American Expo of Books...

Dash Shaw, graphic novelist of Bottomless Belly Button fame He was kind of quiet, seemed a little unsure when I mentioned his "twisted" mind, but asked where I was from and mentioned he was in Brooklyn. I replied that made sense to be in the hotbed of writers.


At the end of the day, I got the ARC of Blood's a Rover. Ellroy was telling everyone to read it and find him on Facebook. He signed mine to redheads and libraries ( I remember that his mother, who was murdered, was a redhead).


On of the two books I really wanted my hands on Friday was The 27s: The greatest myth of Rock & Roll. Eric and Josh put together a book of photos, text, illustrations. I read the Robert Johnson part on the train and loved the graphic quality. This photo was them laughing when I told them to strike a rock pose for the photo.


I was glad to meet Klosterman, he was not a hugely friendly guy- even when I tried to butter him up about being a 'bit of ginger'. Got his new book Downtown Owl


On the left, Dacre Bram Stoker, Ian Holt-- Dracula the Undead is the Stoker family supported sequel to Dracula. Very cool guys, discussed the misspelling of Dacre as "Darce". Long line, my first of the day, but really happy to have my hands on that sucker.

My overall impression--
Maybe it was my late - near 11 AM arrival to BEA, thanks to a very slow train from Jersey- but it was not what I expected.

I'm used to comicons, where even during the professional hours of librarians and industry people-- you still see evidence of fandom. More casual dress, more discussion in booths and across tables.

Arriving with librarian Ty, who scored a press pass, I first saw many suits walking. And corporatized booths with big logos on large white banners. The huge exhibit floor (thousands of vendors) found me walking down whole aisles barely stopping. Maybe because I didn't have a meeting at one of the hundreds of little tables where deals and convo's were happening. I was just a librarian, looking for new titles and hoping to get some free books and meet authors.

I never got to a single uptown or downtown stage session, because every time I wanted to run through the exhibits from the downstairs autograph area--- hidden way at the back through the entire children's publishing area- it was quite a haul.

At the end of the day, I just went line to line and got a few books I really wanted-- and a few I knew nothing about. Those moments with the authors (Chuck Klosterman, Ian Holt/Dacre Stoker, Dash Shaw, James Ellroy) were the best of the day.

I mailed 15 pounds of books home that should arrive by sometime next week.

I took a few photos with authors (and seemed to be one of the few people requesting photos). Again, different than my comicon escapades, I took very few photos.

Reading the #BEA09 tweets has been interesting. "Twitter will not save publishing" was a quote going around.

UPDATE 6/:
There are some graphic novel references in these BEA articles-- Stitches was the hottest GN at the show- not just GN but overall hot-

BEA tweets

Publishers Weekly rundown

New York Times

New York Magazine

PW The Beat

my first BookExpo

Why a smaller BookExpo might be a better BookExpo
There has been a lot of publishing and librarian talk about the 'smaller' BEA, with less publishers, professionals, librarians (down 25%). But just as our friends bring us NY Comicon at Javits...the floor plan is still overwhelming, with thousands of exhibitors and hundreds of authors. Going only a single day, I think that I will be more than satisfied for my $55 fee.

I only wish my library system would have given me the day off and/or paid my way. But this way it's my time, no memos, evaluations and overall county paperwork to 'justify' why the hell a librarian might actually find value in the BEA.

Pouring through the 15 pages of authors autographing on Friday alone is enough. I'll be twittering and taking photos I'll post later.

On the GN front: James Strum "Adventures in Cartooning", Kim Deitch, Dash Shaw will be there...Robert Kirkman is supposed to be in the Diamond Booth, with Becky Cloonan.

Darce Bram Stoker, Karin Slaughter, Heather Graham, Lee Child, Julianne Moore (Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully), Chuck Klosterman.

Come with me if you want to live.

The last two films I've seen in the theater:
Star Trek and Terminator Salvation, both had Anton Yelsin.

He doubled his geek cred by being Chekov in Star Trek, and a teen Kyle Reese (John Connor's father) in Terminator Salvation.

Chats about Chekov

Playing Kyle Reese

current reads

Helped the children's librarian with a May graphic novel order.
Some of the titles we ordered:

The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
by Emmanuel Guibert, Frederic Lemercier
This graphic novel/photo-journal is a record of one reporter’s arduous and dangerous journey through Afghanistan, accompanying the Doctors Without Borders. Didier Lefevre’s photography, paired with the art of Emmanuel Guibert, tells the powerful story of a mission undertaken by men and women dedicated to mending the wounds of war.

Cirque du Freak, Volume 1 by Darren Shan
Darren Shan was an average kid until destiny brought him to the Cirque Du Freak. Now Darren's been immersed into a shadowy world inhabited by vampires, werewolves and strange creatures the likes of which he's never imagined, and his life will be changed forever!

The midnight sun (Twilight Zone series)
by Rod Serling, Mark Kneece, Anthony Spay (Illustrator)In a time not unlike our own, two women are among the last people left behind in New York City, struggling to survive as the thermometer reaches an unbearable 140°
Plus, graphic adaptations of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, Wonderland, Fahrenheit 451- and superheroes in Wolverine: Weapon X, All Star Batman, Superman/Batman, Green Lantern...

Elizabeth Bennet!

Flu has made me a sleepy, congested, achy girl all week. Finally feeling a little better but still tired.

Anyway, every time I think of Pride and Prejudice I assume a fake British accent like the classic Colin Firth Mr. Darcy series...I exclaim to myself "Elizabeth Bennet!" "Mr. Darcy!".
So I took a chance on the Pride and Prejudice Marvel comic. While the cover "modernizes" the story with fake tabloidesque quotes like "Bingleys bring bling to britain" and "who is Mr. Darcy"-- the interior story sticks right to the story line Jane wrote.

COVER BY: Dennis Calero
WRITER: Nancy Hajeski

Both the writer and the artist are new to me, and I liked the fun of the sisters facial expressions, the colors of a ball Darcy's floppy hair. Issue 2 was just on sale. Give it to your non-comic but classic reader friends!

It's a sell out for P&P

star trek. note a has a takai signed shirt.

TeeVee stuff

Should we save the Sarah Conner Chronicles?
SCC fans are being asked to take photos of themselves posing with products that sponsor the show and posting them on a Flickr group.

Firefly/Serenity friend Wash (Alan Tudyk) starred in Dollhouse: Briar Rose.
So now we know Alpha's face , but we're still missing a lot. We don't know his motivation or his connection with Alpha

A Daniel Farraday centric Lost: The Variable
(personally, I enjoyed the answers and ideas, until the end scene with the Others)
If the incident never occurs, then the Swan is never encased in concrete. No one ever has to push the button to contain the energy. That means Desmond will never forget to push the button. Flight 815 will never crash. Widmore will never send his freighter. Dan will never go back to the island and he'll live. How was Dan going to stop the incident before Mum shot him? Nuke the whole island with Jughead.

I don't hear much buzz about Harper's Island, but I am watching it, just one ep behind. Moving to Saturday night.

Also, don't forget Dave's excellent Free Comic Book Month promo.

Stardate

This Friday is the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie, and I'll be there in Imax. By no means am I a trekkie, although I was an avid Next Generation fan. So I thought reading the ST Countdown trade would help me reestablish the characters (Spock, Data, Picard) and introduce new ones (Nero). Not quite finished yet so no review, but the interior art is nice and the covers and photo images work too.

Star Trek: Countdown TPB