Diana in all her glory

I just got home, and yes I am already in my PJs - you know me so well - and of course I know that we all had this day marked on our calendars for ages... but Diana Gabaldon was speaking tonight at the Vertigo theatre. I went because I am engrossed in her novels - all of them - and of course mildly obsessed with her incredibly complex characters - namely Jamie and Claire.....

On a side note - for those of you who have no clue what I am talking about - shame on you - but really, I am referring to the Outlander series of books that Diana has written. At present there are 6 books of Jamie and Claire, with a confirmed 2 more (I found that out tonight for certain) and 2 books of Lord John Grey with 3 more "short stories" due out in 5 weeks also about Lord John.

Back on the main topic though - tonight she spoke to a very large crowd, and she was wonderful. So witty and funny - a very impressive public speaker but in a past life she was a university professor and would speak to large lecture theatres of students about human physiology. Yep, her background is in no way connected to the books .. in fact she has a BSc in Zoology, a MSc in Marine Biology, and a PhD in Ecology - but the fact remains, she can really work a crowd and work it well. She had us laughing hysterically about the origins of writing Outlander and how she came about the beloved characters of Jamie, Claire, Jenny, Murtagh etc etc... ahh the memories....

Seriously.. I am so ADD tonight, what is wrong with me???

Sorry - She continued her story about Outlander, about how busy her life was when she started it at the age of 35, while all 3 children were under the age of 6, while she was an assistant professor at a university, while she wrote and published a quarterly scientific journal about using computers (remember this was the late 80's) for scientific research and while she also wrote freelance for a number of other computer magazines - that's right she did all of this at the same time... AND her husband was setting up his own business.... how's that for multitasking???

After the story of Outlander she read an excerpt from her 7th book - much to our delight... and I won't even be embarrassed to admit - I was enthralled... page after page she held our complete attention... and she even did a scottish accent... wicked!

After that we did a question and answer period - really good questions - my favourite was of course the one in reference to the movie deal she is working on - I think it needs to be a years long series myself but I digress... the movie deal is upcoming and then of course there is another Outlander book on the way - she says she will be finished writing it by the end of the next year (that's 2008) and then of course its out for publishing so it might take another year...ughhhhh....... I certainly cannot wait that long, but I suppose I must.

When it was finished we were all heading out to the lobby and guess who I ran into???

DIANA - I got to hold open the door for her, in fact I think I touched her writing hand (yikes I sound like a stalker), and she looked right at me, said "Wow, quite a crowd tonight" to which I thoughtfully replied "Yes, there certainly is" and then I let her pass with a smile - that was my brush with fame - and I loved it... she is so great, and with everything she has accomplished in her life, I am inspired... really I am - but from this mess of a post I am sure you cannot see it...

Oh, another funny question that came up was about Gerard Butler and if he would be suitable to play Jamie in the film version ... Diana said her was close - and that in itself says quite a bit! (Lanster, Leni, and Rachel - that was for you... and Denise, well I know you don't know Jamie yet but I know you love Gerard so that was for you too!)