Susane Colasanti - Journal

Attention readers! This is the last week to enter my Floor Display Contest. You have until 11:11 p.m. on Friday, June 5 to email me your photo with my books. The three most creative photos will win. Here's how to enter.

It's been a very exciting time here in New York. BEA was all weekend and right before that was the NYC Teen Author Carnival. I am just so proud of the Carnival's organizers for putting such a major event together (and so quickly!). So the most important photo to start with is one of Mitali, Genevieve, and Adam, three of the incredible visionaries who created this event:



I ran into these friendly neighbors in Meg Cabot's line at BEA. Additional shout-outs to Nisha and the FiveAwesomeYAFans who made such a fun time possible. Yes, you guys are made of awesome!

It's always nice to see my friend, Elizabeth Scott:



Can you believe that she'll have like 12 books out by the end of next year?! I know, she's on fire.

Barry Lyga totally crashed the party:



But that's okay, because we like Barry. Here we are identifying each other, as we often do.

David Levithan and Holly Black were in the house:



It was so great to finally meet Holly! And I cannot be more impressed with David's new book, Love Is the Higher Law. It's about 9.11. I've been thinking about writing a book taking place on 9.11, but I'm happy that he was the one to do this. David: no fear. Me: in awe.

Scholastic was representing:



Here we have Michael Northrop, Aimee Friedman, and Coe Booth. Three of the funnest authors ever! With balloons! Games night with these neighbors would be some seriously fun times.

I'm looking forward to more fantastic times with my teen and author people. You guys all rock.

Okay, I was planning to do a journal entry with both BEA and NYC Teen Author Carnival highlights, but I have way too much for Show and Tell. So I'm sharing all of my BEA stuff today and I'll do the Carnival journal entry next time.

BEA was freaking awesome! Before heading over, I had lunch with a mystery guest:



Oh, you thought that shadow effect was a mistake? Heck no, it was intentional. I like to build up suspense. My mystery guest will be revealed later. Do you want a hint? I'll give you three: We are both diner people, we both love The Office, and we're both Penguin authors. Hmmm...

Here's someone you definitely know:


It was my first time seeing Meg Cabot! Her signing line for the latest Allie Finkle galleys was crazylong. We did not care. It's so exciting when you see someone you feel like you already know from online and then there they are, all live and in person. I always get overwhelmed. Especially since Meg is the queen of this scene, what with her zillion books and super fun blog, which I always love reading. Awesomeness ensued.



This girl had a balloon animal hat, so of course I was like, "Where'd you get that?" I love balloon animals! Or any balloons, really. Can you imagine how thrilled I was that the Guinness Book World Record holder for Fastest Balloon Dog was there? No, you cannot. He is John Cassidy. He was making balloon animals (above, he is making a tree for a monkey). He went, "I'll make you anything you want." I was freaking out, all like, "Anything? Anything?!" The options were infinite! I didn't know what to pick. I went with two penguins. Then I brought them over to the Penguin booth to share the love. John also gave me a huge giraffe because I love giraffes.

I knew exactly who would appreciate the giraffe as much as I do:



Ambassador Jon Scieszka! Jon was signing posters for his new book, Robot Zot. I'm so proud of Jon for writing such magnificent children's books and inspiring more boys to read with his Guys Read initiative. There he goes, making the world a better place. Rock on, Jon.

So did you guess who my mystery guest was?



Yes, that's totally Sarah Dessen! You should know that Sarah is every bit as sweet as you think she is. That's why her books all have such a beautiful, timeless quality. You might have seen a pic of Sarah's new touring shoes on her blog. They are some serious pink, glossy wedges. I'm five-eight and she was about my height in them. It takes big talent to rock shoes like that (I'd fall flat on my face in them), so I give her props. And more props for the paperback edition of Lock and Key being her first number-one New York Times bestseller! She is pure inspiration. Here's to the magic of possibility.

So here's how they fit about 40 authors into the Biggest Teen Book Author Signing Ever yesterday at Books of Wonder. We were divided into three groups for signings. I was in the first group for 40 minutes and then I got to mingle with readers. I was seriously stoked to meet everyone.

These girls rocked the house:



I got to sign jeans! Heck yeah! This was such an excellent idea that I was kind of bummed I didn't think of it myself. My artistic skills were psyched to be used for something other than scrapbooking.

Hayley wanted me to sign her dictionary:



Her directions were to pick my favorite word, mark it, and sign. Another totally brill idea! I was like, "You know which word I'm going to pick," and she went, "Love has already been taken," and I was all, "Dang it!" So I picked peace, another quality word.

Renee was there!



She's the winner of the Waiting for You contest where I asked you guys to write part of a key scene for the book. She had the most adorable idea. I hope she likes what I did with it.

Fellow Degrassi fan Jeremy was rocking this shirt:



We were both hardcore fans of the old Degrassi. He's even been to Degrassi Street, but when I visited Toronto that street was pretty far from the main city area (same with the school they film in), so I didn't go. I asked the concierge if the Dot was a real place and was sort of laughed at. You can see half of Mitali on the left. She professionally documented the entire event, so I'm looking forward to her pics and comments.

Then I got all fangurl on Blake Nelson. I love love love his books. If you haven't read any Blake Nelson yet, I recommend starting with Girl. You will be hungry for more. We've met before and he knew who I was, so he already knows I'm a serious fan (although I'm sure I still managed to scare him with my intensity). Here's an action shot of me talking to Blake (blurry from all the action!):



Yeah, we stand around having conversations and such. We're tight like that. Sometimes we even go dancing:


I heard a rumor that we're doing this huge signing again next year, so if I didn't have a chance to see you I hope you can make it then!

The following takes place between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Events occur in real time.

10:23 p.m. Receive call from SP. Upload the coordinates of his location to my PDA. He has a visual on Kiefer Sutherland. Must hurry before Kiefer leaves.

I have been waiting to meet Kiefer to give him a copy of Take Me There with the 24 roof scene marked. And because he rocks my world. Now is my chance.

10:25 p.m. Realize I look hideous. Have been in John Mayer T-shirt and pajama bottoms all day, working.

10:26 p.m. Throw on sweater and jeans. Try to appear presentable. Hair revolts.

10:32 p.m. En route to location. No need to send a chopper.

10:39 p.m. Arrive at location. Checked for weapons and ID at door.

10:41 p.m. CTU conference with SP. I will give Kiefer the book. He will be ready for documentation.

10:43 p.m. Kiefer is outside smoking. Executive decision to wait until he is back within perimeter.

10:48 p.m. Kiefer is a very friendly neighbor. He's also an actual neighbor of mine. Accepts the book. Is awesome.

10:50 p.m.



10:59 p.m. Reflect on brilliance of unplanned reverse color coordination.

Copy that.

Jeremy Piven and I go way back. We're so tight that I just call him Jeremy P. Here we are on Halloween:


I've had love for Jeremy since way back in the day. He was hilarious in Say Anything. I loved him in The Family Man and Serendipity. I always wondered when he'd finally score the golden role and be noticed more. Then came Entourage with Ari Gold. That's called karma.

After his stellar performance in Speed-the-Plow (love David Mamet's dialogue), I showed Jeremy a photo of the two of us taken four years ago after his stellar performance in Fat Pig (love Neil LaBute's twisted world). That was a way different experience, because four years ago it was just me and a few other hard-core fans waiting for Jeremy after the play. This time around involved strategic placement and strong determination to stand out among the throngs of Jeremy P. fans. Jeremy was impressed by the photo. This one girl waiting was all like how Jeremy is her secret boyfriend. I was like, Step back, g. Where were you four years ago?



Raul Esparza and Elisabeth Moss were also excellent. Their best interchange:

"I hope - "
"We all hope. It's what keeps us alive."

Viking Children's Books 75th Anniversary Party was fan-freaking-tabulous!  Here I am with Ambassador Jon Scieszka.  I was going to bring him a crown, but I felt like everyone probably does that and I didn't want to be a lame copier.  But according to Jon, everyone does not do that.  So I got you next time, Jon!

Any event where I get to speak with Laurie Halse Anderson (halseanderson) is a magical time for me.  She has been such an amazing source of inspiration and is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I know.  I wish that her books would have been available when I was a teen, but I'm happy that she is saving so many kids in countless ways now.



So many friendly neighbors were in the house, there was just not enough time to visit with everyone.  My incredible editor, Anne Gunton, was awesome about taking care of me, even in her very pregnant state.  Impressive!  I am extra lucky to not only have a wonderful editor, but also to have the best publisher a girl could ask for, and that's Regina Hayes.  Regina will be my editor while Anne is on maternity leave starting next month.