Romance Author Booksignings: March and Beyond

Have you been to any booksignings recently? I went to a fun one last month for two new-to-me mystery authors, Sharon Fiffer and Vicki Delany. The event was held at my local mystery book store, and the place was absolutely packed. It’s a rather small store, and every spot of floor space was filled with a folding chair, and there was a person sitting in each chair. I arrived a bit late, but a nice man gave me his chair, and joined the rest of the people standing in the back of the room. It was obvious that while I hadn’t read these authors, a lot of other people had.

Each of the authors did a brief introduction, and then the bookstore owner did a fantastic job keeping the discussion going, by asking a lot of questions. One of my favorite questions she asked of each author was: “What books would your character read?” Since I hadn’t read the authors before, their answers weren’t particularly meaningful to me, but it’s a question I’ve now been thinking about with each book that I read.  (And why don’t more romance heroines read?)

I’m very excited to report that I’ll be attending a booksigning later this month by Jacqueline Winspear, the author of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series. If you missed Ellen’s recent review of the first book in the series, and like mysteries set in Post WWI England, you might want to check it out.

I’ve found a number of romance author booksignings in the coming months, but as always, could use your help. Do you know of any authors who are coming to your home town? If so, please let us know about it. If you know of any events that we missed between now and mid-April, please post them in the comments section. If you know of any events occurring after mid-April, please send them to us at aarbooksign  AT gmail.com and we’ll add them to our mid-April post.

Disclaimer: I found these signings by extensive Web searches of both author and bookseller Web sites. They all appear to be free, but please contact the bookstore before you attend an event for additional information. And please let us know if you do attend a booksigning, and how you liked it. A few of the authors on the list aren’t strictly romance authors, but have either been reviewed at AAR in the past, or have appeared in AAR forum discussions.

Upcoming Booksignings: March and Beyond:

Kristin Hannah, March 28, Barnes & Noble,7:00 p.m., Lincoln Park, 7700 West Northwest Hwy. Ste. 300, Dallas, TX. (other signing in New York listed on B&N Web site).

Kerrelyn Sparks, March 29, Katy Budget Books, 6:00 p.m., 2450 Fry Road, Houston, TX.

Cindy Jones, March 29, Borders, 7:00 p.m., 5500 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX.

Jacqueline Winspear, March 31, Nicola’s Books, TBA, 2513 Jackson Ave., Ann Arbor, MI (other signings on the publisher’s Web site including Scottsdale, AZ, Corte Madera and Los Angeles, CA, Naperville, IL, and Washington, DC)

Dreamin’ in Dallas (multi-author booksigning at Dallas Area Romance Authors Conference, including Jo Davis, Lorraine Heath, Julia London, and Lori Wilde) April 1, 7:00 p.m., The Doubletree Hotel, 1981 North Central Expressway, Richardson, TX.

Carola Dunn, April 1, 7:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 1260 Churn Creek Rd., Redding, CA.

Jill Mansell, April 1, 7:00 p.m., Waterstones, 11A Union Galleries, Broadmead, GB – Bristol.

C.C. Hunter, April 4, Katy Budget Books, 6:00 p.m., 2450 Fry Road, Houston, TX.

Lisa Cach, April 6, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m.,  University Village, 2675 NE University Village Street, Seattle, WA.

Lauren Willig, April 7, Vroman’s Bookstore, 7:00 p.m., 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA.

Romantic Times Giant Book Fair (over 300 authors present, costs $5.00 to enter), April 9, 11:00 a.m., RT Booklovers Convention, Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, 404 South Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA.

Cheryl Ann Smith, April 9, Borders, 2:00 p.m., 3140 Lohr Rd, Ann Arbor, MI.

Lisa Jackson, April 9, Barnes & Noble, 2:00 p.m., 12000 SE 82^nd Ave., Portland, OR.

J.R. Ward, April 9, Borders, 2:00 p.m., 2785 Dixie Highway, Crestview Hills, KY

Luann Rice, April 11, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 86th & Lexington Ave, 150 East 86th Street, New York, NY. (other events on the author’s Web site including Madison, CT, San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA, and St. Louis, MO).

Colleen Gleason, April 14, Schuler Books and Music, 7:00 p.m., Lake Lansing Mall, Lansing, MI.

Kelly Armstrong, April 16, Barnes & Noble, 1:00 p.m., 1701 Mallory Lane, Brentwood, TN (other signings on the B&N site including Austin, TX, Roseville, MN, and Ann Arbor, MI).

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (Laura Bradford), April 16, Rose’s Book House, 2:00 p.m., 8935 Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, O’Fallon, MO.

Julia Spencer-Fleming, April 18, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 9 Market Place Dr., Augusta, ME.

Amanda Quick, April 19, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 12:00 p.m., 117 Cherry St., Seattle, WA.

Meg Cabot, April 27, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 1430 Plaza Place, Southlake, TX (other signing at the B&N site in Alpharetta, GA).

Debbie Macomber, May 2, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 2900 Peachtree Rd., N.E., Atlanta, GA (other signing at the B&N site in The Villages, FL).

Sherrilyn Kenyon, May 3, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 567 North Stephanie, Henderson, NV (other signings at the B&N site including Oakbrook, IL, Arlington, VA, and Glendale, CO).

Wendy Wax and Karen White, May 4, FoxTale Book Shop, 7:00 p.m., 105 East Main St., Woodstock, GA.

Jane Porter, May 5, Kenosha Public Library, TBA, 7979 38th Ave., Kenosha, WI.

Jennifer Weiner, May 10, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 301 Main St., Exton, PA.

Megan Kelly and Eileen Dryer, May 14, Rose’s Bookhouse, 12:00 p.m., 8935 Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, O’Fallon, MO.

Charlaine Harris, May 15, Barnes & Noble, 3:00 p.m., 14709 U.S. Highway 31, North Carmel, IN (other signings at the B&N site in New York, NY).

– LinnieGayl AAR