25 June 2012

ALA Recap Day 1: Entering the Fray

Guuuyyss! Hey there! :) I've only been gone from the blog for about a couple of days, but it feels like it's been FOREVER since I touched a computer. (Two days is a VERY long time for someone who's a computer freak like me.)

If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know I've been at ALA this entire weekend! :D I also met some great bloggers, got AMAZING titles (which I cannot stop thanking the wonderful publicists for!), tortured my shoulders for two days nonstop, and just in all, had a REALLY great time. :) ♥

Prepare yourself for a long(ish) post ahead! O-O 
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 Day 1 (AKA June 23, 2012, the MOST overwhelming day EVAR)

IN THE BEGINNING...

Okay, well, as any ALA day would begin, I woke up freakishly early to get ready and drive to ALA with dear old father and cousin Kevin.

Oh joy! Time to pay the twelve dollar parking fee!
 We got there about half an hour early before the exhibit hall opened, which was great because we went to go get our badges and prepare to enter the fray!

9:00 AM arrived and we all were just wandering aimlessly around the publisher's booth until it was time for Marie Lu's signing (which is the author of Legend, that super kick butt book that EVERYONE needs to read).


LURKING ABOUT AND WHAT NOT

I was walking around and snagging a copy here and there, and there it was: HARLEQUIN. I've got mad love for this publisher, and at that time, I was feeling pretty ballsy and not like an awkward turtle. So what did I do?

I talked to the publicist! (LE GASP.)

Me in BALLSY mode.
She was like so freaking friendly. I never got the chance to ask her for her name, but she had some AWESOME recommendations, which she was so kind enough to let me have a copy of:

 The Goddess Test (E to the friggin' EEP) and an ARC of Speechless by Hannah Harrington. (She also wrote Saving June, which I have not read but is supposedly one of those emotional reads.)

Awesome publicist lady pointing with to awesome reads.

Dad, Kevin, and I wandered about for another 10-15 minutes. I do remember getting an ARC of What's Left of Me (the galleys were gone FAST) at HarperCollins.

10-15 minutes passed and it was time. What did I do? I went to my FIRST signing ever. No, like seriously, this was my first author signing. (ALA is my first book event, YAY!)

MARIE FREAKIN' LU TIME.

Gah, I don't even remember how early I got to the signing (which started at 10 AM) but this, my friends, is where I meet... KRISTIN! Dude, Kristin is like awesome and everything on Twitter so NATURALLY, I was like shy to approach her.

I eventually did though, and it resulted into a hug and happy smiles and awkward greetings. :D We stood in line for the first signing of the day, and unfortunately, it took longer than usual.

Damn line cutters. Nonetheless, Kristin and I got our books signed! :D We also had to pay for another copy of Legend for $10 in order to get an ARC of Prodigy, which was pretty lameballs for me since I had an e-copy of Legend in the Kindle. :P

Ew, it's me. But YAY! It's Kristin! :D
Yeah, I'd cross my face out too BUT I post this for the sake of Marie Lu. ♥
Oh haiii, Kristin with awesome hair and lovely Penguin books! ;D
After finding Kristin, we decided to become lurking buddies! (Which basically means we wander around, looking and trying to resist awesome titles.) 

Our parents attended Libba Bray's The Diviners signing for us, which was awesome sauce.

Lunch time came, and we parted ways for a bit. I ended up attending Morgan Matson's signing for Second Chance Summer. No pictures for this signing because I was kind of rushing, but Morgan is SUCH a nice person. Ohmygosh. <3 

OTHER SIGNINGS AND MORE LURKING

Random pic: ALA was a tad packed.
 Okay, now my memory is a little fuzzy from this point of the day because I remember that:

A) I was tired as heck already, and it was only a little after noon.
B) The sandwich I ate made my stomach sour, so I had like miniscule sized stomach cramping throughout the entire day.
C) Since I was tired, I was in an incredibly dazed mode, which I just nod and shake my head. I also tend to become much more quiet. 

Now, what I do remember (in no particular order):

A) I got a copy of The Raven Boys! (Dad got TOO lazy to go get it signed, so he just grabbed one. Thanks, Dad, lol. But seriously, thank you Dad! ♥)

Random pic: S&S display. ENSHADOWED!!! ♥
B) Kristin and I acquired more books at different booths, which for the LIFE of me, I cannot remember right now. 
 
(I DO remember the people at Disney's booth were SO amazing. They were super kind, and just plain sweethearts. They gave me and Kristin a stack of each of their titles! <3)

C) I saw the line for Tahereh Mafi's signing. INSANELY LONG I TELL YE. No Unravel Me ARC for me. :P

D) Kristin and I went to go wait about an hour early for Melissa Marr's Carnival of Souls signing. The wait was WORTH IT. We ended up getting a sweeeet shirt, a mask, and of course, an ARC of Carnival of Souls.
 
Me waiting and Kristin getting her copy signed!! :D
 
 
Showing Melissa my name so she could personalize the signing!
 
Talking to Melissa Marr = AWESOME. :D And my cousin Kevin in a mask. XD
After this signing, Kristin was tired and we parted ways until tomorrow! And for me, I had one last signing to go to... THAT'S RIGHT. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

E) After waiting another hour for Throne of Glass's signing, I finally got it signed and I chatted for a bit with Sarah J. Maas! 

:DDD

After that, I headed home. :) It was a very tiring day and I needed to rest up for the next day! (So did my dad. Poor him, he drove back and forth for me for two days straight! GO DAD.)

My book haul of the day:

 It's about 25 books. :)

I'll be doing another recap post of today at ALA on Tuesday, as well as a wrap up post! :) I'm SUPER tired, so I'm heading off to sleep.



20 lovelies:

Gianne said...

Ahh I'm so jealous! I really want to go to ALA!!! Glad you had fun! :D


~Megan

Gianne said...

I didn't get to introduce myself to you, but I THIIIINK I saw you with Kristin when I chatted with her for a second (I think you asked about the Morgan Matson signing, haha). It sounds like you had a fabulous time and it's awesome that this was your first book event -- what a great place to start! I was only there on Saturday so I'll look forward to your upcoming posts on the rest of the event!

Gianne said...

I'm jealous! What a haul of books! I am coveting them so bad! And Marie is my buddy and the loveliest and nicest person! Plus Prodigy is AWESOME!

Gianne said...

WAAAH so much awesomeee :) Sounds like a tiring, fun journey. :) Loved this post, Gianna!!

Gianne said...

aw this seems like such a fun event and I'm glad you had a blast! also you're SO PRETTY!!

Gianne said...

Aww, shmanks! :3 It was supppper fun! <3

Gianne said...

D: Tis a shame! It would have been nice to actually meet you and stuff. XD And only on Saturday? No wonder I didn't see you yesterday on Sunday. :o I hope you had fun!! :)

Gianne said...

XD MARIE Lu is SO freaking nice. <3 <3 <3 So glad I had the chance to meet her! :D And eeeep! I need to read Prodigy soon! XD

Gianne said...

:D It was indeed filled with (energy draining) AWESOMENESS. :D And yaaaay! Shmanks. :D I thought I made it rather long and boring. x-x Lol.

Gianne said...

Ahhhh, Elena! It was suuuuuuper amazing and just awesome. I got to meet a few bloggers, tons of authors, and just in all had an awesome time. :) And thank you!! <3

Gianne said...

That looked like it was so much fun! I'm crossing fingers to see if I could go to ALA or BEA next year! And wow, 25 books!? Lucky!

Gianne said...

It WAS so much fun. <3 <3 I'm very thankful for my daddy for driving me around back and forth for two days! <3 And yes! :D VERY grateful for those wonderful publicists at ALA <3

Gianne said...

I went on Sunday with my librarians and got to attend the YALSA event and talk about the best YA books of 2012. I also met Marie Lu, isn't she the nicest person ever?? Anyway, found your blog after searching twitter's ALA tag. :)
-fellow book enthusiast

Gianne said...

Marie Lu is SUPER nice! <3 :D And oh lucky! :D And woot! Thanks for finding my blog and reading this horribly long post. x-x XD

Gianne said...

I can't wait to read through the rest of your blog! I am currently making a goodreads account, woop.

________________________________
From: Disqus
To: erica2snow@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 10:58 AM
Subject: [bookstoinfinityandbeyond] Re: Books to Infinity and Beyond: ALA Recap Day 1: Entering the Fray



Gianna (Books to Infinity) wrote, in response to Erica:
Marie Lu is SUPER nice! <3 :D And oh lucky! :D And woot! Thanks for finding my blog and reading this horribly long post. x-x XD Link to comment

Gianne said...

Wow! I admit I kind of got confused with the name... I'm an absolute fail when it comes to them, and even more if they're just initials orz Wow, your first signing! Mine was with Simone Elkeles, and it was great since she came here and we were only about 20 people LOL


It seems pretty hectic, but overall like a good experience. So jealous! I think they have this kind of events here in Spain too, but since I don't read in Spanish nor the books published here... Anyways, I'm so happy you got to experience all of that! *---* I'm eagerly waiting for your Showcase Sunday to see which pretties you managed to get :D

Gianne said...

EEEEEEEEEEEEPPPP. <3 <3 I'm soo jealous bb. I've never been to to a signing before either! You're making me so tempted to fly to America sometime and join you for one of these events gahahaha. (Though I honestly would have NO IDEA how that would work. ._.)

SO JEALOUS YOU GOT TO MEET MARIE LU THOUGH! OMG isn't she so flawless? Arghhhh. And the number of books you got. *shakes head* PURE EPICNESS. And bb? YOU LOOKED AWESOME. ;)

Gianne said...

Oh yay! That's awesome to hear! :) Hope you enjoy whatever you read from my blog and Goodreads!

Gianne said...

:P No worries! I was like that too when I first heard of it. I was like ALA---whaaa? XD And dude! Simone Elkeles is an author I definitely need to check out! I've been meaning to do so for the longest time. x-x And 20 people? OH GAWSH. ALA was like 12342658679 people. (JK, but there were a LOT of people.)

It was crazy and awesome and super exhausting! XD Very good experience, it was! (Oh gosh, I'm speaking like Yoda but I'm too edit it XD)

I do however have my book haul in the next post~ ;D

Gianne said...

O-O YOU SHOULD SO SO SO FLY HERE! Then you and I can like fangirl and go do signings and go asdffhgfldhsdf; <3 ;D

MARIE LU is like AMAZING. I love her <333 And thank you! XD

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