Book Expo America 2009 and a tiny bit of Aperture Science

BEA wrapped up Sunday and now that I’ve had my rest, it is time for some post-show impressions.  Or it would be, but it is honestly hard to process it all.  This was my first time at the conference so it was an experience to say the least.  Unfortunately I delted the photos I took with my phone to show you the size of it.  

There were so many booths, so many publishers.  Surprisingly though, attendance was not what I expected but this was my first BEA so what do I know!  Saturday was light and Sunday was astoundingly dead.  I was told at the show by a few people that next year’s show may be entirely during the week. 

Of the ARC’s that I picked up the ones that I am most excited about are:

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Ghostgirl Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

The Girl in the Arena by Lisa Haines

And the odd one of the list:  Connected – The surprising power of social networks and how they shape our lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler.

My favorite panel of the weekend was Friday night’s 7×20x21 during which several publishing professionals were invited to share what inspired them about their jobs and their hopes for the industry for seven minutes using twenty power point slides.  We’ve been hearing so much bad news what with the economic times that it was nice note to end the work week on. Every speaker did a fantastic job.  There were a lot of smiles and a lot of laughs, and even a reference to the game Portal. (Though I imagine only a few of us actually got that one.)

All in all, I’m making a note here….HUGE SUCCESS!  Tomorrow though it’s back to work for those of us who are still alive.

Comic Con NYC Report 09

Well Comic Con NYC is over, and despite the serious case of Con Funk that I picked up somewhere along the line, the weekend was terrific.

Unfortunately, I missed most of the panels I had planned on attending while waiting in line at the Sherrilyn Kennyon signing.  I love the author and she is so sweet, but that was the last time I’ll ever do something like that.  Her handlers had no rules at this event.  People were going up to her with six, seven, eight pieces sometimes!  I was one of the fortunate few who managed to get through the line before the signing ended.  I got my two books signed (one for myself, and one for a friend who is going through some stuff), chatted with her briefly, and that was it folks.  I appreciate what it’s like to meet an author whom is an idol to you, but look behind you sometimes.  So many people either didn’t get through the line or were too discouraged to stay.  They would have been happy to have even one book signed.  

As far as swag went, it was a disappointing year.  You could tell that the exhibitors were hurting because of the economy.  I didn’t even fill up half a bag.  The coolest giveaway though was  the wolverine foam claws (think football foam finger).  Sadly I was neither able to obtain one or get a picture, but I will keep looking.  

Costumes are always disappointing at Comic Con and this year was no different-despite the effort to break the Guinness record for largest collection of costumed heroes.  Watchmen, was popular not surprisingly.  Sadly, I only ever saw either Rorsach, The Silk Specter, or the Comedian and not my favorite Watchmen, Nite Owl.  Lot’s of Joker too.  This was the year of the Joker.  

I did pick up a lot of great Galleys  and Books.  I am so incredibly excited by these as a good half of them were previously on my Amazon wishlist:

Sword of Darkness – Kineley Macgreggor-Galley
Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman – Mass Market
The Serpent Bride-Sara Douglass-Mass Market
Forest Mage -Robin Hobb-Mass Market
Devil May Cry-Sherrilyn Kenyon-Mass Market
Murder in Lamut-Raymond E. Feist & Joel Rosenberg-Mass Market
Beyond the Shadows-Brent Weeks-Mass Market
Pendragon Book One-D.J. Machale-Trade Paper
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King-Chrstie Golden-Galley
Lies of Locke Lamora-Scott Lynch-Mass Market

My most exciting finds were the Darth Vader slippers and a comic/webcomic called Weapon Brown.  I’ll blog about the later this week.

/End of Line

~ Darcy

Brandon Sanderson Signing

Squeeeeeeee.  Brandon Sanderson is in NYC this weekend for his first ever Big Apple Book Signing!  

I shall be there most definitely, and so should you if you live in the area.  The address is as follows:  

Barnes and Noble Greenwich Village
396 Avenue of the Americas
Friday, November 14th 7:30 PM

Brooklyn Book Festival 9/14

Hey, as a reminder to all of you living in the NYC area, the Brooklyn Book Festival is this Sunday.  It’s a pretty cool event, bringing together a host of interesting authors.  This is also a great chance to pick up some deals on books and  literary journals.  I go for the YA panels, mostly. 

The Youth Stoop (Borough Hall Plaza)

 11:00 a.m. How Dramatic! Troupe performs work by Newbery Award-winning authors Susan Cooper and Patricia MacLachlan, and playwright Ossie Davis, followed by a Q&A with Cooper, MacLachlan and Editor Alice Bernstein (The People of Clarendon County).

12:00 p.m. Witty and Wicked – Deborah Gregory (Catwalk, The Cheetah Girls) and Cecily von Ziegesar (Gossip Girl, It Girl) dish and deliver as they read their books and chat about bringing their characters to life on film and television. Moderator Lauren Mechling, journalist and author of Dream Girl.

1:00 p.m. The Other Side – Faeries, Elves and Ancient Omens. Come to the other side of reality where these three authors discuss their works of fantasy and their craft. Holly Black (The Good Neighbors, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Ironside), Gail Carson Levine (Ever, Ella Enchanted), and Daniel Kirk (Elf Realm). Moderated by Laura Arnold, HarperCollins.

2:00 p.m. Growing Pains. Come hear critically acclaimed authors Jacqueline Woodson (After Tupac and D Foster, Feathers), An Na (The Fold), and Paul Volponi (Hurricane Song, The Hand You’re Dealt) read from their books and talk about what happens when life gets hard for kids. Moderated by Stacey Barney, Putnam Books for Young Readers.

3:00 p.m. Inked In.  The world of comics and graphic novels is brought to life by three leading artists and writers: Ariel Schrag (Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise), Ivan Velez, Jr. (Tales of the Closet, Dead High Yearbook), and Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo, The New York Four).

4:00 p.m. Teen Identity.  Who are you? Where do you belong? How do you define yourself? Join David Levithan (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Boy Meets Boy), Sarah Mlynowksi (Bras and Broomsticks, How to Be Bad) and Alisa Valdes-Rodriquez (Haters) as they discuss the challenges of defining yourself as an individual, and how they manage to capture the humor and angst of the teen experience in their books. Moderated by author Dan Ehrenhaft.

5:00 p.m. When the Black Girl Sings.  Author Bil Wright and actors present a dramatic reading of his book When the Black Girl Sings. Performers are Darlesia Cearcy (Nettie from The Color Purple), Na Tasha Yvette Williams (Sophia from The Color Purple) and Martin Sola (Coram Boy). 

5:30 p.m. Brooklyn Snap Lit Match.  Finalists of the borough-wide writing contest, Brooklyn Snap, read from their work. Hosted by MTV’s “Makin’ the Band” co-star and choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson courtesy of Making Books Sing.

World Building Month

Credit goes to Cirellio for bringing this to my attention.  

There is a neat little event/workshop for writers going on at Tales of a Fantasy Scribbler during the month of August called World Building Month.  The kick-off is today but the coordinator does say that late-comers are still welcome.  

Posted by the author of Tales of a Fantasy Scribbler, Eliza Wyatt:

August is going to be dedicated to world-building, here, and on any other blog or site that wishes to participate. We’re going to be exploring everything; history, art, politics, geography, map-making, town-building, magic, science, rumor mills, everything that provides a setting for writing. Any medium of exploring these topic is welcome, from essays to writing samples to artwork. This is an open project. As with Villain Month, I’ll be showcasing people’s work every week.

World building can really make or break a story for me. (See also: this post on my favorite world building efforts in print)  I need a world rich with detail or as a reader, I’m not as engaged as I could be. I will agree though that there is a fine line between a world with good, concrete detail that enhances the story and a world that is just bogged down by it.  The story has to flow seamlessly through the world or you’ve lost the essential purpose of storytelling.   

I love following the blogs of authors who dedicate whole portions of their site to they how’s and why’s of their fictional world.  It is interesting to see the different processes each writer goes through in the developmental stages of their novel.  Although I won’t be participating in the event, I look forward to following it from the sidelines.  

I thought this might also be something of interest for you writers who are gearing up for NaNoWriMo 08.  I know there are a lot of participants out there that spend -months- planning out their projects beforehand.  I imagine this would help get the juices flowing.

Publisher’s Weekly Seminar for Writers

Hey if you are in and around the NYC are August 22, 2008 there is a seminar being given by some of the staff at Publisher’s Weekly and their industry contacts.  The price is pretty hefty ($345) but it looks to be a very comprehensive seminar and a great networking opportunity.  Heck, if I had the money right now, I’d go for that alone.  After all, one day soon I’m going to have to embark on the dreaded entry-level job-hunt in the competitive world of Publishing when I graduate next spring.  

In a full-day seminar, experts from Publishers Weekly magazine, the bible of the book industry, will guide you through everything you need to know about the business of publishing. With the help of top agents, authors, editors and marketing professionals, PW will show aspiring writers the way to get published.

PW will also collect and read proposals, or a piece of a manuscript in advance of the seminar. 
***One lucky writer will be profiled in an upcoming issue of PW. ***

That’s a fantastic prize!  If you’ve never heard of it, Publisher’s Weekly is a leading industry resource for publishing professionals.  It keeps us up to speed on all the big news and titles in the other houses and any changes taking place in the market.