One of my better grabs from BookExpo was a copy of  Jonathan Tropper’s new novel.  Remarkably, I have already finished it, a scant 2 months after receiving it.  Sure, that may not seem like a big deal.  But let’s be honest here…I have galleys from YEARS of BookExpos littering every corner of my house.  I used to read a lot more before kids, and thankfully I am slowing getting back into that groove. 

“This Is Where I Leave You” will be published next month, giving me the thrill of being able to say to all you newcomers that I read the book BEFORE it was even on store shelves.  But I won’t.  That’s not really the way we roll around here.  OK, so when the brew-haha with Oprah and Jonathan Franzen came out around “The Corrections“, I will admit that I proudly showed off my galley copy as a sign of literary geek cred.   No bragging on this one, though. 

So, let’s get to this story, shall we?  In “This Is Where I Leave You,” our protagonist Judd Foxman is a pushing 40 kinda guy who one day decides to surprise his wife on her birthday by coming home early from work.  Of course, work has decided to surprise him, as his boss, a Howard Stern-esque shock jock has been having an affair with his wife for the better part of the last year and he catches them in the act.   Let’s just say that the first chapter is better read without the kids around.  It’s pretty raunchy but laugh out loud funny.

Anyhow, this leads to the breakup of the Foxman marriage.  Jen, his wife, gets the house, and Judd has to move out into a hovel.  Thanks to the relationship of his boss with his wife, he also loses his job.

It is at this point that Judd’s father passes away, leaving him and his mom and 3 siblings to begin the mourning process by sitting shiva for a week. 

Sure, we’ve seen the dysfunctional family thrown together by circumstances beyond their control story before.  There is something screenplay ready about this (and yes, movie rights have been sold) but there are moments where Tropper’s writing makes things seem fresh and new.  Of course, you may be like me and find yourself  ”casting” all the parts as you go through the book.  On the other hand, you may not have time to get that deep, as the characters come at you fast and furiously – with 3 siblings, each with a partner, as well as friends and neighbors in the mix, you almost feel like you need a Garcia Marquez-style chart to keep track of everyone and their relationships. 

There are some geniunely funny moments mixed with true pathos – a lesser writer might not have been able to pull that off as well as Tropper did.  It did feel fresh and clear, as he took some characters that you really shouldn’t like and made you care for them.  My biggest letdown was the ending – it left me rereading the last few chapters wondering where the resolution was, and whether I missed it.

But overall, it’s a read that I do recommend.  I want to go back and read more Tropper – I already read “The Book of Joe” but I’ve heard people who have read others and really liked him.  I do believe that this will be his breakout book, and certainly hope it leads more people to explore his back catalog.

Yeah, I’m totally late with this, but 1. it was an amazing day for me and for Wiley and 2. we don’t have days like that every day and 3. I posted day 1 so I better post day 2.

Where do I begin?  Like I said, we don’t have days like that every day.  Wiley’s trade program has always been strong, but in recent years, we’ve brought in some big time books, and that was reflected at our stand at the conference.  We had some great book signings, and big time celebrity visits.

First, Erin Manning did another superstar presentation.  It’s not often that you can find someone talking on a technical topic who is able to engage the crowd and keep them listening for almost a half an hour.  She was followed by Don Felder, former guitarist for the Eagles, promoting his new book Heaven and Hell.  The line for his book was huge – and it included a number of Wiley employees, ahem!  After Felder was done signing, he went to do his BlogTalkRadio interview, and Steven Watts and Hugh Hefner showed up to promote the Hefner biography Mr. Playboy.  Of course, Dr. Ruth managed to jump in there for a photo opp as well.  The woman is a promotion machine.  Watts and Hefner signed, and then did a BTR interview as well.

For me, the most INTERESTING part was checking out the security detail that made up Felder’s and Hef’s entourages.  Felder had one guy waking around the booth with his little Bluetooth piece, looking like an extra from the Sopranos.  Hef had two guys, both ex-LAPD, as cool as they come. I enjoyed chatting with them about life on the edge.  I got a couple of pictures of them with Hef – they’ve got bunny lapel pins, makes them easy to recognize.  I’ve got these in a Facebook album…link to come.

After all this was done at 3pm, a bunch of Wiley people crawled out of the booth in search of sustinence.  Thankfully, the wildcat strike in the cafeteria had ended, so we were able to get some french fries and sit down, catch our breath, and reflect on a most amazing day.

I also haven’t spoken the praises of John Havens from BlogTalkRadio enough.  He helped make this BEA truly amazing.  Imagine someone who could interview everyone from a Dummies author who wrote a fitness book to Mr. Playboy himself, and give them the time and respect they deserved, and help us create great content that we can use to promote these books.  I’m so thankful we were able to pull this off – it was indeed a BEA for the books!

Brought to you from BookExpo, day 2:  What are Dr. Ruth and Hugh Hefner saying to each other?  Submit your entries in the comments field. 

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!

If the lead up to Book Expo is any indication, this is going to be an interesting couple of days.

The flight was uneventful enough, but due to a strange collection of circumstances, my first stop leaving the airport was not to check into the hotel, but instead to settle into a seat at Hollywood Bowl to see Elvis Costello and The Police.  Yes, yes, I saw both acts last year, but…who cares!  The venue was beautiful and the performances even more so.   Elvis was wonderful, but it saddened me to see him as an opening act rather than the headliner that he truly is.  I try to think of this as a strong double bill, but Elvis playing in front of someone else’s equipment without effects made me feel like I was missing something.  Of course, he remedied that later in the evening, but that was a little too late for my jet-lagged brain to consider.  Sting, Stewart and Andy have only gotten better, and seemed to be having a blast.  That’s more than I can say for the lame-os at the Bowl – I actually got yelled at by a twentysomething for standing up and dancing.  Sheesh.

I started out the day getting my haircut.  Totally worth it, especially when a woman stopped me in FedEx and complimented me on her hair saying that’s the kind of cut she wants (it’s really not all that dramatic, btw.)  I then had a quick meeting with some partners, but made time before I hit the show floor to go to Sprinkles cupcakes get the cupcakes my friends are all raving about.  Yes, they were worth it.  Carrot cake for breakfast, red velvet for lunch.   Then, onto set up.  As I reminded my peeps, I was late, but I brought cupcakes, so everyone was happy. 

Even though you think the booth will never come together, it always seems to.  Tonight, we left it with some things left to do, but I think we’ll get it all done tomorrow.  Of course, we were not without a little drama.  I stopped at a cash machine and apparently left my ATM card in it.  Damn you BoA….  I also got a call from the babysitter that IT Boy had developed a weird rash all over.  Nothing seemed serious, but still, that’s the last thing you want to hear when you are thousands of miles away.  So, despite such inauspicious beginnings, I think we’re going to be ok.  Tweet you from BEA tomorrow!

Yes, it has been a long time between posts.  Odds are, it may get longer.  I leave tomorrow for BookExpo, and am frantically trying to get everything done that needs to be done when you are staring down 2 weeks out of the office, plus 2 employee’s maternity leaves that are fast approaching. 

For those who wonder about these kind of things, here are the authors that will be at our booth at BEA.  We’re doing BlogTalkRadio interviews during the show, and I will post links for those who want to listen to the interviews live…

• Hugh Hefner, with his three Playmate “Girls Next Door”, Holly, Bridget and Kendra
• Steven Watts, author of “Mr Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream”
• Recording artist and former Eagle, Don Felder (Heaven & Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001))
• Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit Magazine, Barbara Fairchild (Bon Appétit: Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook); 
• Career Specialist Joyce Lain-Kennedy (Job Interviews for Dummies)
• Erin Manning (Portrait and Candid Photography: Photo Workshop)
• Award winning filmmaker Brian Michael Stoller (Filmmaking For Dummies)
• eBay queen Marsha Collier (Starting an eBay Business For Dummies)
• former US Attorney David Iglesias (In Justice: Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Bush Administration)
• author Peter Economy (Writing Children’s Books For Dummies)
• Marty Brounstein (Communicating Effectively for Dummies)
• Etiquette expert, Sue Fox (Business Etiquette for Dummies)

Audio for the shows can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Wiley

Combine that with Dr. Ruth’s 90th birthday party, many meetings with publishing partners and authors, and trying to find time to see “Sex and the City: The Movie”, well, you’ve got quite a week going.  Not to mention I leave LA on Sunday morning to head to Orlando to work at our booth at Microsoft TechEd.  Then, I return, and make a trip to Indianapolis for a Dummies meeting.  Sleep?  That’s for wimps, and the airplane.

If you are in LA for BookExpo, please stop by the Wiley booth at the show (947/1047) and say “hi”.  I’ll be the frazzled chick in the Digital Lifestyle t-shirt. 

Mediumatlarge.net has a blog post about BEA’s new social site, MyBEA.  Last year, I kinda got all over everyone at my company because I was one of the few on it.  I don’t think I will be doing that this year.  The site doesn’t seem to me to be very useful, although I like the feature that allows me to scroll through the whole agenda a bit easier than you can on the main BEA page.  Is this going to be an example of creating a social site when you could have put this stuff on Facebook or Upcoming?  Time will tell.  I’m going to play, and let you know what I find out.  That said, if you’re going to BEA, be sure to drop me a line on myBEA.  I’m hoping we can do some sort of a blogger meetup there.