On to LA!

Tomorrow I'm off to Los Angeles for BookExpo America, where as usual I'll be representing the Virginia Festival of the Book and promoting my workshops & consulting services. (Learn how to apply for VaBook 2009 here; deadline for authors is October 1.)

Darling Husband and I are having a 4-hour SoCal beach vacation on Wednesday afternoon. Alas, the forecast is for a high of 70F (June Gloom, hmpf!), so we'll pretend we're back in Maine, just facing the opposite direction.

BEA officially starts on Friday, but there are terrific educational programs the day before. I'll be attending:

1. Media Matters sessions with Southern California TV producers, radio producers and magazine editors, led by publicist extraordinaire Kim-from-LA
2. Strategies for New Publicity Opportunities in an Expanding Media Universe
3. The Author-preneur: Balancing Authorship and the New Business of Brand-building

On Friday afternoon, there are 4 programs (2 at the same time, GAH!) that I want to see. Then I'm starting off the evening with an Authors Guild reception, followed by three more cocktail/munchie/dessert parties. To keep up my stamina, I plan to ingest lotsa B vitamins and fizzy water (and maybe a cocktail or two).

On Saturday, after a full day at the show, I'm only (!) going to 2 receptions, then dinner and the Lewis Black show at the Orpheum with DH.

On Sunday, I'm going to the 8:00am Book & Author Breakfast, moderated by John Hodgman, with Ted Turner, Azar Nafisi and Dennis Lehane. (I think I'll be drinking lotsa coffee.)

On Monday, I plan to collapse at home.