i’ll quit saying it soon, promise!

My poor Flickr photostream is now littered with the tag, “I met Diana Gabaldon!!!” With THREE exclamation points, hehe. I even made a new Collection and Set for all my photos of Outlander and Diana. The About page has officially been updated and you know that photo is going to stay there forever. Finally, Before I Die is also updated, with #11 and #40 crossed off, baby! I can’t believe it! wee!

I do want to say more about the event last night! My friend and I got there an hour before it was scheduled to start because there was no way I was going to be late. There were only a couple other people there when we arrived, so we got a good spot in line, which quickly filled up as other fans arrived. We were all standing in line, nearly all of us carrying books for her to sign later. In fact, some people had more than one book, and one chick had a BAG of books. ahem. The girl in front of me in line and I struck a conversation about the books, which was really nice. Then they opened the auditorium for seating, and I got a FRONT ROW SEAT!

Diana was actually almost half an hour late. It was supposed to start at 7, but then one of the organizers came up to the front of the auditorium to say that Diana was stuck in traffic, but that she was on her way! There was literally a collective gasp of panic from the audience when the organizer said she might not make it. But then a few minutes later, this guy appeared, playing bagpipes. I thought, oh, how nice, and took a photo. Then I turned back to the front, and Diana was walking up to the podium! She came in from the back of the auditorium, like a rock star, hehe.

She looks exactly like her photos on her books and online, only prettier, I think. She talks really fast, with enthusiasm, which isn’t surprising since she used to be a professor before she became a published author. She talked about her life before being published, how she came up with Outlander, her writing process, other things like that. She even took some questions from the audience after she spoke.

Then she took a little break, and we all went across the hall for the reception. There was a Celtic group performing (I’m not kidding…Celtica!), and we had some munchies while waiting for Diana to come in. She just sort of glided into the room, all smiles and SO friendly! She talked to people for a while and took photos, then started the book signing.

We had to wait quite a while–it was around 9:30 by the time I got up to her table!–but then I got up there and was SO starstruck, I know I keep saying it, but I was a total dork. Here’s the exchange:

Me, stepping up to the table: Hi!

Diana, smiling: Hi!

Me, handing her my book: I’m so excited to meet you!!

Diana, smiling, taking the book, I think she might have said, oh, thank you! Or something, hehe

Me: Can we take a picture??

Diana, still smiling: Yes.

(So then I sort of crouched beside her and we took the picture.)

Me: Thank you!

Diana, opening my book to sign it (which had a sticky note with my first name on it; they asked us to write our names, so it would be easier for her to spell them right): You’re welcome! Tiffany…I’m writing, “Alba gu bràth,” which means, “Scotland forever.”

Me: Oh, ok!

Diana, handing my book to me: There you go!

Me: Thank you SO much, I appreciate it!

Diana (still smiling!): You’re welcome.

eeeeeeee! She rules, for real. If you’re an Outlander fan, your life is not complete until you meet Diana. She is so gracious and fun to listen to as a speaker, she’s witty and intelligent…and I think she stayed until the last fan’s book was signed, way past 10 PM. That’s just cool. And if you’re not an Outlander fan, go read her books! Go now! hehe