My Book Expo America 2013 adventure began on Wednesday, May 29th to attend my first and probably last BEA Bloggers conference. This is not because I didn’t have fun or did not network, but because I went to hopefully gain some education and tips I had not yet previously figured on my own. While I did get a few notes that I found useful in one session, as a whole the education part wasn’t there.

I was luckily enough to at least find a few people whom I made a midpoint of a connection with to keep things entertaining, including Molly over at InsertGeekHere. Lunch was nice enough actually using the $15 coupon we received for food and drink, I actually was left with $2, but unfortunately no cash back. Hearing from Eric Smith from Quirk Books (who has an awesome book called The Geek’s Guide to Dating coming in September) was a definite highlight.

The keynote openers and ending speeches were by Will Schwalbe and Randi Zuckerberg and both those were enjoyable and funny. They weren’t worth the price of admission, but they were fun. After the event there was a reception where we could use a drink ticket, network a bit more and surprise surprise a ton of books. There were a few books that went really fast in the Young Adult Editors speack of the Blogger conference and there were not enough books for all, so this really made up for that. Got a few cook books, a huge sci-fi novel AND the newest from Jeff Hirsch, a book I planned to grab during the regular Expo but luckily I didn’t need to. Jeff also happened to be there, so that was a double plus.

I forgot to mention that I snuck (sic) out from the Blogger conference when both sessions available didn’t excite me (mainly the ethics session) and headed over to check out Sidelines. While there I did make a couple cool discoveries which I’ll be discussing in a side article.

Before heading downtown for events was able to swing by the Editor’s Buzz and was very happy to get a copy of The Facades by Eric Lundgren, a book high on my list to read.

From Javits I went down to Housing Works for the Bookrageous event, but after saying hello to long-time friend poet Guy Lecharles Gonzalez (now of the Library Journal) I headed over to CultureFix where I had only planned to say hello to friends Fritz Donnelly and Amy Van Doran, before finding myself pulled into being part of the event and dancing till late in the evening despite wanting to be at BEA early the next day.

THURSDAY, May 30th
I was successful in this and hence following my best recollection of BOOK EXPO AMERICA 2013:
I started my morning with heading over to get a copy of Cynthia Voight’s newest Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things. From there I went to Autographing for a few things. I ended up only tackling two of them but they were a great two. First was Malachy McCourt for a A Couple of Blaguards, the play he wrote with dearly departed brother, as a bonus they also gave out a DVD of their performance of the play. Then it was over a few tables to my old collegemate David Ezra Stein for his newest children’s story Dinosaur Kisses. Realizing the time I rushed over to Dr. Ruth, but unfortunately they ran out of books, but I still got to talk to her and get the photo. Then it was a time where I knew I’d have to waiting but it was worth it to get the second book in the new Lemony Snicket series and see Daniel handler again. Daniel told me that sometime in 2014 his newest novel (a non Snicket) would be a pirate tale. This highly excites me.

A quick bounce after was over to Nicole Polizzi, some exploring, then over Autographing once again for These Broken Stairs and Ridley Pearson’s second Risk Agent. A little more exploring and then I had a scheduled sit down interview with Vivek Tiwary about his upcoming Dark Horse graphic novel The Fifth Beatle (more to come on that very soon). A lot more walking and exploring followed as well as grabbing books before heading to autographing again for Richard Dawkins and others, and along the way stopping at surprise guest Tim Conway. Back to the floor to explore, then another designated signing, this time with Paul Pope, which I could have skipped as the next day I hit another signing and got a shirt too.

From there though it was for a serious line of length and time killed. I thought the line for Snicket was long, but nothing compared to Chuck Palahniuk and that was still tame to what Grumpy Cat would get or Neil Gaiman would get later in the week, but still. Was very happy to my hands on DOOMED, sequel to DAMNED. I was able to get the new John Rocco children’s book after as well and explore the show more before deciding to head home. Knowing I partied Wednesday and would be partying definitely hard on Friday I wanted one calm evening.

FRIDAY, May 31st
Despite getting home early, I somehow still ended up to the show later I planned, but that was still at around 9:30 with plenty of time for everything on my schedule along with enough show floor exploring that when I finished filled my roll luggage at the end of the day it was quite heavy and it was an adventure bringing it around town and its heaviness and amount of books made me have to have my evening stop short. That was later though.

First up was Matt Phelan’s Blufton and then online to grab a copy of FROG TROUBLE, an awesome book/CD which I will have more to say about for sure. It was then a whirlwind of booths and autographing, back and forth. Obert Skye, Jason Mott of The Returned (debuting as Ressurection on ABC this Fall), Ridley Pearson. Trying to hit as much as I could before my 11:30 interview which I still ended up late to because I was right at the front of the line for Giada Di Laurentiis with steps away and to leave the line at that point would be crazy. If I wasn’t steps away and also two booths from my interview, sure… but… yeah.

That 11:30 was with Dan Harmon, editor at Zest and writer of the upcoming Super Pop! . It was a really fun interview where lots was discussed and next week as part of a scheduled blog tour will be reviewed, have an interview and even a special top 10 list of my own devising thought of at the interview.

Because of how my Friday schedule landed there was nothing specific other than getting Family Whipple as well as the Anne Burrell signing so a lot of show exploring was done. If I could remember what booths I hit in order, who I spoke to, etc. I would tell you. I know at a point I specifically went to the Macmillian booth to get a BATTLING BOY t-shirt. I also saw Red Green, and Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. of America’s Got Talent fame and I hung out with Gugar of the upcoming book The Creature Department.

After all was said and done I hung out with Torsten Adair for a bit as I backed my luggage and then I made my way slowly over to Columbus Circle with actually some Subway snafus, which was… “fun” with the luggage. I made it though, stopped in at O & Co. and said hello to my short time co-workers. Then I headed upstairs to Landmarc where a very calm and casual affair was had. Plenty of delcious food, excellent guests, including Red Green and a slightly rude Robbie Robertson. I had a really good time, but I also needed to get all the way to the World Financial Center for one of my best friend’s birthdays on a boat. That was… well, the evening ended on top of a roof with a pool and involved nudity and that’s all I’ll say about that. I got home around 4 AM and still planned to go to Expo again the next day for Jim Gaffigan, Representative John Lewis and a few loose ends tied up, including the “What aren’t you packing up?” part of Saturday which is always exciting and fun.

SATURDAY, June 1st
Which is EXACTLY how it went. I got to the show around 10 AM (and don’t ask me how I pulled THAT off even). I walked around for a bit, saw some excellent stuff on the floor I had missed because of how crazy the show is and then got a front row seat for Jim Gaffigan. He was hilarious and fun. There was no moderator, so he interviewed himself, talked a bit and then took questions from the crowd and riffed off of the questions and yes, Yours truly asked a question too. Then there was waiting to get the book signed and say hello to the funny man. It was all worth it.

Eventually I was able to make it over to where John was signing and had a wonderful talk with him and also throughout the show spoke to some great publishers, writers, publicists and more and walked away with so many books. Way more than I thought I would on a Saturday. I wasn’t planning on such a haul. I chose to not even bring my luggage, which was a big mistake. I barely made it home as my bag ripped on the trip back. Still what an experience!

Following this report will be a collection of photos I shot or were taken of me and author/celeb, as well as a listing of every book I got with links and mini info.

Later in the week and months look forward to reviews, interviews and more!

In this post I’ll be listing an assortment of books I procured that weren’t on my schedule for Day 2. There’s a lot of great things here that all seem fun, fascinating, exciting or whatever. I should note that all these are of the American release versions and dates. Some may already be out internationally under different titles and from different publishers and marketing. I am providing websites that I can find on either the author or the book only as reference..

The 500 by Matthew Quirk is political suspense thriller from a debut writer who got his writing grit as a hard bent journalist at The Atlantic. It is available now.

Bootlicker by Steve Piacente is a tale based on guilt, race relations, politics and intrigue.   Available now.

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce is described as a dark and modern reimaging of “The Little Mermaid”, it is geared towards Teen Readers and will be out in September.

Patient One by Leonard Goldberg combines medical suspense with political thriller in what also sounds like an action packed book. It came out in May 2012.

Third Grade Angels is the long awaited prequel to Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli with illustrations by Jennifer A. Bell. It will arrive in September.

The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda is an action-adventure based in monsters, myths and Indian (read Asia, not Native American) folklore.

The Diviners by Libba Bray is a supernatural mystery based in 1920’s New York filled magic & murder. It comes in September or November, it’s a bit unclear.

And Still They Bloom by Amy Rovere is a children’s book designed to help with the coping of grief and cancer. It has full paintings by Joel Spector and is published by the American Cancer Society. You can pre-order it here, it comes out at the end of June.

The Good Son: The Life of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini by Mark Kriegel tells the amazing rise and tragic emotional fall of the now legendary boxer (Warren Zevon even wrote a song about the guy). It arrives in September.

Goosebumps-Wanted: The Haunted Mask is just one of the new horror stories coming from R.L. Stine, this one hits in July.

Confessions of a Murder Suspect is James Patterson‘s first teen mystery series, written with his Women’s Murder Club collaberater Maxine Paetro. It’s scheduled for September.

ZOO is another major James Patterson release also scheduled for September, co-written with Michael Ledwige is a extremely intense thriller with heavier ramifications plot wise than any James Patterson work previous.

The Devil’s Causeway by Tim Westfall is a non-fiction military history book about POWs during the Spanish-American war. It comes out in September.

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a supernatural fantasy for young readers. I comes out in September.

Unsaid is a the debut novel of lawyer Neil Abramson, whose focus is on animal rights and protection, which his book also explores as well as the relationship between human and animal. It is available now.

Ghost Buddy: Mind If I Read Your Mind? is the second book in the new series by Henry Winkler and Lin Olver, in which a ghost and a psychic kid become best friends. The latest comes in July.

MP3-The Meaning of a Format by Jonathan Sterne is equally history on sound compression and philosophy on its ramifications on music as a whole. It is mostly academic work, but still fascinating. It will be available in August from Duke University Press.

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Well is a fantasy for young readers written by the popular actor and singer Chris Colfer with illustrations by Brandon Dorman. The book comes out in July.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? and Say Happy Chanukah? are the latest in the dinosaur picture books by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague. They both come out in September.

Bannon & Clare in The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lillith Saintcrow is marketed as a steampunk urban fantasy and the start of a new series. It will be available in August.

Albert of Adelaide by Howard Anderson is a debut novel about a platypus discovering himself in Australia. It isn’t a children’s novel, it’s an antromorphic adult book and sounds awesome. It’ll be available in July.

Traditionally you wouldn’t find me reading some based on the bible or faith-based, but the comics and graphic novels from Kingstone Comics have a special edge. They have many series, but I only opted to check out three which I’ll be exploring further.
The Christ features art by Sergio Cariello, who I loved on Lone Ranger and Crossgen books
The Book of God which takes a scholarly look at the bible was drawn by Javier Saltares, best known for his work on Ghost Rider
The Pilgrim’s Progress is a manga adaptation which is lavishly illustrated.

That brings us to the end of items I procured on Day two of Book Expo America. There’s a chance I missed something or possibly I wrote about in Day One or will hit on my Day Three. Still I hope this gives you suggestions, ideas, thoughts, recommendations and a feeling of the diversity of books one can discover and enjoy both at BEA and in general.