Sojourns (Tales from the Road)
Bonn, Germany - Sep 2005
From
Christiane (narrative) and Monika (photos)
for a German narrative please visit Monika's website
"What a fantastic location for such an event - Bouvier Bookshop in Bonn had rented the old and very worthy Metropol Cinema for the occasion, which had been luxuriously renovated not too long ago and thus presented itself in gold and silver and peach. Pure luxury from the Fifties! The crowd, which was spectacular --600 people, among them about 22 men--, queued across the width of Market Place. Luckily our little group of nine had special seats in the front row, since Barbara Schnell (the German translator) had had them reserved for us. Us, that's the German Forumites of the Books and Writers Community, or at least those who could make it. We had been excited for weeks but none of us had been able to read through The Book before the event, since it only came out on the Sept. 7th , and only Moni (that's Monika Berrisch) had nearly finished it by the 14th (but was shushed down several times as she tried again and again to tell us about it). We had all met at Moni's in the afternoon for a cup of coffee and a nice little glass of bubbly before hitting the tram for the city. So, when the lights went down and the worthy Cologne Caledonian Pipe Band marched up the stage and began to play I nearly fell off my seat. Luckily they stopped in time, but I could no longer hear. Of course, that was when Diana came on stage.
Someone had arranged two dignified leather armchairs and a nice old-fashioned floor lamp around a little table with water and glasses on the right side of the stage, whereas on the left side was a lectern and the microphone. Obviously the decoration people had forgotten to inform the performing people what they meant by this, and furthermore, nobody had provided a private offstage room for Diana, so when she came onstage, she had her purse and her manuscript in her hands, turned to the lectern, - since that was where the mike was - and tried to get rid of her purse by tucking it between her feet. No, by leaning it against the foot of the lectern.
Then she started to introduce herself and I thought my ears were still blogged by the infernal noise of the bagpipes before, but indeed the microphone was not really turned up loud enough. However, not everybody was as deaf as me and when she started to read an excerpt from The Book, Barbara Schnell's short translation was not really necessary since everybody laughed at the right places and was very happy.
Unfortunately the lectern had been made for someone of Jamie's size, but as Diana is not such a large person, we had to crane our necks to see her just like she had to crane her neck to read from her manuscript. Which was again rather touching, because the stage looked so awe-inspiring with its six gigantic banners announcing the six books, colourful against elegant black velvety curtains, the stuffed arm chairs, all the gold right and left of the stage, but then there was Herself: small, clad all in black (Diana's German fanclub had had black t-shirts printed with the book cover in gold and given her and Barbara one) becharming the crowd with her slightly husky voice, .
After two long excerpts (Roger's sermon and the snake, and J&C in their bedroom after returning from the burned cabin) and a lot of questions which Diana posed herself and then answered, as she was unable to see the audience because of the stage lights, she began signing books. The audience queued well-behaved on only one side of the stage and out into the lounge and beyond, as asked, (this is Germany, we are orderly people), while our little group went upstairs to the Metropol's bar in order to wait for the end of the signing as we had been promised a beer at a local together with Diana and the numerous and very nice Schnell family. Of course, only after Diana had signed our book stacks, too. (Really, some people took along as much as 6 books --just imagine the weight! that's all hardbacks!- what on earth do they do with them? Auction them at e-bay's for a profit?)
At the pub, Diana agreed to have a glass of the rather light Kölsch beer, a local brew which is quite bitter for all its lightness, but she kindly maintained she liked it. At least, she said, she liked it better than being poisened by Federweißer (like two years ago, when Monika Berrisch thus tried to imprint herself on Diana's mind - and we all know now why she did that!) (*gd&r*). However, the light little Kölsch knocked us out all the same and we finally went home at nearly one o'clock in the morning, tired but cheerful after a truly splendid evening."
Jacksonville, FL - Oct 2005
From Susan
"I was outside the door at 8 a.m. with 3 other very lovely people and we received the 1st 4 numbers. By 9 a.m., the line stretched down to the end of the shopping center. Diana arrived promptly at 3 looking very regal and well....very Diana-ish! She was serenaded on her way in by members of the Jacksonville Pipes and Drums andspoke for about 40 minutes before signing books. There was a great contingent of the Ladies of Lallybroch sitting in the front row - as you can see from the picture. I brought Diana some Diet Coke and salmon on the advice of Lea from Mesa, AZ who thought she might need it (rather than strong whiskey) at this point in the signing schedule! I'm not sure of the final numbers, but I believe it was around 300!"
Washington, DC - National Book Fair, Sep 2005
From Connie, Harrisburg, PA
"My
husband and I arrived at 9:30 and I promptly went and bought a copy of A Breath
of Snow and Ashes. I'm glad I did as I heard later it sold out in both tents.
We walked around a bit and then found good seats in the tent where Diana would
speak. She was scheduled second, and I could tell I wasn't the only one politely
waiting through another author to listen to Herself. Even my husband enjoyed her
talk and the question and answer session.
After her talk, I immediately
walked to the other end of the mall and got in line to be told there wasn't much
chance of having my book signed as she was scheduled for an hour. My husband thought
I would leave (silly man) but I said I would stay until they said "that's
it" or I got my book signed. Diana graciously stayed for a second hour, and
I got my book signed with 10 minutes to spare!
I was thrilled. Thanks
soo much Diana for being loyal to your fans!"
NB: I would like to thank Seana and Jane for being my first two guinea pigs in my new experiment, and I'd like to apologize because you know that being the first at anything is not always the most positive experience. I haven't quite figured out what to do with pictures, so I've just put them up because I really wanted to get the site up this weekend. -- Rosana
Naperville, Illinois - September 30, 2005
From Seana
"You would think sitting in the very front row and having the #1 spot in the signing line would mean a million pictures. I was so hypnotized by being in the same room with Diana I simply wasn't thinking of snapping tons of pictures :) (I'm sure the next time I see her I will be snap happy.) And with that....the photos:
"The
dancers were a troop called "Thistle and Heather Highland Dancers".
They were amazing! They performed several Highland dances including the "Sword
Dance". My mom and I ran into Kenneth, the piper, in the
parking lot
before the event and he was nice enough to let us snap a picture. After she spoke,
Diana graciously stood next to the podium so people could take pictures before
the book signings started.Seana&Diana=This is me with Herself. My mom got
a picture of Diana looking at the camera :) so I will send that one also, if you'd
like, just as soon as my mom scans them to me. My Ticket=My ticket for the signing
line. I was thrilled when I called to find out I was the first. I was even more
exited when I heard over 500 tickets for the event were sold. Poor Diana must
have been there until after midnight!
I
could recount my experience from the time I left my house until the time I got
home but...I'm sure every email you receive is full of the same excited babble,
so...I will spare you. :) I will say it was an amazing
experience and I look
forward to seeing Diana again when she's close by. I can't wait to see the other
pictures you've collected."
From Jane
"I could not believe the crowd. I bought a book and my number was 309. So by the time I got to Diana she had signed 308 book (actually many, many more than that because people had multiple books for her to sign. She was so gracious. She spoke before the signing and then answered questions. I was so impressed with what she had to say and how she said it! She has to be a genius! It was one of the most entertaining talks I have ever heard."
Germany - Sep 2005
Barbara Schnell, Diana's German translator, has provided a pictorial review of Diana's 2005 (and 2003) tour. The photos are up on Barbara's website.