in which i go to a book signing and am too shy to say anything but my name.

I am so grateful to Beth Revis, Victoria Schwab and Myra McEntire for noting the gaping hole in this region that tends to suck all the cool stuff down the proverbial drain and redeposit it in places like New York, Utah, California and the Major Cities. I love living in the South (though, I will claim that I am slightly more Midwestern, coming from Pretty-Much-Indiana, Kentucky), don't get me wrong. However! So many things slip through the cracks. Like, if you don't live in New Orleans, Atlanta or (sometimes) Nashville, or (sometimes) Asheville, you sort of miss everything. And, now that I have stated the same thought three times, I give you, FROM ASH TO NASH.

So, Husband had the camera, but I was directly in front of him. His only photo option was that which you see above. Thus, the picture-taking job fell to me. I was in direct eyesight of the four authors present, and it was awkward to be all snappity-snap with the Big Silver-Plastic SLR, right in their faces. In my defense, the flash remained off, and I'm pretty sure that I would not have minded being photographed, were I Beth Revis, Victoria Schwab, or Myra McEntire. Or Alan Gratz. Because it would mean that I was SIGNING BOOKS. *drifts off to fantasize about that very thing*

It was so fun. My grin was plastered and unyielding.

This is (thankfully) where my wonderful husband took over photographer duties.

Back in college, I went to several signings. For a grade. Those were... not so fun. I was never miserable, per se, but I also never knew exactly whom the authors were, and they were usually poets, anyway. Don't get my wrong (again). I love poetry. I have at least three friends who are published poets, and it's awesome and their words make me drool-happy. But it was SO DIFFERENT, and so fun, to go see authors I'd actually heard of, read things about, blog-stalked, etc.
Another major difference between then and now is that in college, it really was all about the grade. I did not *love writing,* they way I do now. I didn't know anything about agents or publishing or the writing process. All I knew was that I never really loved what I wrote. I just wanted to be in plays and graduate one semester late instead of two. Ah, the achiever in me.

ANYWAY. It was awesome, this book signing. I loved hearing the authors talk about their processes and experiences, and to actually understand--at least in part--what they were talking about.

I thought long and hard about what I would say when I got to the table, but none of it actually came out. Did I mention how nervous I was? I did manage to use polite words and tell them my name, and not get embarrassed about asking for a picture:

Glasses are cool! Look at me, fitting in!

Which was awesome. Maybe next time, I'll mention that I write.

But hey, look at it this way: we're closing on the new house in the morning, and I will have no shortage of chances to daydream about signing autographs.

Wish me luck.