It’s one for the books.  Day one at BookExpo was pretty great.  The crowd was just about what we expected, it being LA and a Friday.  I think traffic will be heavier today, but hopefully as manageable as it was yesterday.

We had many, MANY blogtalkradio interviews, and all went smashingly.   There were all great - Mike Robbins, of “Focus on the Good Stuff” was charming and gave a really good interview.  It was very exciting to have David Iglesias sit down and chat as well.   Marsha Collier was a total pro, as always.  Dr. Ruth, celebrating her 80th birthday shortly, also gave a really fun interview.  You can catch all of these at Blogtalkradio.com.

Erin Manning was a total rock star.  She gave a really amazing demo on how to take better pictures, which attracted a crowd of people hanging on her every word.  Seriously, the woman knows how to work a crowd.  I even learned a thing or two from her, and plan on experimenting on IT Boy when I get back. 

I also had many celebrity sightings outside of the Wiley booth.  Slash, Mario Lopez, Barbara Walters, and Jackie Collins were all seen out and about.  I also got a wonderful photo of Marsha with George Hamilton that I will post later.  You’d think she was at Madame Tussauds, but, no, he was real.

The Digital Lifestyle concept has been interesting.  The BTR interviews are going great.  Erin was super, and I love having digital photo frames on the wall to upload pictures that we’re taking real time.  No one is using the laptop for a demo area, so I have been tweeting there, but mostly, it’s not being used.  But it’s giving us a lot of ideas for what to do next year (did I really say next year?)

All in all, I don’t think I have ever worked as hard at a BEA as I did yesterday.  I did find some time to snag a few galleys, including the new Philippa Gregory book (I love me some historical fiction) and will be sharing my ill-gotten gains with my friends when I return home. 

Today, Don Felder and Hugh Hefner will be in the booth.  I predict a madhouse, even if the Girls Next Door don’t show up.  I’m off to day 2 - talk to you on the other side!