Some of these pictures aren't great because of lighting in the halls. I want to thank Talia Sherer at Macmillan for ensuring that I had good seats at both banquets. Even before the banquets though, I attended the Library Day of Dialog at McGraw-Hill.
Along with the panels, there were two authors as speakers that day. Both were excellent. Actor/author John Lithgow was there to talk about his forthcoming book,
Drama: An Actor's Education (Sept./Harper/Collins). As you would expect, he was an entertaining and moving speaker as he talked about reading to his father.
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| John Lithgow |
The author, though, that truly inspired all of us was Karin Slaughter who wasn't there to publicize her forthcoming book,
Fallen, but to promote her Save The Libraries campaign, stressing the need to support libraries, and the loss of libraries in so many communities. She wasn't the only one to remind us over the course of two days that dictators close libraries first when they take power, and that governments who are closing or curtailing libraries are shutting down opportunities for young people. She inspired all of us with her story of her own youth, saying she wouldn't be a writer if it wasn't for libraries. And, she has said before that the closing of libraries is a matter of national security. Slaughter is putting her time and efforts into a passionate support of libraries.
Monday night was the AAP Librarians Banquet at the Yale Club, hosted by Nancy Pearl. The lighting, unfortunately, wasn't conducive to good photos, even though I was at the table by the podium.
Tuesday morning before my panel, I went to Mystery Writers of America's booth, hoping to find Hilary Davidson. Not only did I run into Hilary, but I also found fellow bloggers Jen Forbus and Erin Faye there.
And, Hilary and Jen were kind enough to come over to The Great Readalike Panel after Hilary's signing was over.
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| Hilary Davidson and Jen Forbus |
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| Jen Forbus, Hilary Davidson, Me, and Erin Faye |
Following the panel, I went to the The Fifth Annual BookExpo Amercia Librarians Lunch, sponsored by The Assocaiton of American Publishers and EarlyWord. I finally met Nora Rawlinson! Nora is the co-founder of
EarlyWord, a wonderful site for librarians. Nora was the host for the lunch, introducing the authors.
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| Nora Rawlinson |
And, what a slate of authors. The men, in particular, were really funny. It was an enjoyable way to end BEA.
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| Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers (Sept.) |
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| Spencer Quinn, author of To Fetch a Thief |
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| Chuck Palahniuk, author of Damned, Oct. |
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| Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron Queen |
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| Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Birds of Paradise |
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| David Baldacci, author One Summer, June |
I owe Talia Sherer, Library Marketing Director at Macmillan, a big thanks for giving me the opportunity to attend and participate in this year's BEA. Thank you, Talia.
