The launch of Diana's newest book about Lord John Grey was set for here in Scottsdale/Phoenix the afternoon of August 28. It was 111 degrees that day, just one more day of plus-110 degree days, heading towards a record (which was hit the next day, I think).
I had arranged to go to the book launch with Susan, who works part time for Doug and Diana, and we wanted to get there a bit early in order to avoid the crush of people we knew would be there. I had pre-ordered my book, so as to also get her signature on it there.
We got there around 4:30 - 4:45 (the event was scheduled to begin at 6) and they were still setting up chairs in the store. (The Poisoned Pen is an independent bookstore close to where Diana lives, so she comes in to sign books that have been ordered, etc, - and if you ever want to order books from them, they do a great job - even to Canada! - and she will sign the actual book for you) Anyway, we were not the first ones there, of course, but we found great seats not far from where we figured Diana was going to be standing, and I picked up my book (and got the number tag that is needed for the signing afterwards - which I ended up not needing as it turned out). There was a table with a beautiful black cloth on it, on top of which were a number of the books and a beautiful black velvet man's tricorn with a pretty yellow plume on the side. And behind on the wall was a Fraser tartan draped as a backdrop for a pair of crossed swords - very real looking rapiers (not broadswords, sorry), you know, the thin dueling kind that remind you of Errol Flynn movies. They even had cookies (shortbread) and drinks available. The proprietress, Barbara, had wanted to have a tent set up outside in the parking lot in order to accommodate everyone, but Diana had, thank gosh, nixed that idea - the weather was just TOO hot! The store is chock full of books, of course, and I could do some major damage if I go back - I restrained myself to only buying the new book this time - Lynn, you would love this store! It's an independent bookstore, one of the few left, but they are one of the stores which contribute to the NYT Book lists - which publish the bestseller lists, you recall? - so they must do a pretty good business. (Aside from Diana, they hold events for quite a few writers, mostly of the mystery type, including JA Jance, Clive Cussler, Sara Paretsky, Kathy Reichs, Diane Mott Davidson - you can see all that on their website)
The majority of the audience was women, but there were a few men, some of whom may have been co-erced into going there with their womenfolk, but I'm not sure. Diana arrived shortly after 6, and strolled in dressed in a beautiful cobalt blue and green outfit which fluttered around her - as always, she looked great (and I have to find out from Susan how the pics turned out because I totally forgot my camera). Barbara introduced her and she began to talk in that distinctive voice of hers. She asked if we had any questions. She'd just been mentioning how she thinks of characters as 3 distinct types - mushrooms, onions or nuts - and that Lord John was kind of like a mushroom - fully formed when he appeared to her, just requiring some dusting off. So I attempted to be more intelligent this time than in my last encounter with her and asked how she saw Roger Mac? She said he was an onion - that there continued to be details of him that appeared over time. Other people asked the usual (what I consider silly only because I've heard them asked so many times previously) questions about her name (no, it's Spanish origin, not Scottish), how much she had travelled in Scotland when writing Outlander (none, it was all done by research, she only went to Scotland after the book was published), and was there going to be another book and when (yes, maybe even 2, and probably not out until 2009, although she's written quite a bit of it already - she works on more than one at a time, and avoids writer's block that way). She told a funny story about telling Doug she now had the ending as well as the beginning of Book 8, and that it looked something like a python who'd swallowed a pig at the moment - narrow at both ends but fat in the middle; or maybe like a graduated pearl necklace, where the small pearls are at the beginning and the end and the big ones in the middle with a pendant of some type. And yes, based on the ending, she knows there will be a Book 9 of the Outlander Series.
She talked about the setting for the book, and then asked if we'd like her to read from it - AS IF we would have said 'no'? She read part of the scene wherein Lord John's mother, Benedicta Grey, marries (for the 3rd time) General Sir George Stanley. LJ isn't concentrating on the wedding but on the man beside him, Sir Stanley's stepson Percy Wainwright, and on his cousin Olivia who is hovering behind a column in the church, but isn't doing a good job of hovering considering she is nine months' pregnant - and that is where the story goes - anyway, Diana's reading of the scene was quite fun, and I laughed a bit.
Her next publication date is set for November - this will be her tenth book if you count all the books - Outlander as well as Lord John (the one in November is to be another Lord John), and the bookstore usually does something special for each author's 10th book launch. They are planning a Christmas Tea for that event - yours truly will be in attendance and I'll try to report back after same with details.
Anyway, after she read, was time for the signing. Everyone was moving chairs out of the way, so I slipped in and went to the front of the line to get her signature! I meant to think of something in German to have her write, but drew a blank (so what else is new?), so she wrote, simply, 'To Ruth, Le Meas (Gaelic for 'All the best') and her name.
Susan and I left shortly afterwards and went to The George and Dragon Pub where I had bangers and mash with a shandy for dinner in celebration of the evening.
I had arranged to go to the book launch with Susan, who works part time for Doug and Diana, and we wanted to get there a bit early in order to avoid the crush of people we knew would be there. I had pre-ordered my book, so as to also get her signature on it there.
We got there around 4:30 - 4:45 (the event was scheduled to begin at 6) and they were still setting up chairs in the store. (The Poisoned Pen is an independent bookstore close to where Diana lives, so she comes in to sign books that have been ordered, etc, - and if you ever want to order books from them, they do a great job - even to Canada! - and she will sign the actual book for you) Anyway, we were not the first ones there, of course, but we found great seats not far from where we figured Diana was going to be standing, and I picked up my book (and got the number tag that is needed for the signing afterwards - which I ended up not needing as it turned out). There was a table with a beautiful black cloth on it, on top of which were a number of the books and a beautiful black velvet man's tricorn with a pretty yellow plume on the side. And behind on the wall was a Fraser tartan draped as a backdrop for a pair of crossed swords - very real looking rapiers (not broadswords, sorry), you know, the thin dueling kind that remind you of Errol Flynn movies. They even had cookies (shortbread) and drinks available. The proprietress, Barbara, had wanted to have a tent set up outside in the parking lot in order to accommodate everyone, but Diana had, thank gosh, nixed that idea - the weather was just TOO hot! The store is chock full of books, of course, and I could do some major damage if I go back - I restrained myself to only buying the new book this time - Lynn, you would love this store! It's an independent bookstore, one of the few left, but they are one of the stores which contribute to the NYT Book lists - which publish the bestseller lists, you recall? - so they must do a pretty good business. (Aside from Diana, they hold events for quite a few writers, mostly of the mystery type, including JA Jance, Clive Cussler, Sara Paretsky, Kathy Reichs, Diane Mott Davidson - you can see all that on their website)
The majority of the audience was women, but there were a few men, some of whom may have been co-erced into going there with their womenfolk, but I'm not sure. Diana arrived shortly after 6, and strolled in dressed in a beautiful cobalt blue and green outfit which fluttered around her - as always, she looked great (and I have to find out from Susan how the pics turned out because I totally forgot my camera). Barbara introduced her and she began to talk in that distinctive voice of hers. She asked if we had any questions. She'd just been mentioning how she thinks of characters as 3 distinct types - mushrooms, onions or nuts - and that Lord John was kind of like a mushroom - fully formed when he appeared to her, just requiring some dusting off. So I attempted to be more intelligent this time than in my last encounter with her and asked how she saw Roger Mac? She said he was an onion - that there continued to be details of him that appeared over time. Other people asked the usual (what I consider silly only because I've heard them asked so many times previously) questions about her name (no, it's Spanish origin, not Scottish), how much she had travelled in Scotland when writing Outlander (none, it was all done by research, she only went to Scotland after the book was published), and was there going to be another book and when (yes, maybe even 2, and probably not out until 2009, although she's written quite a bit of it already - she works on more than one at a time, and avoids writer's block that way). She told a funny story about telling Doug she now had the ending as well as the beginning of Book 8, and that it looked something like a python who'd swallowed a pig at the moment - narrow at both ends but fat in the middle; or maybe like a graduated pearl necklace, where the small pearls are at the beginning and the end and the big ones in the middle with a pendant of some type. And yes, based on the ending, she knows there will be a Book 9 of the Outlander Series.
She talked about the setting for the book, and then asked if we'd like her to read from it - AS IF we would have said 'no'? She read part of the scene wherein Lord John's mother, Benedicta Grey, marries (for the 3rd time) General Sir George Stanley. LJ isn't concentrating on the wedding but on the man beside him, Sir Stanley's stepson Percy Wainwright, and on his cousin Olivia who is hovering behind a column in the church, but isn't doing a good job of hovering considering she is nine months' pregnant - and that is where the story goes - anyway, Diana's reading of the scene was quite fun, and I laughed a bit.
Her next publication date is set for November - this will be her tenth book if you count all the books - Outlander as well as Lord John (the one in November is to be another Lord John), and the bookstore usually does something special for each author's 10th book launch. They are planning a Christmas Tea for that event - yours truly will be in attendance and I'll try to report back after same with details.
Anyway, after she read, was time for the signing. Everyone was moving chairs out of the way, so I slipped in and went to the front of the line to get her signature! I meant to think of something in German to have her write, but drew a blank (so what else is new?), so she wrote, simply, 'To Ruth, Le Meas (Gaelic for 'All the best') and her name.
Susan and I left shortly afterwards and went to The George and Dragon Pub where I had bangers and mash with a shandy for dinner in celebration of the evening.
