Book Expo America!

I'm home at last from Book Expo! I caught a cold, probably from shaking so many hands, lol, but I had an amazing time! And the best part is, I'm going to be doing it all again next year, in LA!

I'll post pictures later, when I have the energy to upload them, but I wanted to post a little about the trip while I'm thinking about it. Probably the best story is about James Howe, who wrote Bunnicula (I loved those books as a kid, and still love them!). When I saw that his name was on Candlewick's guest list for the big dinner that ABC (the organization I was working for) organized, I was thrilled to death. At the actual dinner when I was checking people in, he arrived with his partner and gave me their names, and it was all I could do to not gush all over him. Then, the next day, he came to our booth at the Expo to do a signing of his new book, Houndsley and Catina, which won ABC's E.B. White Read-Aloud Award this year. I got to actually have a conversation with him, and got him to sign my book, and everything! It was great!! But here's the best part: his editor, this really friendly woman from Candlewick, was there too, and she gave me her card, told me to come by Candlewick for a tour/lunch, and then proceeded to tell us an amazing James Howe anecdote. His last book was illustrated by someone whose last name was Cute, and he was really pleased that the spine of the book then said "Howe / Cute." The current book was illustrated by Marie Louise Gay, and when he found out that she had accepted the manuscript, part of his excitement was that the spine of this book would say "Howe / Gay". I love him even more than I did before, hahaha!