It’s showtime, folks. In a matter of days, The Jacob Javits Center will be transformed into a hive of book publishing and bookselling madness. At the center of the storm–or so we like to think!–lies the hub of the nonstop energy and excitement that is the Workman booth (#4152). If you’re attending, please stop by and say hello! Our schedule of author (and publisher) appearances is below.

Tuesday, May 24
1:00-2:00 p.m.: Meet Grace Bonney, author of Design*Sponge at Home (Artisan Books)

2:00-3:00 p.m.: New York Times bestselling author Patricia Schultz will be signing copies of 1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die, and telling you about some of 200 totally new destinations in thie fall’s new (color!) edition of 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

Wednesday, May 25
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Steve Stockman, author of How to Shoot Video That Doesn’t Suck, will talk about effective book videos. Conference Room: #1E15.

11:oo a.m.: BEA Panel: “Why Now Is the Time More Than Ever for Publishers to Invest in Print” with Bob Miller, Workman’s Group Publisher. Conference Room: #1E15.

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Help us set a brand-new world record (yes, really!) with Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson, authors of the forthcoming Recordsetter Book of World Records.

2:00-3:00 p.m.: Rufus Butler Seder, author of Gallop!, Waddle!, and the forthcoming The Wizard of Oz: A Scanimation Book, will be signing copies of Star Wars: A Scanimation Book.

4:00-5:00 p.m.: Meet Barbara Kafka, author of The Intolerant Gourmet (Artisan Books).

Thursday, May 26
10:00-11:oo a.m.: Sophie Blackall, author of Big Red Lollipop and the Ivy and Bean series will be signing a beautiful poster to celebrate her forthcoming first book for grown-ups, Missed Connections.

Emily Adams, Third Place Books, Lake Forest, WA

In the first installment of our bookseller spotlight series, we hail not only bookselling excellence but also a big fat dose of Workman-related ingenuity. We’re crowning Emily Adams as “Bookseller of the Moment” for the most awesome video that she created to promote our Indestructibles books at Third Place Books. The video, featured on the store’s blog and website, really displays Emily’s cinematic talents while simultaneously demonstrating the durability of Indestructibles.

Emily Adams Profile

3 favorite titles recently pimped
Agaat by Marlene Van Niekirk
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow

Songs on heavy rotation
“Street Signs” by Ozomatli
“You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” by Jim Croce
“Emphasizer” by Garage A Trois

Astrological sign: Gemini

Age: 37

Secret talent: I can stand on my head on a trampoline.

Quote to live by: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

It’s football season! What does that mean? Time to fire up the grill for tailgating! We’ve crafted a few regional tailgate menus pulled from grill master Steven Raichlen’s bestselling books BBQ USA and How to Grill.

Alabama
Main Course: Alabama Barbecued Chickens with White Barbecue Sauce
Side: Ember-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Beverage: Alabama Slammer made with Southern Comfort

Wisconsin
Main Course: Double Brats
Side: Grilled Corn with Maytag Blue Cheese
Beverage: Leinenkugel Beer

Pennsylvania
Main Course: Philly Cheese Steaks on the Grill
Side: Garlic Grilled Tomatoes
Beverage: Yuengling Beer

Texas
Main Course: Tex Mex Rib Eyes
Side: Firecracker Coleslaw
Beverage: Tequila chased down with Shiner Bock Beer

New York
Main Course: Buffa-que Wings
Side: Zucchini and Yellow Squash with Greek Spices
Beverage: Genesee Cream Ale

Florida
Main Course: Florida Snapper Burgers
Side: Coconut-Grilled Pineapple
Beverage: Pina Coladas or Red Stripe Beer

New England
Main Course: Maple Mustard Salmon
Side: Barbecued Onions with Baked Beans
Beverage: Sam Adams Octoberfest

With a Weber grill, a football, big foam finger, and Raichlen’s BBQ library you’ve got the perfect tailgate display for the fall season.

Did we miss your state? Share your tailgate favorites in the BarbecueBible.com forums.

Workman designer Mike Vago spent middle school study-hall periods mapping out elaborate miniature golf courses, thus giving birth years later to The Miniature Book of Miniature Golf. Here’s a brief interview with Mr. Vago.

Q: What’s the most difficult hole in the book?
A: Hole 6 is a hedge maze, so it’s intended to be done in 7 to 10 shots. It’s not a tricky shot in the classic sense, it’s just long and there’s no way to drive straight to the hole.

Q: Say a bookseller decides to take a copy of your book off the shelf and play it instead of doing returns. What’s a notable score?
A: As a former bookseller, I can say I’d never do such a thing, mostly because it would cut into my time spent reading X-Men comics on the job. But if one were to. . . Par for the course is 29, and if you can shoot under par, you may want to consider a career on the professional book-sized mini golf circuit.

Q: Any problems with gophers eating the book?
A: Nothing a little dynamite can’t solve.

Q: I understand that Tiger Woods requested that your book be included on the PGA Tour.
A: It is! Who would believe it? And to think I totally made that up.

My daughter, Maddie, and I spent the first weekend of spring in the woods behind our house pretending to be entomologists. I equipped Maddie with both the Bugs Fandex and The Bug Bottle , and together we turned over stones, pulled bark off of dead trees, and combed through rotting leaves unearthing a wide assortment of creepy-crawlies. We even searched our garage, where we previously found Black Widow and Wolf spiders lurking.

Maddie used the Fandex to identify some of her discoveries, and used the Bug Bottle to house them in. With the exception of the couple of ticks that got on us, Maddie has pet names for her adopted critters, and they now reside in the bottle next to her bed.