I can now cross "Meet Diana Gabaldon" (author of our beloved Outlander book series, creator of Jamie Fraser) off my bucket list!
My friend, ConniecallmeSassenach and I drove on Monday morning from her Michigan cottage up to Traverse City, where we met up with my good sister-in-law, Cheryl and her neighbor, Sheila. We had lunch, window shopped, freshened up, and were in line at the Opera House in downtown TC by 6pm for the Event. The Opera House is beautiful. We had a very pleasant evening talking with the fellow Outlander fans around us, watching a trailer for the TV series, and listening to Diana talk. Some of her talk/ answers to questions was stuff we'd heard before, but we did hear some new tidbits and got to listen while she read from the new book. The way Diana read the passage made us interpret it slightly differently than we'd read it - with more humor. I would say that was the most magical part of the evening for me- listening to her read. She patiently and very graciously answered audience questions- questions I am sure she has answered 100s of times. I was too shy/ not brave enough/ too starstruck to ask anything, even though I had a mental list of questions prepared.
We then waited in line to have our books signed and got our pictures taken with her. And as much as Connie and I would have liked to gush all over her and tell her about how excited we were when we read the part where Jamie knits, or say something that would stamp us as the Best Outlander Fans She Has Ever Met and have her say she wants us to wait 'til she is done with the book signing so she can come and hang out with us and talk over a glass of wine and get our email addresses and become our new Best Friend, we really didn't have a chance in the book signing line to do more than have our picture taken. I did manage to squeak out a "Thank you for sharing your Gift with us" before moving along and letting the next person in line have their turn. It was all run very smoothly and efficiently, which is good, because the parking garage closed at midnight and we were very near the end of the line. She has literally had to have signed 10s of 1000s of books and while she was very kind, I doubt that she would want to do anything to make it take any longer than it did and out of respect for her, we didn't want to do that to her either.
We made the drive back yesterday, getting home a bit after 4pm. I almost immediately took a restorative nap, with Olive, making everything right with the world again - If you can discount the pile of dishes in the sink and the thick coating of dog hair on the floor. It is clear that my family needs tutorials in "How to Efficiently Load, Run, and Unload The Dishwasher" and "The Vacuum Cleaner and Why We Use It". It is also clear that I Am Needed Here. (even if sometimes they probably don't think so and would never admit it.) Today, and for the next few days, I'll be catching up on what didn't get done while I was on my whirlwind adventure. But definitely worth it. Definitely.
Love,
Kim
