I remember laughing when Patrick Rothfuss confessed to book-signing performance anxiety. (I suspect he’s rather over that by now, by simple necessity.) I hadn’t ever practiced my autograph, either. But I did read Pat’s final word on the subject:
So before I go to bed, I’d like to give you aspiring writers out there some advice. Learn from my mistakes. Practice your signature now.
Yeah, so, I didn’t start practicing then, either. This week I was asked to autograph my book for the first time. I’d done a couple of Authorgraphs for ebooks, but I hadn’t signed a real print book before. This was for a birthday gift. I got unreasonably nervous about the whole thing, freaked out about the correct spelling of the recipient’s name, worried over what to write, and finally boxed the book to send to the gift-giver.
Then I got an email saying that I’d written an inscription, but had forgotten to actually sign the book. /facepalm/
So…. I’ll have a chance to redeem myself soon, as I’ll be signing at the fantabulous ClickerExpo in San Francisco this Saturday, along with luminaries such as Karen Pryor, Kathy Sdao, Alexandra Kurland, and a host of other brilliant people who haven’t realized yet that I’m sneaking in the door behind them.
I think I’ll take a permanent marker onto the plane, if TSA doesn’t deem it a dangerous weapon, and practice.
