.

From my agent! But after some email and voicemail and receptionist back-and-forth, we finally spoke, and YA MS the First is officially SOLD! I'm over the goddamn moon, and sorry to say "goddamn," but I think protagonist would have wanted me to say "goddamn." If not worse.

So yeah. Big day! The above made it fairly easy to ignore the fact that it snowed here on the last day of March. Some lamb.

Band practice tonight. I will celebrate the day with a couple of beers. Better hit the package store on the way to pick up some Two Hearteds.

Mmmmm . . . literary hops.