Hello! I was just getting around to this. After grocery shopping, I skipped work, got a sitter, dropped off Danny at boxing practice, and with twenty minutes to make it, I headed for Scottsdale. Along the way, I listened to a pretty good podcast by the Writer's Panel. I was kind of engrossed, and the free valet parking took too long - by the time I found a parking space, I was fashionably late for Diana Gabaldon's event. I purchased a brand new copy of the original, although I did not get the fifty dollar "Making of Outlander" being endorsed. I brought a copy of one of the Lord John books, just in case she would sign two, giving me a moment more of her time. I stepped into the room, awkwardly sidled to the rear center of the room. Of course there were no seats left . . I noticed that Diana was drinking a glass of wine while she spoke, and I remembered seeing the cash bar advertised and I was honestly struggling with the decision of make a potentially embarrassing faux pas. (Hey, I could see that this would take a few hours and no one was giving up a seat - I would remain dead center) One of the representatives from the Poisoned Pen, the local bookstore sponsoring the event, snuck past me.
"psst, where's the bar?"
He smiled and gestured for me to follow.
I quickly ordered a small well brandy (rocks) and returned to my spot.
What a pleasant surprise!
. .after a lomg line . . .
Poisoned Pen guy offered to take pictures with my phone
She looks at me and i say
"Now that I'm finally here, I don't even know what to say" (felt like an "I carried a watermelon" moment)
her response:
(smiling brilliantly) "It's fine," (gently taking the book from my hands while maintaining eye contact) "There's only one way to spell "Naomi", right?"
We had an actual conversation. I thought it was a little strange that she new my name before I told it to her, but then I remembered having introduced myself during the question answer portion, then complimented her by saying that her choice to write Claire in the first person was a feat that few writers could pull off with that degree of precision. I asked her if she felt more at home writing Claire than the other characters. She answered using sex as an example. She said something to the degree that some men come close to understanding what it is to be a woman, or maybe a few men can write sex scenes with a little bit of accuracy. The end result of her answer was the she is Claire, no one else can be Claire (although she also asserted that she was Jaime - and I understand that) We all had a good laugh.
She spoke for over an hour, fielded questions, then took the time afterward to discuss writing with me. The line grew impatient, but it really didn't take that long. As we spoke, she noticed that I had a second book of hers with me.
"would you like me to sign that one too?"
Classy lady. (where does she get the stamina?)
She is a beautiful person. I know that the pictures are not my best, but that's fine by me.
