It began with the drive down freeway. Most people would have been worried about parking, but I wasn't worried because I had these . . .
Yes! Coveted valet parking passes to the LOS ANGELES TIME FESTIVAL OF BOOKS!!!!
This is the second year it's taken place at my alma mater, the University of Southern California . . .
I had five book signings over two days.
Before our (meaning me and my Peep) first one, we met this year's Printz winner, John Corey Whaley author of WHERE THINGS COME BACK . . .
Oh, look! It's D.J. MacHale of PENDRAGON fame . . .
(That's Australian author Tristan Bancks looking on.)
Soon it was time to sign with Dan Santat, illustrator of my BOBBY books, at Once Upon a Time's booth . . .
And look! Priscilla Burris and Brian James were there, too . . .
After, Dan and I wandered around and ran into Betty Birney, who was signing next to uber author John Green . . .
Hey! Hay! Hey! (I spelled one of those words wrong to see if you were paying attention.) What do John, Dan and I have in common?
Here's a hint:
That's right! We are all represented by Jodi Reamer, agent, lawyer, blackbelt. (That's Jodi in the tree.)
Last year, I was on the Target Stage . . .
This year, I was there to cheer on friends. In the Green Room (that's what they call backstage, even though it isn't green), we ran into Tom Angleberger and his publicist Jason Wells arguing over how to cut the paper to make Origami Yodas . . .
Then, who should wander in, but NERDs author Michael Buckley. Sadly, he misbehaved, too . . .
I will add though, that Michael was very nice to Fatima Ptacek, who voices Dora the Explorer! (She was a HUGE fan of his.)
Peepy was still a bit shaken, not knowing if Michael was serious or not, but luckily James Burks was there to console her. Later, Ken Min (left) and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy creator Bob Boyle (right) joined us to watch James onstage . . .
Later, Dan and I also signed at the Diesel/Scholastic booth . . .
While we were there, we contributed to an ongoing story for 826LA, a non-profit writing and tutoring center . . .
Then Peepy and I headed over to the USC Civic Engagement booth. It was near the YA Stage . . .
USC Civic Engagement partners with residents and civic leaders and initiates programs like this year's book drive which brought in over 8,260 books to be distributed among local schools.
Dozens of my books were given out for free to kids attending the book fest . . .
What a wonderful day! Stay tuned for the next blog, where we meet more famous authors at the LA TIMES Festival of Books, including this year's Newbery winner.
Um. That's not the Newbery winner, above. That's Peepy's new friend.
===========================
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.
Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.
Upcoming Events . . .
LitFest Pasadena, May 12
10:30 – 11:20 -- Youth Knows No Bounds: Breaking the Cliques and Clichés of Young Adult Literature
with Cecil Castellucci, Ron Koertge, Blake Nelson, and Lisa Yee
Moderated by Sherri L. Smith
Lisa Yee
 |
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you! |
| Or you can click this for a RSS feed...  |
