BEA: Saturday...

Today was a great day at BEA--probably my favorite day ever at a BEA. I have lots of photos to share. However, I checked out of my hotel today and I'm staying with a friend in Manhattan tonight. Most of my stuff is still at the hotel in a co-worker's room, and among that stuff is my cord for uploading photos. I'll be busy on Monday and Tuesday getting them all up so you can share my bookalicious fun. (Tomorrow I won't have Internet access.)

In the meantime, here are some highlights of my day:

• Children's Author Speed Dating: So cool. There were 8 or 10 attendees at each of 21 tables along with an author and someone from his or her publisher. The author had three minutes to tell us about an upcoming book. Then DING...they moved to the next table. Among the authors and illustrators I talked to were Frank Portman, Jack Gantos, Christopher Myers and Peter McCarty. I can't seem to remember any of the female authors, but I assure you there were a bunch--it wasn't really speed dating. I'll tell you more when I have my notebook (which is at the hotel I hope).
• Autographing and autograph line serendipity: I got some wonderful books signed by some wonderful authors in the autographing area. I also ran into some wonderful authors in the autograph lines. I'll tell you more in an upcoming BEA Autographing Photo Essay.
• Successful book shipping: This year it only took about 40 minutes to get my box of books packed, processed and paid for in the show shipping area. That's an improvement of 5 hours and 20 minutes or so from my last BEA at Javitz. Hint: ship your books on Saturday and not Sunday. Sunday is a nightmare. I sent back 22 pounds of books today. That's 11 pounds on each shoulder for a good hunk of the day. I actually have bruises from two days of lugging books around. But, alas, I am always willing to suffer for good (free) literature. (There are a few more books in my suitcase, and since I'm going to the show tomorrow, I'm sure I won't be able to resist picking up a small stack for my carry-on bag.)

Okay, now I'm off to bed to rest up for the last day of BEA. I land in the Nati at 1o p.m. tomorrow. I'll let you know what book I pick out to read on the plane!