BOOK EXPO MADNESS

Here I am signing ROYAL LOCKDOWN at the Harlequin Booth at BEA. The Book Expo was a lot of fun. But for some reason, the Javits Center forgot to turn on the air conditioning the first day. So it was really HOT. And even when they turned it on, it was still pretty uncomfortable. I had bought a jacket to wear to the book signing. But I decided I'd be better off wearing a shirt instead of a jacket.

We spent a lot of time looking at the exhibits. The Ellora's Cave booth was one of the more interesting. They'd driven their bus into the Javits Center and used it as the backdrop for their tables. They were giving away decks of cards and some of the fake "lollipops" and "matchbooks" you may have seen at RT. At another booth we got cute animal bookmarks for the grandkids. And we stood in line to get books from authors like Dave Barry, E. L. Konigsburg, Lisa Jackson, Martin Cruz Smith, and David Balducci. And, of course, I got a lot of books from the other Harlequin and Silhouette authors.

I've been going to BEA off and on for years. And I've watched it change. Years ago, they used to discourage publishers from having book signings at their booths. Now it's part of the fun and advertised in the BEA directory everyone gets at registration.

I also brought back about fifteen different kinds of cloth bookbags to give to friends.

There was a huge cafeteria in the basement with various companies selling food. We got lunch at a Greek stand, and the food was surprisingly good. And upstairs at the sides of the exhibit floor, you could get drinks and ice cream.

For lunch on Friday, we went out to a German/Austrian restaurant with my Harlequin Intrigue editor and her assistant. It was fun getting together with them and a nice relaxing interlude in the middle of the BEA madness.