Book Expo America - Day Two - Post 2.3

I opted to go stand in line, getting my nails dirty just so I could get a signed copy of the new book by Red Green. Cam always loved that show. While I found some things funny, I found I mostly scratched my head at the show, much like I did reading The Farside comic strip. Anyway, I got in line…for him…to show him how much he means to me. Plus I really love giving surprises as much as I love getting them….well, good surprises. I mean, if someone said “We’re going to nail your foot to the floor. Surprise!” I would not be down with that. Dimsdale? He was really nice, chatted with everyone and pretty much got his picture taken with everyone. While I did take his picture for posterity’s sake, I did not in fact get my picture taken with him. I hate being photographed. Anyway, I was really happy I could pick up the book.

From there, I got in line for Ellen Datlow. She was signing an anthology called Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells. I was about a half hour early, but I didn’t want to miss it. Most people were in line for Tandem by Anna Jarzab (Booth) and Cassandra Clare (Table). Since I was fairly close to the beginning of the line for Ellen Datlow, I wasn’t on line all that long. Which was good because I had things to do, places to go and people to see. None of which were any one of the celebrities in house. The place was lousy with celebrities. You couldn’t spit without hitting one.

 I wanted to get to Sourcebooks for the signing of a book called Scorched by Mari Mancusi. There are dragons in the book. I figured the signing was at 3pm and Chronicle Books is really close by where Grumpy Cat was holding court at the same time. I figured I could pop over from one booth to the other with no problem. As I made my way over to Sourcebooks, I saw a line at Hatchette. The line seemed to go on for quite some length. When I asked what the line was for, I was told it was for Jan Brett. I got a book signed by her a long time ago when I was still working in retail books sales. I love her artwork and this one was called Cinders, but I had a date with Destiny and it looks like she ordered the fish.

The Sourcebooks signing was uneventful. While I was standing there, though, I noticed there was a book signing across the way at Algonquin books. One of the books looked like a galley I was trying to find, The Clockwork Scarab. So, I was going to get in line, but I decided to take a quick run down to Chronicle books and take a quick picture of Grumpy Cat.

Let me preface by saying there were a lot of celebrities: Jessica Lange, Debra Messing, Julianne Moore, Jim Carey, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Buzz Aldrin. I heard someone question whether the Beiber was there, as there was a Beiber bus or something as equally silly outside. I know there were more, but I just can’t think off the top of my head. The reason I bring all this up is that these were some of the most horrific lines in the whole show. However, these lines were nothing in comparison to the magnetic pull of Grumpy Cat.

The power of Grumpy Cat compels you! The power of Grumpy Cat compels you! I was compelled…until I saw how freaking long the line was to take a picture of a cat and she’s a wee bitsy one at that. Well, it’s not like she was going to autograph anything. Might have been able to get a paw print, but I decided to just take a quick picture of her and I was chastised by the Feline Security. They were basically standing about telling people they needed to move along and couldn’t block the aisle. When the man saw me trying to take a picture, he told me I had to get in line even to take a picture. Okay, I’m game. Walked out of the booth and turned left, then turned left and then completely lost site of the line. No. Freaking. Way.