I thought I’d feed you the required serving of beefcake while telling you about my first BEA experience. Let’s start with the first day of travel:
First flight – great. No problem.
Hour layover – fine. No problem.
Second flight – not so great. Tur. Bu. Lence. I was a ball of pain (motion sickness is a bitch!) Oh, and I’m surrounded by 8th graders on their way to see the capitol. They are talking and laughing while I am clutching the barf bag. Silver lining: I now know that pink is soooo yesterday.
My arrival – I’m on a tight schedule so I grab a taxi and rush to the hotel. I need to get cleaned up and changed and to BEA in less than an hour. Only, my room isn’t ready. I have to get cleaned up and changed in the lobby bathroom. Now, that doesn’t seem so bad, right? Well, I’m a nervous sweater (as
Jill Monroe and
PC Cast know first hand) and I was nervous on both flights. So I had to do a total body clean up in this very public bathroom. Silver lining: I met a gal who had to do the same thing. We chatted. Rusty lining: my curling iron broke before I could use it so I had to leave with plane/taxi hair.
BEA – FABULOUS! I loved every minute of it. Booth after booth of books. It is a reader’s paradise. And signing ARCs of
Playing With Fire was amazing. The gorgeous
Susan Grant was there with me, signing ARCs of
Your Planet or Mine. (shhh, don’t tell but I snagged one!!! I’m reading it now and it’s her BEST yet!!! A must buy for everyone.) There was a line – a ginormous, gihugeic line – of people who wanted our books.
Oh, yeah. Did I mention that I hadn’t eaten AT ALL that day. You all know what hunger does to me. At home, I eat all the time. I’m a 24 hour snacker with three full meals a day kind of girl.
Diana Peterfreund saw the hungry, bestial glaze in my eyes and did the SWEETEST thing EVER. She stood in another line and brought me fries. Side note: Diana has the BEST skin ever and she let me caress it!!! Truly, her skin is flawless and sooooo soft. I want to wrap her tiny self around me and use her as a coat.
Continuing BEA – After the signing, Susan took me to court. The Supreme Court that is (a food court in the building). We split a pizza then met back up with Diana. Did some chatting. Had major fun!
Hotel check in – I, uh, lost my drivers license. But I did have the poster I’d snagged from my signing that featured a picture of me (the close up by the fence) and the cover of
Playing With Fire. At Susan’s suggestion, I used it as my ID. Just held it up and said, "See. Me." The clerk thought it was so hilarious that he gave Susan and I (me and Susan?) a glass of champagne – then offered us more! We, of course, accepted.
Dinner that night – I dined with
Susan Grant and our editor, the fantabulous Tracy Farrell. Delicious food, even better company. We talked and giggled (no alcohol required). Loved it!
Harlequin party that night – Tracy introduced Susan and me to some very cool people. I had a blast. There was music, food, and great conversation.
Continuing soon with the plane rides home. . . Also, there's a lady I want to send an ARC of
Playing With Fire to but I don't know her name. I only know that she was at BEA and didn't get a copy because I told her there was a line -- which I've felt guilty about ever since. Then we ran out. If you're her and you're reading this, please email me with your description (so I know it's really you) and I'll send one to you!
