BEA Day 3: Why Are Those Girls from Brave Dressed as Ninjas?

I was pretty much over BEA when I left the Javits Center on Thursday.  I'd already shipped a box of books home and had no desire to ship anymore or try to carry them on the plane.  But Octavia Spencer was going to be signing her new book on Friday and I didn't want to miss her, especially after I saw that she'd favorited one of my tweets.

 Yes, people.  Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer is also author Octavia Spencer.  Her first foray into the world of writing is a series aimed at the middle school crowd, Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit.  I hadn't seen the book cover before receiving my copy, so when I saw a bunch of short women wearing red wigs, I kept wondering, "Why is that little girl from Brave dressed in all black?"  I've not seen Brave and I can't tell you what the girl wore in it, but it wasn't until I realized all of the actresses were wearing ninja outfits that it dawned on me.  They were supposed to be Randi Rhodes!

Unlike the other authors that I met at BEA who took time to talk to readers, Ms. Spencer really didn't have time for that.  Her signing started at 11 a.m. and when I got on line at 10:40, I was number 41 and the line quickly got longer.  With just an hour to sign, there was no way she could stop and chit chat with everyone that came through or personalize each book.  She did smile and ask how I was though.  I've seen her promoting Sensa in her tweets and I could definitely tell that she'd lost weight, so you know, got get your Sensa on if you feel the need.

Since I was back at the Javits that day, I went to check out another author whose publicist had reached out to me about her book before the conference.  Her website described her as Chelsea Handler-like, and while I liked one of Chelsea's books, I don't care for her overall, so I was hesitant about picking up On My Knees by Periel Aschenbrand.  I was expecting an obnoxious, abrasive, loud and opinionated woman, but Periel was sooooo nice...and hot.  No, really. One of the first things she said to me was that she was hot, then she pushed back from the table and I could see why.  She was pregnant, very pregnant.  We commiserated about summer pregnancies and other things.

Once I escaped the Javits, it was only appropriate that I get my tourist on.  We hopped on one of the 'Hop On, Hop Off" buses and headed uptown...where we ate...Popeye's.  I swear we did.  Yes, we have Popeye's right here in St. Louis, so don't ask me why I was all excited to be eating at one in Harlem like the chicken was going to be more authentic or something.  I was impressed by their fancy new soda machine and their five wing meal deal, since we only get three wings here and pay just $ 1 less than they do.

A few of the books I picked up

So yeah, we tried to do tourist stuff, but that didn't work out so well.  We had a great dinner at Ruby Foo's that night and I finally got to meet @kevinrfree and he is <Oprah voice> fabuloussssssss.  Kevin is an actor who also narrates audio books.  I'm really fascinated by the whole audio book process so I peppered him with questions until the other dinner guests started giving me the, "girl, would you shut the hell up" look.  Kevin has agreed to let me interview him in the near future for the blog, so if you have questions you'd like him to answer, be sure to send them my way.

More books

I can't say for sure if I'll do BEA again next year.  For the amount of money I spent on registration, plane tickets, hotel and meals (not to mention cabs), I don't know if it was worth it for the 20 or so books I came home with.  I'll have to see how I feel about it next year.

BEA Day 2: African American Authors are NOT a Genre!

I can't count how many times I've ranted about how publishing lumps African-American writers and books together regardless of their actual genre and lo and behold, BEA turned around and did the same thing.  If you look at the picture I posted, you'll see a section in the program highlighting the autographing area and types of books available for signing.  It includes genres like romance, self-help, cooking...and African-American authors.  <sigh> What in the entire hell???  After the sessions the day before, I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.  Silly me.

Any who, BEA created an iPhone app that I'd downloaded before arriving.  I'd already plotted out which authors I wanted to meet, what books I wanted to pick up, etc.  What I didn't account for was that a lot of books weren't mentioned in the pre-convention information.  It wasn't until stopping at some publisher's booths that I saw unlisted titles available.  Publisher's Weekly also published a daily magazine that highlighted books and authors making appearances that I otherwise would not have known about.  One of the unexpected surprises that I picked up was the new Terry McMillan books, Who Asked You?, due out in September.  I tore through it on the plane back home and I'm giving it four purple chairs.

Amy Hatvany signing for a fan.

One of the biggest highlights of my day was meeting author Amy Hatvany (Heart Like Mine).  I've read all of Amy's books and I love her work.  Imagine my surprise when she looked at my name tag and immediately recognized me!  I was speechless (remember, I stan for authors, not musicians), but managed to utter something intelligible and smile.  Even though I've already read Heart Like Mine, I had Amy autograph a new copy that I'll be giving away at a later date.

I see brown people!

Now back to that African-American authors "genre," I searched high and low for it, but alas, it was nowhere to be found. Stanley Crouch, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Ishmael Beah and Octavia Spencer were all scheduled to speak and/or sign autographs, but guess what? They all write in different genres!  Stanley's book was about jazz musician Charlie Parker, Kareem's was a semi-biographical book about basketball, and Octavia's book is about a girl detective.  But BEA just lumped them all together as one genre.  What I did find was a small group of black romance authors who write for Harlequin's Kimani division doing a signing.  It was also where I got to meet @femme40, who has been in the publishing game for years.  In talking to her and some others that stopped by to greet her, I found out that there's a separate event called Black Pack where the brown people at BEA get together for a mini reunion.  I had tickets to a play that night, otherwise I definitely would have been there to get the inside scoop on what goes on in the vanilla halls of publishing.

I was honored to be in the presence of greatness Thursday night as I sat in the Stephen Sondheim theater and witnessed the queen mother do her thing.  Cicely Tyson was in the house, ladies and gentlemen, and she put on a show!  At 88, Ms. Tyson is still a force to be reckoned with.  As Carrie Watts, she's an elderly woman who lives with her spineless son Lutie, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., and her strong willed daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae, played by the gorgeous and talented Vanessa Williams.

Lutie has just gotten back on his feet after being sick for awhile and he and Jessie Mae depend on Carrie's pension checks to keep them afloat in Houston.  But Carrie wants to return to her hometown of Bountiful to feel the dirt and see the sights and be around those that she loves.  She's promised Lutie she won't run away to Bountiful again as she has in the past, but promises are made to be broken. Along the way, Carrie meets Thelma, played by Condola Rashad, daughter of Phylicia and Ahmad Rashad, who attempts to help her find her way to Bountiful, and the sheriff, played by Tom Wopat of Dukes of Hazzard fame.  This was a beautiful production and if I had the time, I would have seen it again.

Friday: BEA Day 3: Why Are Those Girls from Brave Dressed as Ninjas?

I'm at BEA & You're Not

That was so rude of me, wasn't it?  To make it up to you, I've dedicated a page just to live streaming the conference so you can feel like you're there.  Not sure of what BEA stands for or what it is?  Check out this post, then follow along here or by clicking on the BEA 2013 Live Stream tab at the top of the page. 

That's still not enough?  Okay, the lists of authors I want to see and books I want to nab are pretty short, so if you click on the links below and find author autographs or books that you want, let me know and I'll make every effort to grab them for you.  Limit your requests to no more than two books and one autograph.

Authors at BEA

Books at BEA

I'll try to post on the blog, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have for that.  I'll definitely be live tweeting my time at BEA and in New York, in general, so be sure to follow me on Twitter (@Reads4Pleasure) for updates.