Previously, I mentioned I'll be heading to Book Expo America in Washington, D.C. this May. One of the primary reasons for going, of course, is to meet booksellers and other people who love and work with books each day.

D.C. won't be my only stop, though. I've been putting together a schedule of shows and events, and noticing that my eyes are bigger than my stomach, as it were. There are plenty of events I would love to go to, but I only have a finite amount of time to devote to such things. For instance, I'd love to head to the Mount Hermon Writer's Conference, and the World Horror Convention, and ACFW, and...well, let's just call this list tentative, shall we?

Here's what I'm looking at so far:
• Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Spring Trade Show (March 16-18) in Seattle
• Book Expo America (May 19-21) in Washington, D.C.
• Thrillerfest (June 29-July 2) in Phoenix
• International Christian Retail Trade Show (July 8-13) in Denver
• Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show (September 15-17) in Denver
• Bouchercon 2006 (September 28-October 1) in Madison, WI.

I'm planning live reports from at least two of those events at Infuze Magazine's live event portal, and right here on my very own cyber-corner. In addition, I'm planning a few road trips to visit bookstores and libraries in the greater intermountain/northwest region--which I'm looking forward to, because it means I get to do a lot of book browsing.

My reasoning for most of the events should be pretty apparent. The PNBA and MPBA trade shows are to meet the fine, fine independent ABA booksellers in my general region; the ICRTS covers CBA retailers (no regional shows, that I know of), and Thrillerfest & Bouchercon cover my general mystery/thriller genre.

If you have other thoughts or ideas, well, let's hear 'em. All travel plans are subject to change.