Closing the chapter on New York book fans

The Javits Center - image credit here

After yesterday's fantastic launch event, I was really pumped for spending the day at BookCon.  I got up early and walked over to the Javits Center, which only took me about 20 minutes (if that) but when I got there a little after 9am, the lines were already out the door.

The first panel discussion on my wish-list didn't start until 10am so I headed for the main exhibition floor to look around.  Oh. My. God.  It was like Macy's on Christmas Eve in there.  People were going in all directions, grabbing fistfuls of free stuff off the display tables and not even taking the time to speak to the exhibitors, or to even see what they were grabbing.  As a friend suggested to me later, it was very reminiscent of the "Candy Man" scene in the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" movie, where the greedy kids basically loot the candy store.  I was Charlie Bucket.

Being so short, I couldn't see up ahead either, so I got stuck in human traffic jam after human traffic jam.  And everyone around me was carrying backpacks and tote bags that were getting steadily fuller, heavier, and more painful each time they slammed into my guts.  I spent all my time trying to navigate through the crowd and I literally did not stop - indeed, could not stop - at any of the display tables.  There wasn't any space to take the time and see what was on display, or ask the amazing array of exhibitors whether their books were old, new, free, for sale - nothing.

How I felt about my morning
Image credit here

Because of jumbled lines and pushy crowds, I realised afterwards that I even missed seeing Grumpy Cat - she was just on the other side of a growing crowd of people.  Sigh, maybe I'm showing my age but I just couldn't handle the confusing rush and even now, I'm feeling tense just reflecting on it.

Somehow I emerged back into the main foyer of the Javits Center, giant glass nightmare that it is.  Compounding the disastrous start to my day, Starbucks was the only coffee for sale and the line was almost out the door (though rather amusingly merging with the line-up for people trying to come in).  Don't even get me started on the lines for the restrooms.  I was on track from a 10am nervous breakdown.

The panel discussions were all being hosted downstairs where last night's launch had also been staged.  I found the room for the John Grisham & Carl Hiaasen panel and it was already bustling with people.  How many tickets had they sold for this BookCon thing?  Crazy.  I found a seat in the second-to-last row and relaxed a bit before the show got underway.

Grisham has a new book coming out in October, but this panel discussion was more a conversation between two authors about their writing process and the discipline required to churn out a well-researched and successful page-turner.  I have been a Grisham fan for a long time but up until today, I'd never heard him speak a single word.   I've never seen him on TV, or heard him give interviews, nothing.  But then that amazing southern drawl came out, and he talked about being a lawyer in Mississippi, and I could have listened to him for days.  One thing that has always struck me about Grisham's characters, particularly the lawyers, is that they always seem to start their workdays insanely early.  But that seems to be a throwback to Grisham's own professional life.  As he said this morning, he started writing A Time To Kill while he was practicing law, and every day he made the deal with himself that he'd get to the office at 5am, and he'd have to have his coffee and first word written by 5.30am.   He's slackened off that discipline now of course, but that was his routine for many years.

Grisham and Hiaasen (whose work I have not yet read) talked about the challenges of finding names for their characters - apparently obituaries and baby names books are popular sources.  They talked about the role of their wives and their editors in helping to "surgically remove" irrelevant plot lines or unnecessary characters from an unpublished manuscript.  And one thing I found really interesting is that in the past, they have both been involved in charity auctions where you can bid to have yourself written in to one of their books.  I had never heard of such a thing before.  Hiaasen learned the down side of this though, when a lady who won such an auction approached him 6 months later while he was at dinner with his wife, and demanded to know when they were going to start collaborating on his book about her.  Good grief, can you imagine?!

After the Grisham panel concluded I headed into the food court for a Diet Coke.  Of course, it was a cash-only enterprise, and when do I ever carry cash?  I asked the Javits Center employee whether there was an ATM on the premises and she looked at me like I was nuts.  Or maybe that was just her face.  If you want to see what hell looks like, Google the Javits Center during BookCon.

I was feeling rather defeated at this point, but I stood in line for the next panel discussion entitled "My First Novel: Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Writing, Publishing and Promoting a Book".  Unbeknownst to me, four separate queues for this event had started outside the room, and the BookCon staff began admitting the crowd line-by-line.  As luck would have it, I was actually standing in the first line to get into the room, so I scored a fantastic seat, with an uninterrupted view of the panel table.   As you can see from the photo, this discussion featured three young female authors (all debut novelists) and was facilitated by Rachel who works for Tumblr and who spoke so fast she should have had subtitles.  I really was old and grumpy today, can't you tell?

But one thing I really liked about this panel is that the lady you see on the left there is from Australia - her name is Courtney Collins and her first book "The Burial" has just been released in the US (but under the title "The Untold").  Apparently it has done very well in Australia and her attendance at BookCon today is part of an 8-city US tour to promote the book.  The panelist in the middle is Yelena Akhtiorskaya, whose book "Panic In A Suitcase" is officially released in bookstores on 31 July, and finally Celeste Ng who wrote a book called "Everything I Never Told You" which will be formally released this month.

I was particularly interested to hear what these women had to say about their experiences handing over their manuscripts to an editor and putting their faith in an agent, who would steer them through the murky world of publishing.  I liked what they had to say about the benefits (or not) of studying creative writing formally (such as a MFA at Columbia).  And I liked the reality check that these women gave me (and all of us) when they talked about just how long they'd been working on their books.  In Celeste's case, she had worked on 4 drafts over 6 years, and Courtney had written hers over 7 years.  I'd like to read all their books of course and even if I don't enjoy them (for whatever reason) at least I know that they worked really hard on them and to a large extent are still finding their feet in the industry.

We were supposed to all receive free copies of the books after this particular panel discussion, but of course all the vultures got to them first and I missed out.

As I wandered dejectedly over to the next panel discussion, it was also my time to stand in the wrong queue, so I couldn't get in to hear Cary Elwes talk about his new book, "As You Wish: Tales from the Princess Bride".  I was really frustrated about that, but there were so many other people turned away too, so misery definitely loved company.

I bravely made one more circuit of the still-crowded expo floor but strayed into the children's books section by mistake and that was way too perky for me.  I did pick up a sheet of stickers though, full of presumably famous characters from FarFaria.  I have no idea what that is, but I believe it's a free app you can download that teaches children how to read.  I could never be grumpy about kids learning how to read.

When I finally found the exit again, I took it as a sign to leave BookCon.  I walked away from the Javits Center and never looked back.  A sheet of stickers was my only free gift for going to the convention this year and although free stuff wasn't the prime motivation for me going, I have to admit I was disappointed that I didn't come home with at least a few new and exciting books to read.

But the Javits Center hasn't beaten me; I'm not giving up.  Perhaps next year I'll be able to scam an invitation to the industry days during the week, and take my time to peruse all the displays and actually talk to the exhibitors.  And I'll even bring cash for Diet Coke.  What a treat that will be!

Not your conventional book event

One of the best things about starting this blog is that it has given me the kick in the pants I clearly needed to get out and explore New York City properly.  I don't mean just visiting the usual must-see tourist attractions in this town, but it's more about branching out and trying things I haven't done before, or haven't made time for before.

Case in point, I bought myself a ticket to BookCon, the giant literary trade show and convention being held here in New York this week, which provides a forum for books, storytelling and pop culture.

The earlier part of this week at BookCon has been for publishing industry personnel, but the exhibition is open to the public all day tomorrow.  BookCon Headquarters are at the Javits Center, a purpose-built exhibition venue in Hell's Kitchen next to the Hudson River, which is abominably large, bedecked in signage that makes no sense at all, and is therefore most likely designed to confuse as many conference delegates as possible.  Notwithstanding my frustrations with the host venue (which I will clearly get over), I'm already psyched to spend the whole day tomorrow wandering in and out of the panel discussions and book signings.  Stories about all that to follow.

When I bought my ticket to the convention I had the option to spend $10 extra and attend the official BookCon kick-off event tonight (Friday).  It was a panel discussion on the bestselling novel,  "This Is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper.  I read the book a few months ago and loved it, and the movie version will be out in September.  Tropper also wrote the screenplay for the film, and he participated in the panel discussion tonight, as did the movie's director (Shawn Levy) and two of its stars, Tina Fey and Jason Bateman.

So far only the film's trailer has been officially released, but at the panel discussion tonight we got to have a sneak peek at a couple of the scenes in the film.  When I love a book, I'm always concerned about how it will translate onto the screen, but Jonathan Tropper said that a movie is its own animal.  In his words, "what I get out of going to a movie is different from what I get out of reading a book" and I do think that's true.  And given that Tropper was intimately involved in writing the screenplay, he got to have a say in any points of divergence between his book and his script (and there are several).

I liked hearing the insights about how much of the film was scripted, and which scenes were more heavily improvised.  Jason Bateman plays the story's protagonist, Judd, and Tropper said that during the table-read he listened to the actors and ended up changing some of Judd's lines in the script because "Bateman wouldn't say it like that".  And when Tina Fey changed some of Tropper's words in the script, she emailed him to apologise - but apparently he wasn't offended at all; in fact, he felt fortunate to be getting "free writing" out of her.  It sounded like a great collaboration and even though I loved the book as it was, I thought that the edited/adapted scenes we got to see tonight were just as funny.

If the panel discussions I sit through tomorrow are anything like this one, I will love BookCon 2014.   I'm not the sort to go autograph-hunting, or have my photo taken with authors or whatever.  I just want to sit and listen to banter back-and-forth from people whose work I've really enjoyed reading.   I'm just not sure how I'm going to fit it all in though - I mean, take a look at the schedule!  While I'm sure I've forgotten a couple of sessions, I know that I want to hear John Grisham, Brandon Stanton (aka Humans of New York), Jason Segel, and my sweet Westley Carey Elwes.  If I get to all those sessions, I think I will be able to declare the day a success.  Assuming I don't get lost at the Javits Center first, of course.

Stay tuned, fellow book geeks!

Poetry inspires serious vocal talent

The Melodia Women's Choir was founded 12 years ago and specialises in performing rarely-heard music and commissioned works for women's voices in many different styles.

Last night and this afternoon, the choir performed The Poet's Song, a number of works inspired by great poetry through the ages.  One of my very talented friends was performing in her first season with Melodia, and I went along in support.

The Mary Flagler Carey Hall is downstairs at the Di Menna Center, a modern performance venue (for decidedly un-modern music), and home to the Orchestra of St Luke's.  According to the description outside the Hall, Mary Flagler Carey "cared deeply about the training and well-being of orchestral musicians" and when she died, her family trust named the rehearsal and performance space in her honour.  As 4pm neared, the waiting area lounge grew more congested, and I gazed around the room at the people of all ages who clearly shared Mary Flagler Carey's passion.

While the Melodia Women's Choir is supported, in part, by public funds they rely heavily on private donations too.  But trust me when I tell you, this group is not an amateur production.  The choristers and the musicians accompanying them are top-shelf performers with excellent pedigree.  All-black attire, staring almost unblinkingly at the conductor and obeying her every direction.  Taken independently, they are impressive.  But put them together, and they are a slick ensemble act.  

And what struck me most as I read through the program is that singing and playing instruments are an add-on to the lives of these talented women.  They all have regular 9-5 jobs and their involvement in the Choir is partly because they love it, but also because their lives have always had a creative outlet of some kind.

Today's program marked the end of the choir's current season, and they won't perform together again until around November.  As their farewell gesture, their season-ending performance ran the gamut of Biblical and sacred themed poetry, to Shakespearean orchestral work, a jaunty tarantella instrumental interlude, a couple of nonsense poems, and a rousing finale of musical theater and jazz numbers.   The enthusiasm of the audience, combined with the acoustics of the venue made for very rousing applause at the end.

I was really proud to have the chance to hear my friend sing today, both in a brief solo and also as part of a group.  While no reminder was needed, the Melodia Women's Choir is nevertheless an excellent example of the breadth and depth of the talent that resides in this amazing city. 

Elvis, Elvis, let me be!

New York was very important in the early musical life of Elvis Presley, the undisputed King of Rock & Roll.

In January 1956 Elvis made his first visit to Manhattan, for his inaugural national TV appearance on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show.  The following day he spent 7 hours at the RCA studio on East 24th Street, returning two days later to put the finishing touches to a number of songs including the hit "Blue Suede Shoes".  According to studio staff, Elvis always enjoyed himself at RCA New York, hamming it up with the musicians to keep morale high.  This was probably useful, considering that in July 1956 it took Elvis 31 takes to complete "Hound Dog", and 28 takes to perfect "Don’t Be Cruel".  

By 1957, Elvis had stopped recording at RCA but he returned to NY to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Well, his torso did anyway.  By order of the show's host, CBS cameras were only allowed to film Elvis from the waist up, sparing home viewers the scandal of Elvis's swivelling hips.  But everyone got to hear his sweet tones.

Later that same year, while it wasn't musically motivated, Elvis made his most famous visit to New York - this time to the Brooklyn Army Terminal, before he was shipped off to Germany to serve with the US Army.  

Yum! Courtesy of our
friends over at  Yelp

And Elvis's legacy lives on in this city.  Anyone wanting a life-changing sandwich in New York should go to "VNYL" in Hell's Kitchen and order "Elvis's Revenge".  You get a toasted brioche bun with peanut butter, bacon, tempura banana, and honey.  Thank you, thank you very much.