Book Signings

I'm going out of town for two book signings this summer: one next month to meet Charlaine Harris and one in July, the RWA signing. One of today's tasks was to call the bookstore where Harris will be signing so I could find out their policy about bringing books from home. I made it clear that I will be buying books there, but I wanted to find out if I could also bring some. The employee said yes, even after she asked how many I'd like to bring and I said six. So I'll have a nice collection of signed Charlaine Harris novels.

As for the RWA signing, there will apparently be more than 400 authors there. Although the list of authors will be posted at some point, patience is not one of my strong suits. I am visiting author websites to see if they have mentioned that they will attend. If I don't see anything about it, I have been e-mailing to ask if the author is attending and if she happens to know what she will be signing. I want to know the latter so that I can (hopefully) avoid buying books twice. Some authors seem pretty sure about what they will be signing, while others don't have the final word. The latter doesn't surprise me after hearing Wendy's comment about this subject, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask.

What hurts is the thought of waiting to buy books by my autobuy authors. I'm used to being able to buy a book I want when I see it on the shelves; now I'm telling myself to pass until July--for authors attending the signing, anyway. I keep reminding myself that I managed to go a few weeks without buying The Trouble with Valentine's Day, but that hasn't improved my mood. On the other hand, a kind reader offered to send me a copy of a book I've been anticipating for months. My library doesn't have it, so I was going to go without until July. Thanks to this reader, I won't have to.

Is anyone else planning to attend the Reno signing? Would it be valuable for me to create a file with information about the authors I have contacted and what they will (or hope to be) signing? If others will find it useful, I'll put something together.

Alyssa