ALA!

So on the heels of Donna's amazing BEA experience, I got to spend the weekend in Anaheim with the lovely folks at Flux books for the American Librarian Association annual conference.  I don't even know where to start, except to say the entire experience was overwhelming and wonderful.  There is nothing quite like being surrounded by books and the people who love them, and I enjoyed every second.  Forgive the name droppy blog post, but I want to try to mention all the folks who made the weekend so special.

The highlight for me was a quiet moment that happened early, before the official conference began.  On Friday afternoon, I couldn't check into my hotel room yet, so I headed over to the conference to register and get my bearings.  I walked into the nearly empty exhibit hall which was all set up for the opening night, and sought out the Flux booth.  I was blown away when I saw this:

There was Silver!  It was a thrill to see Silver on display.  Then I walked around and the quiet hall on a mission to track down Donna, Katherine and Veronica's books, because this journey was not completed alone.  And I got a thrill each time I found one of our books prominently displayed:

 Here is Never Sky- note the 3 stars on the top- designating the starred reviews!

 Gilt had prime shelf space at eye level with Bitterblue and Born Wicked!

Skinny had it's own corner and poster!

We were all there.  Just thinking of how far we have come from that critique group in December 2009, when we all nervously read from our unpublished manuscripts to having all of our debut books at ALA 2012- it gave me chills. That quiet scavenger hunt in the empty exhibit hall was a thrill.  I just wished the Muses were all there to share it.

On Saturday, I had my first ever author signing.  It went by so quickly, but it was so much fun too.  There were a lot of familiar faces with local bloggers making a point to come by and support me.  I was thrilled when people told me they were excited for the book, and I loved meeting so many enthusiastic readers!  I hope they love the book as much as I do.  Here I am with Suzanne Lazear, fellow Flux author of Innocent Darkness (steampunk faeries!).  Don't you love her steampunk outfit?  I also saw Flux authors, Linda Joy Singleton, Nick James and Kristin Cronn-Mills.

Then I got to go to some signings as a fan!  I met Maggie Stiefvater, who was signing Raven Boys.  She was so nice and gracious. I met her again on Sunday in the Egmont booth and she was very sweet even though I nearly cried while telling her how much her journey had inspired me when I made my first foray into the Verla Kay Blueboards.

I got books signed by Rae Carson, David Levithan, Brian Selsnick, Miranda Kennealy, Janet Gurtler, Cindy Pon, Mike Jung, Jenn Reese, Mike Mullin, Nick James and Kristin Cronn-Mills.  I got ARCs from Tamara Ireland Stone, Victoria Schwab, Ilsa Bick (SHADOWS!), Trinity Faegen, Sarah J. Maas, and even Donna Cooner's Skinny!  I saw E.M. Kokie signing Personal Effects, which I've already read and loved.

On Saturday night, there was a meet up with the Apocalypsies and I got to meet and hang out with some amazing authors, including Jessie Kirby, Shannon Messenger, Gretchen McNeil, and Debra Driza.  Then I had a few quiet moments to chat with Corrine Jackson and Tamera Stone to talk book launches and publishing craziness (and the awesomeness that is their books).

I got to chat with writer Amaris Glass who I knew from the Blueboard and met at LA SCBWI in 2010. And I met Lisa and Laura Roecker, who wrote The Liar Society.  They were just as gorgeous and funny as you would think, and so, so nice.

I saw so many NorCal bloggers, and they were all so, so supportive and friendly.  Jaime and Patricia from 2chicksonbooks, Becky from stories and sweeties, Debbie from Deb's world of books, Lisa from Bound by Books, Nancy from Ravenous Reader, and I met the entire YA Sisterhood (Brittany, Amy and Jennifer).  There were many others, along with new friends.

I had coffee with my Egmont editor, Elizabeth Law, during which we debated classic literature and the joys of big conferences.  I saw my Flux editor Brian Farrey, who was at the conference as an author for his award winning book With or Without You.

It cost me $75 to ship home all the books, and I have been reading since I got on the plane.  I can't wait to share these great reads with you on the blog in the months to come. I wish you all could have been there.  It was such a joy!