Ho Hum. Just Another Day at the Javitz. NOT!

Ho hum. Just another day at the Javitz Center. Tra la la.

Yup.  BEA. *walking along*

Hello. What's this?

A GIANT BANNER FOR DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE OVER THE ENTRANCE???

Whutt?

This is seriously the crazy-crazy. I feel like I should be asking, "Really? Are you sure?"

But I don't ask. I just stand in awe. Of my ridiculous good fortune.

Below, I stand in awe alongside the two ladies who have done the most (after me, perhaps) to bring this book about. On the left, my agent Jane Putch. On my right, my editor Alvina Ling. I should clarify that neither of them technically *belong* to me. I graciously share them with other talented and lucky authors and illustrators.

Walking in and seeing this banner will forever be A Moment for me. Unforgettable.

In the booth, the strategy was to have Miss Piggy standing on the counter hand-selling Daughter. Snerk snerk. Okay okay, I did that. Also, can I swipe the poster?

The day yesterday was packed with awesome, beginning with the Children's Book Breakfast, of which I have no photos of the amazing lineup of speakers: Katherine Paterson, Julianne Moore, Brian Selznick, Sarah Dessen, and Kevin Henkes. I want to say that Julianne Moore a) looks just as impossibly young in reality as she does on the screen, and b) is, awesomely, a complete and total goofball. And now I want to be friends with her.

Also, I met Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) who is a Little Brown author! About whom I learned this factoid: he carries two handkerchiefs at all times, one for himself, and one for "the ladies." Ha ha! 

Here at the breakfast are my publicist Lisa Sabater on the right, and on the left Melanie Chang, Director of Publicity. Two of my awesome Little Brown peoples.

The morning was busy with events. Alvina and I did "speed-dating" at which authors goes table to table in three-minute intervals meeting booksellers, bloggers, librarians, and other book people to talk about their book. Essentially doing 19 quick pitches in a row. Whew! What a crash course in pitching the book! Alvina teamed up with me and I think we got pretty good at quickly describing a very difficult to describe book!

After that, Alvina presented the book at the YA Editors Buzz Panel, which is a terrific BEA event -- and was so packed, I hope next year they will move it to a bigger room! Each year, five upcoming titles are selected to be buzzed about by their editors. Two years ago Lips Touch got chosen, which was why I got to go to New York that time; Daughter was chosen too. It's really an honor. And it's great as an author to get to sit in the audience and hear your editor talk you up :-) Alvina did an amazing job of making the book tantalizing!

I had to slip away partway through to do an interview on the Midtown Stage with Middle Grade librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan, of the awesome blog Reading Rants. She had great questions. So fun!

And from there, it was all strolling and fun and meeting people and seeing old friends!

Here on the left is Tahereh Mafi, author of the forthcoming Shatter Me, with her editor Tara Weikum of Harper Teen. I'm very excited to read Shatter Me, which has been getting a lot of buzz!

Also, I am totally going to steal her purse!!! Have you ever seen a better bag?

And here, on my right, the amazing Ellen Hopkins, multi-NYT-bestseller, who does her own thing so exquisitely well: spare, gorgeous verse novels for teens on very difficult subjects like drug addiction, sexual abuse, prostitution. Her keynote addresses are guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, and she is a ray of sunshine in many a convention.

And on the far right, Sarah Beth Durst, who I think of as my parallel publishing sister, because from the beginning we have had books coming out the same month (at the time it was from the same publisher, but no longer), and who is always so so lovely to spend time with.

Sarah's forthcoming book is so made out of awesome: Drink Slay Love! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! As Sarah describes it: it's about a vampire who inexplicably grows a conscience after being stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn. Oh yeah. Because, as she points out, unicorns are natural vampire slayers. 

Below, Daniel Handler signing his new book Why We Broke Up for me! It's illustrated by Maira Kalman, who I lurve, and I am so excited to read it. If you go to the link above you can be part of the "Why We Broke Up" project and submit your breakup story!

And really, that was the day. 

* * *

Followed by the evening, and the Little Brown party. Which was SO COOL!

Hello adorable Faye Bi in your adorable tea party hat.

The party was a circus ...

... in this loft with panoramic views ...

There was popcorn and hot dogs:

 Whoopie pies and very very tiny hamburgers:

There was Peter Brown ring toss:

And fun-house mirror versions of YA covers. Recognize the one in the middle?

The game chips were also printed with Daughter of Smoke and Bone and were the coolest thing ever and were pocketed by me as part of a growing DSB artifact collection:

But the coolest coolest coolest thing was in the corner, where a horned henna artist was doing Daughter-themed tattoos in Brimstone's shop.

Teeth and feathers, horns and wishbones, old rusty bird cages, skulls. These things are just the coolest props. I wanted to swipe things, but I did not. I will continue to amass objets for my own Brimstone shop.

 

Of course I partook of the henna:

There were a number of designs to choose from:

I chose eyes:

I see you.

Here with Alvina are Arnaud Noury, the president of Hachette Livre, Little Brown's parent company (which is French, as is Arnaud), and the lovely Megan Tingley, the publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers:

Here, Andrew Smith, Deputy Publisher; Victoria Stapleton, School & Library Marketing; author/illustrator Peter Brown, and Tina McIntyre, Marketing:

Faye Bi, Publicity; Lisa Sabater, Publicity, Cindy Eagan, Editorial Director of the Poppy imprint; Alvina, me, and Tina:

Peter and Alvina are old friends. Clearly. 

You'll know why I had to include this. Missing my bebby:

Aaaaaaand, sunset over the Hudson River. And there's an end to it. :-)