Things have finally quieted down enough over here for me to post this blog entry that I've been meaning to do for a while. In summary, last week I went to BookExpo America in New York City, which is the largest publishing industry event in the country (and sort of like E3 for video games....but for book stuff). It was kind of awesome. First of all, Penguin booked me on Virgin America, which is the best airline ever because the lights in the plane are neon fuchsia and every VA pilot I've ever had is sarcastic and witty. Also, they have a lot of very cute male flight attendants. And NYC had an unusual number of extremely attractive soldier boys wandering around the city (in all colors of uniform, including the all white head-to-toe, which I have no idea where it belongs but I think belongs in the Navy somewhere, and the dark navy uniforms, and the navy tops + tan bottoms uniforms, etc). Can't help ogling our military boys. I'm getting off topic...where was I?....

So I met a ton of very cool authors, got lost several times on the BEA expo floor, hunted down whatever person was dressed up in an Olivia suit so that I could take a picture, and got to do my very first book signing for Legend! Some photos below (rest can be found here [link] ):











The signing itself was all a blur; I was relatively nervous and I have a feeling I might have written the wrong thing on a few of the books I signed. ACK. o_O Then there was a lot of delicious food, and awesome lunches/dinners with my agent, Penguin, and cool authors like Laurie Halse Anderson (SPEAK) and Ally Condie (MATCHED) and Sarah Rees Brennan (THE DEMON's LEXICON). And me getting lost in New York. I got lost a lot in general while I was there, but it's all good. It amazed me just how MANY books are also coming out in November of this year. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised by this, but to see it is a whole other thing. I felt so extremely privileged to be there with all the enthusiastic folks from Penguin, and at the same time I also felt very small against a tidal wave of books. Just have to keep my fingers crossed that people will remember Legend by the time November 29 rolls around!

Then I got back from BEA, and the first thing I see is an article in the Hollywood Reporter that CBS Films has chosen the screenwriters for Legend: "CBS Films Taps Writers to Adapt 'Legend' Novel" [link] . I also get an amazing review of Legend from book blogger Precious: [link] , and Kirkus Reviews selects Legend as one of the Top 26 Books at BEA: [link] . WHOA....WHAT!

I still can't quite believe that this all might actually be a possibility, and some days (like today) I wake up and expect it all to be explained away with some explanation (i.e. You were dreaming for a really LONG time, actually we think you may have been comatose for about 9 months). But it's still here, and I'm starting to think Legend might actually be real. Or something. Sort of.

By the way, if you'd like to win a free advance copy of Legend, there are a few contests going on:

1) Penguin is still running their giveaway of 2 Legend copies at Goodreads (open only to U.S. residents): [link]

2) Another U.S.-only contest is going on here at BookFaery: [link]

3) But fear not, international residents! Fragments of Life blog is running a contest that's open for international residents: [link]

Also, I'll be giving away a copy very soon too. So check back here, as my next journal entry will probably be that contest.

And if you are feeling particularly generous, remember you can now pre-order Legend on IndieBound [link] , Barnes & Noble [link] , and Amazon [link] ! I think that's it for now. Ciao!