BEA book signing today and flash giveaway of 5 copies of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 ends tonight!

Two quick things: I'm off to Book Expo America (BEA) at McCormick Place in Chicago and if you'll be there, come get a signed copy of Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 1 from 2:30-3 pm in the autographing area, Table 9.



I'll be Instagramming my favorite book finds too (rachelkramerbussel) because for me, BEA is really about being surrounded by fellow book lovers, absorbing all the new books and excitement over books and exulting in stuffing my tote bags full of gifts for myself and others. It's a wonderful celebration and place to learn about this industry and I intend to take full advantage of it.

If you can't make it (or even if you can!), I'm doing a giveaway of 5 copies of Best Women's Erotica of the Year on my Facebook page (open to all, your choice of print, ebook or audiobook). Ends tonight at 11:59 pm EST so enter fast!



And bonus news: the wonderful Rose Caraway, my very favorite narrator, who narrated the audiobook and contributed to it, has shared her hot, wild story "The Carnalarium" on her podcast The Kiss Me Quick's. Listen and enjoy!

Free erotica books (Gotta Have It) at BEA tomorrow; new jewelry by Objets d'Envy

Crazy busy with a bazillion deadlines, plus tomorrow I'm going to Book Expo America, where I've been going every year since I think 2002, certainly before anyone ever entertained the notion of having me edit (or, uh, write) a book. I love it, though I think my enthusiasm level has dialed down marginally; mostly, I am looking forward to having time to actually read all the amazing books that have come into my possession lately, like the memoirs Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves and My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock and the novel America Pacifica by Anna North and...lots of others. I am excited to pick up a copy of Between Here and Forever by one of my favorite YA authors, Elizabeth Writes, meet with my publicist from Rare Bird Lit and generally stuff as many free books into my bags as I can, and hunt down publicists I pester with emails all year. And maybe someone will be serving cupcakes, or at least little snacks. I so can't wait until I take the first true vacation I've had in longer than I can remember this weekend. Sortof a sad statement that on my own I don't let myself take vacations, but thankfully that is changing and I get to explore Boston with someone who I don't seem to get to see enough of here and who knows it better than I do and is willing to walk all over the place with me (I think).

If you follow me on Twitter you already know how to get free books if you are up for Amazon.com reviewing (next will be Obsessed, which I'll be sending out in early July, stay tuned for giveaways and a NYC book party!). Anyway, tomorrow I will be bringing hundreds of postcards (decluttering for the win!) and if I remember, book buttons (I got them made for Please, Sir and Passion and somehow now have thousands of buttons taking up space in my home). So stop by and say hi and get a copy of Gotta Have It signed.

May 25, 1 pm - 2 pm and 3 pm-4 pm

BOOK EXPO AMERICA - SIGNING FREE COPIES OF GOTTA HAVE IT

You have two chances to get a free signed copy of Gotta Have It: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex, plus free book buttons!

1-2 pm I'll be at the Cleis Press booth, 4625A, and 3-4 pm I'll be in the autographing area (look for me).

Jacob Javits Center, NYC


bookexpoamerica.com

I'm a huge fan of Chicago-based jewelry company Objets d'Envy and my new favorite of theirs is their Demi necklace. I have it in three colors and am a little obsessed. Here's one of them:

At my BEA signing

I think I signed 140 copies of my IPPY Award winning anthology Best Sex Writing 2009 at BEA. It was really fun - thanks to friends like Douglas Wolk and Judy McGuire for stopping by, and to Cecilia Tan for snapping this photo!

someecards.com rocks BEA

Love this and their holiday-themed postcard book is off the hook! Check out their site for more hilarity. See all my 2009 BEA photos in this Flickr set.

Book Expo America: the excitement is building!

(click to enlarge)

Okay, maybe I'm the only one walking around with a printout of the autographing sessions and in-booth signings and a highlighter, but my excitement about Book Expo America, better known as BEA, is building! Oh, and they are now on Twitter.

I am signing FREE copies of Best Sex Writing 2009 on that Friday, 12:30-1:30!

Snapshots from BEA

More of my thoughts on BEA as a whole will have to wait. Oh, but I can say I'm excited for BEA 2011...in Vegas! For now, some photos!

The first people who greeted me after I went and got a press pass (because fiasco 3, after losing my cell phone and missing my plane - oh, and a $75 cab ride to Glendale - was realizing I had forgotten the BEA pass Cleis sent me at home) were these elves:



I like the books that are stacked in a pretty way:



My Cleis Press publicist Kara Wuest and marketing guru Austin Wallace, who not only are fabulous at their jobs but are a lot of fun:



Cory Doctorow signed his YA novel Little Brother for me - this is in my top 5 "books I will read ASAP that I got at BEA."



Kevin Smokler rocked his Booktour.com bowling shirt (yes, it had his name on the front):



I met Laurie Halse Anderson's daughter while waiting in line for Nikki Giovanni to sign Hip Hop Speaks to Children



Covers: (the big celeb covers I saw were the Olsen twins book and the Perez Hilton book)





Celebrity sightings: (also saw Arianna Huffington)

Alec Baldwin



Kevin Nealon



Dionne Warwick signed Say a Little Prayer: (it seems like a lot of celebs write kids' books, as opposed to...ones for adults, or maybe it just skewed that way since I was looking for kids' books for my cousins/friends)





I got Josie Bissett (Beverly Hills,90210) to sign a copy of her book Tickle Monster for my friend Ellen's daughter Clementine:



And I'm psyched for Angry Little Girls in Love by Lela Lee, out in October: (click here to see a larger version if you can't read it)





And, of course, cupcakes! The first book from Crumbs Bakeshop by Mia Bauer comes out from DK in October. It's called Crumbs Bake Shop in a Box and I think it may actually be a kit.



I got the two books I most wanted, but sadly didn't get to meet either author. Of course they're both memoirs by single(ish) moms:



Accidentally on Purpose: A One-Night Stand, My Unplanned Pregnancy, and the Best Mistake I Ever Made by Mary F. Pols - read it on the plane yesterday. Full review later, but of course it was moving, though seriously, every memoir I read lately has parental death in it. Gave me a lot of food for thought, about motherhood and about mothering those around us. Also gave me hope that my eggs aren't yet dead at 32 (Pols was 39 when she got pregnant/had her son).



And Trailer Trashed: My Dubious Efforts Toward Upward Mobility by Hollis Gillespie, which was originally to be published by ReganBooks (and I'd been told by an editor there it was to be called Sky Whore).