Jodi Picoult in Melbourne

I don't know which of Allen & Unwin (publisher) and Angus & Robertson (bookseller) is to blame. Arrived in line at Angus & Robertson in Melbourne (360 Bourke St) an hour early. Was informed that Ms Picoult would only be signing the new book, Change of Heart. None of us in queue was told this on the phone when we called, and we'd brought about two books each from home (we weren't going to bring out the whole backlist; just our most favourites). So of course we all had to fork out for the newy (many thanks to my sister who bought it for me).

We were told to write our name on a Post-It to stick on the title page, so Ms Jodi would know how to spell our names. She even asked me what mine is short for. Bless our Aussie way of shortening names to as small amount of syllables as possible because we're so lazy... ;-)

Anyway, we soon were told that we could line up again with any other books we'd brought and another photo. Which we did, because the line moved along really fast: no stopping to discuss her novels with her. But we've read her books, we swear! So theoretically we needn't have bought the newy after all as she was cool enough to sign her backlist. Maybe Allen & Unwin or Angus & Robertson had overestimated the crowd numbers.

Nevertheless, the photo at the beginning of this entry is my photographic evidence. Ms Jodi has a better hairstyle than me, but mine's a better colour (have never coloured it and don't intend to in the near future) ;-) We're both leaning to the left, though I was probably supposed to lean inward...but we all know that I'm wonky/lopsided/imbalanced/unbalanced ;-)

So tell me about your book signing experiences. Is it normal that you have to buy the new book if you want something signed? Or is this just some weirdo Australian thing because rarely does an international author sign in Melbourne? Or was this just a one-off?

And now onto the rest of my day. I didn't buy any more books, but I did photograph some so you have proof that your books are on Australian shelves. If yours isn't in my photos, I most likely didn't see it. I normally crop out as much of the background as I can, but this time I left some bits so you can see your shelf neighbours:

Angus & Robertson (Melbourne)
Gwen Hunter's Shadow Valley

Borders (Melbourne Central)
Mario Acevedo's The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Bloodsuckers and Jennifer Armintrout's Possession
Jeanne C. Stein's Blood Drive
Mark Del Franco's Unshapely Things and Unquiet Dreams
Laura Anne Gilman's Staying Dead (mysteriously shelved in the A section. As far as I know, Anne is not part of her surname; Gilman is)
Ilona Andrews' Magic Bites
Eve Kenin's Driven
Jeaniene Frost's Halfway to the Grave
Marianne Mancusi's Moongazer
Liz Maverick's Wired
Naomi Bellis' Step into Darkness
Jennifer Armintrout's Ashes to Ashes
Anya Bast's Witch Fire and Naomi Bellis' Step into Darkness (yeah, you get a second photo ;-) )

Feel free to share the photos with the authors; I couldn't be bothered emailing the links. (It's been a long day.)

Memoir
Host of CBS's Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson's American on Purpose, about living the American dream as he journeys from a small town in Scotland to the entertainment capital of the world, stumbling long the way through several attempts to make his mark, written "in the hope that it will inspire other alcoholic punk rock drummers from Scotland to find their true place in US late night television," to Michael Morrison at Harper, with David Hirshey editing, for publication in fall 2009, by Richard Abate at Endeavor (world English).

If you're a Scottish musician, you move to Australia (Jimmy Barnes, part of AC/DC, that Colin guy from Men at Work, etc). And Scottish comedian Billy Connolly did marry an Aussie... Come on, Scots - you know you belong in Oz; not the US... ;-)