I ended up sticking around the children’s area most of the time.  I wish I could have been everywhere at once!  First off, I have a vlog where I show off my signed books, talk about the authors and pretty much smile because I’m still so happy.  I do overlap with my written summations below as well.

Jacqueline Woodson was one of the authors that I was really looking forward to meeting!  I’m late to the game and only started reading Woodson’s books this past year and each one that I read just gets better than the first!  I was estatic when a couple of months ago, I received an email and the sender said Jacqueline Woodson.  No way that it was the Jacqueline Woodson.  She said thank you for reviewing her books and that I had a beautiful family.  After listening to Woodson on a panel (more details about that in a later post), I was able to catch up with her while she was walking to her book signing.  I told her that she probably didn’t remember me but she sent me a nice email once.  When I explained, she immediatly said, “Yes, the one with the beautiful family!”  And then later while she was in a booth we were able to snap a photo and chat a bit more.  She offered to take me all around Brooklyn when I come up for Book Expo America.  While I don’t think I have time to take her up on the offer (but how cool if I had an extra day!!), isn’t that sweet to say so in the first place?  She’s just as great as I thought she would be.  Books I’ve reviewed by Woodson are  Peace, Locomotion, Locomotion,  Show Way, Feathers,  If You Come Softly and Behind You.  Jacqueline Woodson’s website.

Ah . . . Kathryn Fitzmaurice was a total and VERY pleasant surprise for me.  I had no idea that she was there until I happened upon her booth while she was signing.  When she discovered who I was she jumped up and gave me a huge hug!  It was SO nice to talk to Kathryn and I felt as though we were both gushing over each other. Incredibly nice!  I reviewed Kathryn’s debut novel The Year the Swallows Came Early and have an author interview as well.  The best part?  Kathryn sent me another signed copy of her book (because I”m not giving up mine!) to give away!  So watch for it with a guest post from Kathryn.  Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s website.

We check out David Shannon’s books so often from the library that I often ask myself how come we actually own so few of them?  I was brave and bought two books, David Gets in Trouble and No, David, that were not board books.  Very scary in my house.  David was fantastic and I’m thrilled to have met him.  If you have kids or know any kid, you’ve got to get David’s books.  David Shannon’s website.

I attended a middle grade fiction panel that included Newbery author Susan Patron.  I had her newest book Lucky Breaks already checked out from the library at home, so it only made perfect sense that I get a copy of my own.  Susan was fantastic and agreed to an author interview as well, so that’s exciting!  The Higher Power of Lucky was one of the very first books that I reviewed when I started my blog.

How can you not like Jon Scieszka?  Two of our favorite books in our house are The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  So much so that they are up high on the shelf and the kids actually aren’t allowed to read them on their own.  So bummed I didn’t bring my own copies to get signed so I decided to get Math Curse and Science Verse to add to our collection.  When I got home and showed my husband, he was really bummed that I didn’t get The Stinky Cheese Man autographed instead.  I didn’t want to buy a duplicate copy, I explained.  Apparently, I made the wrong decision.

Another author/illustrator that I was SO excited to meet (I waited outside his booth until he showed up because I didn’t want to miss him) was Kadir Nelson. Look at this photo.  He looks even twice as gorgeous in person, which roughly means, he’s really good looking!  And SO modest and quiet spoken!  I was not expecting that.  Nelson is simply AMAZING.  Like Woodson, I have a lot of his back titles to go through.  The two that I have reviewed which he illustrated are Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford.  I had him sign Henry’s Freedom Box and We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball (book website) which he wrote and illustrated and received many accolades for.  I hope to review it soon!  Kadir Nelson website.

Another surprise was Judy Blundell, National Book Award author of What I Saw and  How I Lied.  I’ve had this book in my reading pile forever.  She was incredibly nice and I’m bumping that baby up to the top of the pile.  One of the questions I asked her was what it was like when she became a National Book Award winner.  She said when she got the call that she was nominated that she literally didn’t speak for a few minutes.  The people on the other end of the phone line thought she had passed out or something.  Excited to have met her.   Judy Blundell website.

How about all the authors I missed?!  I should have taken another photo of me and Laurie Halse Anderson to at least prove that I saw her again, but didn’t.  I attended her panel and afterwards she saw me and crossed the lobby to give me a hug hello.  The nicest woman ever.  So sad to realize Mary Pearson, author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox was there and I missed her.  One of my biggest disapointments was coming home and then realizing via Twitter that Jennie Nash, author of The Last Beach Bungalow and The Only True Genius in the Family, had signed.  I’ve reviewed both of her books and she’s done a guest post and an interview with me.  I would have loved to meet her.  SO SAD!

I missed Ingrid Law even though I brought two copies of Savvy from home for her to sign.  I missed her panel and couldn’t find her later. I did attend Kate DiCamillo’s panel, which was fantastic, but her line for signing was HUGE!  I also brought books from home as well but just lugged them on back unsigned.  Of Kate’s books I’ve reviewed Great Joy, The Tale of Desperaux, Tiger Rising, Because of Winn Dixie, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

I also attended a panel with Patrick Carmen and even asked a question.  His line for signing Skeleton Creek was pretty long (that’s him on the left) and I felt pretty weird approaching him without a book to sign (I didn’t want to rebuy  it when I already had it at home).  And of course, Eric Carle was mobbed.  No chance in meeting him without being in line hours before he showed.  Other authors that I would have LOVED to have met but didn’t were Jane Smiley, S.E. Hinton, Luis Alberto Urrea, Janet Fitch and Lisa See among others.  Watch for one final and last post where I recap the panels that I went to!

All in all, it was a wonderful time!  Authors are the best!!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be willing to shell out a couple hundred bucks and book a flight to go down to the LA Times Festival of Books with the intention of meeting people that I only “knew” online, I would have told you that you were crazy!  Not only meet them, but hang out with them all day, go out to dinner, and be picked up from the airport and put up for the night (thanks Trish!)!

While my parents thought it was totally awesome (this is coming from my mom who once put a pillow and pajamas in the car when she went to an overnight conference, made eye contact with another woman in a session and wha-la, she had somewhere to sleep!), my in-laws thought I was a bit strange to meet people that I have never met before.  They just wanted me to come back alive.  But let me tell you.  I truly felt like I knew these bloggers already and what was so fun is that their personalities are exactly what you thought they would be and there was never an awkward moment of silence.  Do you ever try to talk about books and blogging to your family and friends and they just get this confused look on their face?  These awesome ladies “get it.”  So nice to talk to people who understand.

Since I began blogging a year and a half ago, I had no idea that this “hobby” would take me to where it is now.  As a stay at home mom, I enjoy the connection that I am able to make with other readers.  I never imagined that I would call people that I only knew online, friends.  Because aren’t the people who do that, well . . . crazy?  But it’s true.  They are friends.  And it was a privilege to meet some of  them.  It makes me wish I could meet everybody!  Back in January, I hosted the Utah Book Bloggers meet-up, so I already knew how wonderful book bloggers are and so I was looking forward to doing the same with the book bloggers in southern California.

My new “IRL” friends are Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?, Amy from My Friend Amy, Lisa from Books on the Brain, Jill from Fizzy Thoughts, Ti from Book Chatter and Other Stuff . . . , Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty, Tracy from Shelf Life and Florinda from The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting and Randomness.

We had a great time chatting, attending panels, and going out to dinner (courtesy of TLC Book Tours – thanks gals!).

Taken a few minutes after we (Florinda and Wendy to catch up later) all met.  See how quickly we all cozy up?

Ti, Jill and Lisa hanging out:

Amy, Wendy, Wendy’s husband and Florinda looking cool:

Trish tweeting:

Jill and Florinda waiting for the panel to start:

Wendy and her husband:

Trish and Ti:

Amy and Florinda:

The whole gang (minus Tracy) enjoying dinner and blogging talk:

Me and Jill (blurry):

Jill and Trish:

Wendy and me taking photos:

After dinner:

TLC Book Tour Coordinators, Trish and Lisa:

Me and Lisa:

Florinda and me:

Ti and me:

Me and Jill:

Amy and Trish:

Amy and me (Amy looks adorable.  Me – I’ve got my eyes closed!):

Me and Trish:

Amy, me and Trish:

This is me, happy to be on the computer (and yes we couldn’t help tweeting each other even though we were in the same room):

Many of the photos are mine but many thanks to Ti, Lisa and Amy for letting me “lift” a few of theirs as well!

I plan on having two more posts about the LA Times Festival of Books in addition to my earlier vlog.  One on all the amazing authors I met and another to recap the panels that attended.  In the meantime, check out Jill’s posts (to FoB or not to FoB, Social Media Panel, Window on the World Panel, Intimate Strangers Panel, Borderlines Panel, S.E. Hinton Panel), Ti’s recap, Lisa’s recap, Trish posts the vlog we did together as well as her own vlog, Wendy’s recap,  Amy’s vlog, top ten list and recap, Tracy’s recap, Florinda’s recap.

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

As many of you know, I flew down to Los Angeles over the weekend to not only attend the LA Times Festival of Books but to also meet some amazing bloggers!  I had a BLAST and hope to share my experience with you in a series of blog posts and at least one video.  Tons of great books, great authors, great signings, and panels!  But to whet your appetite, Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?, Amy from My Friend Amy and I made a short vlog to give you a sneak peak into the experience that we all had.

In addition to Trish and Amy, I also met up with Jill from Fizzy Thoughts, Lisa from Books on the Brain,  Ti from Book Chatter and other stuff, Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty, Tracy from Shelf Life, and Florinda from  The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting and Randomness.  It was a great group!  You can read Lisa’s, Ti’s and Tracy’s recap of the events for more bookish goodness to tide you over until I post more.  I’m in awe that they can blog about it so quickly!  I’m still recovering!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

So in just a short week and a half, I’ll be heading from Salt Lake City down to Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.  I will probably be the only one there crazy enough to fly in just for this event.  But how could I not go with halfway reasonable airfare and a slew of book bloggers willing to pick me up at the airport and put me up for the night?  This is seriously a great example of how online connections can turn into face to face connections.  This trip is purely for the fun of it and I can’t wait to go!  I’ll give a full report when it’s all said and done.

And as if that’s not enough, BookExpo America (BEA) is coming up at the end of May in New York City.  It’s  the largest expo in the industry and basically everybody is going to be there: authors, booksellers, publishers, the movers and shakers.  So I couldn’t quite believe it when I found myself online buying a plane ticket to New York City.   Crazy?   I’m totally crazy! I feel like a fish out of water.  I’ve never been to New York City!  Eeeek!  The whole thing feels surreal to me.

What I am super excited about is that book bloggers are becoming a recognized force in this industry and our influence is not being ignored.  I’m thrilled that there is a panel specifically to address the issues unique to book blogging!  From the mouth of Jennifer Hart, the panels moderator and organizer:

Book blogs are the new generators of word of mouth, advocates for publishers’ books and authors out in the world. As the world goes ever more digital (and as review pages and book sections in newspapers dwindle and disappear), you are the new tastemakers, and consumers are looking to you to tell them what books to buy and read. In addition, you’re providing new venues for our authors to present themselves, with Q&As and guest posts, etc. Publishers need to be working with you, as do booksellers, to sell more books and to find out what books people want to read.

What’s great is that book bloggers have been asked to be directly involved in this conversation!  Dawn from She is Too Fond of Books, Stephanie from The Written Word, Julie from Booking Mama, Beth from Beth Fish Reads, Amy from My Friend Amy and myself have been asked to be on this panel at BEA.  (!!!!!)  I seriously have no idea how I got my name on this list but I’m thrilled!  I can’t wait for BEA!

This is your opportunity to make your voice heard and share what you think needs to be talked about.  We will be meeting as a panel before BEA to discuss the direction and topics that we’d like to see covered, but we can’t do it without your help.  We won’t be up there discussing just our six blogs, but all book blogs.  After all, we are just a few representing so many.  We want to represent well.

So what I’d like to do here is to discuss which topics you think should be covered.  If you had an opportunity to sit in front of an audience of mainly booksellers and publishing industry folks, what would you discuss?  What would you like from from publishers and how can they work with book bloggers better?  And vice versa – what do publishers need from us?   Also, how can we can all work with booksellers, primarily indie booksellers, who are a big part of the BEA population?

I know you’ve all got great ideas and opinions, so let’s hear them!

Copyright 2010. Maw Books Blog

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.