A photo (and link-rich) tour of my morning at the BEA

I left the house at 5 AM yesterday, and walked, in the breaking dark, toward the train. The carnival lights from the Devon Horse Show grounds were shining just for me.

I arrived early to the Javits Center and took a walk first within the silence, then among the onslaught of crowds. Soon I was at the Egmont USA booth, interviewing the wonderful Rob Guzman, part of the Egmont USA marketing team. (Later in the day I had the privilege of interviewing Egmont USA's Alison Weiss.)

In impromptu fashion (under Rob's raised eyebrow) I began signing books right there at the Egmont booth, flashing my spanking-new bookmarks whenever I could.  It wasn't long before I was in the presence of Florinda of the 3Rs, a beautiful book blogger and a member of the Armchair BEA team. We had a conversation, Florinda and I, and, thanks to Elizabeth Law, our dialogue was captured for all of time on film.  Check the Armchair BEA blog later today to see what Florinda and I had to say.

Elizabeth Law of Egmont USA was my guide throughout the morning; in the rush of my signing, Florinda took our photograph. Soon, were we joined by some beautiful people—librarians, teachers, readers, parents, and blogger friends. There I am with Kathy of BermudaOnion (I finally met her and she's as lovely as I knew she would be) and Julie of Booking Mama (isn't she gorgeous?). Later, I had the privilege of seeing (among so many others) the uber-smart editor/blogger behind Beth Fish Reads, the design whiz Alea of Pop Culture Junkie, and the incredibly gracious writer and blogger Melissa Sarno of This Too. I was signing at the very last table and beyond me were authors of huge celebrity and appeal. I cannot sufficiently express my appreciation for those who stood in my line and gave me the chance to meet them.

Just before I left the premises to walk across town to Grand Central to take a (strictly un-airconditioned) bus on a (bumper-to-bumper expressway) to JFK Airport to see my son just ahead of his departure for London, I had a few near encounters with famous people, including Olivia the Pig and Michael Moore, pictured above. I also finally got to meet my last editor at HarperCollins, Ruta Rimas, who helped usher The Heart Is Not a Size into the world. She's cuter and sweeter than I can say. I picked up a single galley at the show, from Grove: Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind, which is enjoying a whole lot of early buzz.

I will miss my son enormously. But he is on an adventure all his own, and I could not be happier for him.

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