BEA 2011. Overwhelmed.

Come on, I told myself. You knew it was going to be overwhelming. It's New York.

Look at this line to get into BEA...

Picture from BEA Site

Wednesday:
I aimlessly wandered around. I wish I had taken a picture of the massive size of the location and the number of people, but I think you can get a sense of it from the above picture from the BEA press page - look how long the line is! It was so different from the SIBA event in Daytona Beach. At that event, books were stacked on tables and publicists were readily available to chat about what they felt were *the* books to keep an eye out on. BEA was tougher for me to randomly introduce myself at the booths, although there were a handful of fantastic publicists who were ready to chat it up (you know who you are - thank you)!

APA Audiobook & Author Tea: One of my favorite events! Unlike other prepared bloggers, I didn't dive into the details on each event, so imagine my surprise when I walked in and Star Jones was the host and moderator for a panel of authors discussing audiobooks including:

• Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic (non-fiction), and is also the husband of Geraldine Brooks
• Karin Slaughter, author of newest release Fallen (crime fiction)
• Brad Meltzer, author of newest release The Inner Circle (suspense/thriller fiction) and host of the History Channel's Decoded
• Star Jones is also the author of new release Satan's Sisters and recorded the audio for the book as well

Do I wish I had taken a plethora of pictures? Yes. The few I did take were grainy and hard to see, but I do have this picture of when Brad Meltzer brought up the incomparable Scott Brick to read a segment of Meltzer's upcoming book. Book, Line, and Sinker is a huge fan of Scott Brick, so I had to tweet it out to her that I was *thisclose* to him!

Scott Brick, fabulous audiobook narrator

Karin Slaughter and Brad Meltzer had engaging personalities and immediately shared stories regaling their disappointments on initial audio narrators and the eventual success once they found narrators who captured the essence of their stories perfectly.

Wednesday Night:
Dinner at Bice Restaurant with bloggers!

From Left to Right: Ann from Books on the Nightstand, Stacy from A Novel Source and me and my husband, Jason

Thanks to Heather for the above two pictures from the dinner - click here go to her site to see close up pics as well. From Left to Right around the table: Reagan from Miss Remmer's Review, Heather from Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books, Megan from Leafing through Life, Sheila from Book Journey, Florinda from The 3 R's, Michelle from Red Headed Book Child, Allie from Alison's Book Marks, then back on around to Ann from Books on the Nightstand, Stacy from A Novel Source, and me.

Thursday:
Pseudo-attended BEA, ended up leaving early and going with my husband to the Madame Tussaud Wax Museum since Michelle Moran's book just came out. The museum was expensive, but it was fun.

Madame Tussaud was tiny, right?

Friday:
Book Blogger Convention! The best of BEA with blogger discussion panels on ethics, ask a publicist, author meetings, etc. I met more bloggers, including the blogger who motivated me last year to start my own blog - Jenn aka The Picky Girl! Love her blog, you must check it out!

With Jenn from The Picky Girl

Saturday:
Ellis Island. Loved.

Ellis Island

Sunday:
St. Patrick's Cathedral, beautiful.
New York Public Library, incredible.
And we saw the show WICKED later that afternoon at the Gershwin Theater! LOVED!

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York Public Library

Monday:
Home sweet home.

Okay, so Rome with the Vatican as the background isn't home, but whatever. A girl can dream...!

Fabulous time had by all, and cannot wait for next year!

Things for me to remember next year:

• Seriously, wear comfortable shoes. Seriously.
• Do more research on which event to attend.
• Take more pictures.

And now it's time to get ready for SIBA in Charleston, SC!