Going to see Diana on Saturday!

Just two more days until I see Diana at the Bookmarks Book Festival in Winston-Salem, NC! I'm starting to get very excited! This is only the second time I've gone to one of her appearances; the first was about a year ago in Columbia, MD, just after ECHO came out. Diana is scheduled to give a 45-minute talk, followed by a book-signing, starting at 1 pm on Saturday. The timing of this event, just ten days before THE EXILE's publication, means that Diana won't be signing copies of that book on Saturday. Which is unfortunate, but I'm not really complaining. I will bring other things for her to sign: - The "Green Slime" trade-paperback edition of ECHO - The Hebrew edition of OUTLANDER - The copy of CROSS STITCH that Judy Lowstuter gave me last year - And the "OUTLANDER: The Musical" CD, of course. <g> If any of you are planning to be there, please let me know. I am aware of a handful of people from Compuserve and LOL who have told me they're coming. I should be relatively easy to spot in the crowd; just look for a redhead driving a little electric scooter, sporting the same homemade sign I made for the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in July. I can't wait to see Diana's reaction to the sign when she sees it in person. Maybe she'll autograph it for me? I'll be attending the Bookmarks festival along with my dad. He's not much of a reader of fiction, but he's being a very good sport about the idea of tagging along with me, to help with picture-taking, and to be there in case I need help getting around. My dad has NOT read any of Diana Gabaldon's books, but he's heard me talk about her many times. (My mom is actually much more of a reader than my dad is, but unfortunately she'd already made plans to be elsewhere on Saturday, and isn't going to be able to come with us. Maybe next time.) I'll tell you all about it when I get home! P.S. L'shana tova to all of you who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah today! UPDATE 9/10/2010 5:48 am: Diana has posted a new blog entry about this visit to NC.