I went to my first Outlander-related event recently (An Evening with Diana Gabaldon in Portland), and it was amazing! It started off with Diana being stopped at the door and told if she wasn’t a volunteer then she needed to wait till the doors opened. That hilarious mistake was quickly resolved. I learned so much about Diana over the course of the evening. Do you know if Diana is Team Star Trek or Team Star Wars? Did you know that Diana buys towels when she completes a book? I could ramble on forever about every detail, but I am going to talk about my top 5 moments from the evening:
One of the first highlights of the evening happened before the event even began. While waiting for the doors to open to the absolutely perfect venue, Portland Center Stage, two stars from the NBC hit show Grimm walked by. David Giuntoli and Bitsie Tulloch smiled and waved to the few us who were standing in line as they passed. It all happened rather quickly so I unfortunately didn’t snap a photo. But it definitely was a great start to the night.
Top Moment #1
After getting checked in, I put my bid number for the silent auction to good use. There were 60+ items up for grabs with all the proceeds going to Clay Street Table, an organization who helps feed those experiencing poverty and homelessness here in Portland. And there was such a great selection of items: jewelry, signed photos, handmade goods, gifts baskets with different themes, some original fan art, books, tickets to a Duck football game, and much more.
I was thrilled to see four paintings by the incredibly talented @thenewredplaid. I have been in love with this picture of Claire the moment Girlfrog posted it on Twitter:
I knew I wouldn’t be the only one who wanted to have this gorgeous painting, so I kept a watchful eye on the bid sheet. There was a sweet elderly lady who had been eyeing the Claire painting as well, so I knew I couldn’t leave it alone until I knew that it was mine. I had the highest bid and the lady made no sign of wanting to continue our bidding war, so I felt pretty confident. Well, turns out that sweet elderly lady I had been chatting up swooped up a pen and outbid me by five bucks. I was crushed!
Thankfully, at the last minute I was able to place one final bid on the Claire painting. I also won two tickets to an Oregon Duck football game (for my ecstatic husband!)
Top Moment #2
Before dinner was served, Diana worked the room taking a few moments with each person to take a photo and have a brief chat. She really must have the patience of a saint. I don’t know how she does it!
I had been thinking about what to say all day. I knew I would only have a few moments at best to chat with her, so I wanted it to be good. I mean who doesn’t hope they say the most amazing thing ever when meeting someone they admire. When my time came all I could think about was my teacher from high school who Diana acknowledges at the end of Outlander. Angie was a member of LitForum where DG would post excerpts, chapters, etc.. So I used the few moments I had with Diana to talk about Angie. Diana flashed me a big smile as soon as I said Angie’s name and told me to say “hi.” I feel like I used my time well. I think it’s awesome that the teacher who had the biggest impact on me in high school has any connection to one of my all-time favorite authors.
Here is a clip of Diana talking about one of her first experiences with CompuServe.
Another highlight of the evening was the food. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love being in the kitchen and absolutely adore a good spread. Eat Your Heart Out Catering did not disappoint. Everything was delicious!
Top Moment #3
As much as I was excited and thrilled to meet Diana for the first time, I was equally excited to meet people that I had been chatting with online for almost a year now. Some are rather elusive so I was never quite sure what they looked like. My only regret is not taking more pictures. Meeting so many wonderful people and seeing their beautiful faces was truly one of the best parts of the whole night for me. I look forward to the next event I’m able to attend so I can meet more amazing Outlander fans!
Top Moment #4
Waiting in line for 2 hours to have Diana sign my copy of Drums of Autumn was something else. This one could go with #3 but it really was an experience all its own. As soon as the interview portion of the evening had ended, everyone headed to main hall to get an item signed by Diana. I was sitting in the first three rows and had made a bee-line for the auction table to collect my items. Before doing that I knew that would put me at the end of line. And I had over 500 people in front of me!
I spent those two hours chatting with the women around me. I think we all had moments of “I just want to get my book signed and go to bed,” but everyone remained in good spirits. This is my first fandom and amazes me all the time how open and welcoming most Outlander fans are with each other. I don’t think I met one person last night who wasn’t an absolute joy to talk with. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate to wait in that line again.
Top Moment #5
The whole f*cking night!! Everything was simply fabulous. All the thought that was put into every single detail was impressive. The table decorations were perfect. And each of the dinner guests received a wonderful little gift bag filled with lovely goodies.
The highland dancers were thoroughly entertaining. I especially loved the smallest dancer; she was 6 years old and the most adorable little lady ever.
The emcee for the night was Catherine Dantas and she was perfect! She was smart, funny and has been a loyal fan for years. Her opening remarks are where I learned that Diana buys towels whenever she finishes a book. And Catherine let Diana know that she wouldn’t be asking questions she gets asked in almost every interview, most of all being when book 9 will be finished; which is when I’m pretty sure I snapped this photo. Diana’s face is priceless:
Then Catherine went right into her questions starting with, “When are you planning on buying new towels?” Everyone, including Diana found it humorous and clever. But of course Diana had the best response. She reminded us that the Outlandish Companion Vol. 2 was coming out in October followed shortly thereafter by the Outlander coloring book, so she would probably be buying new towels in October. She’s a witty one!
Catherine and Diana had a great back and forth throughout the interview. I particularly enjoyed the ‘This or That’ segment. I love learning random facts about famous people. She talks about not being recognized while having lunches with George R.R. Martin and much more in this clip.
Diana was gracious enough to read an excerpt from book 9. I’m currently reading Drums of Autumn, so I was a little nervous about spoilers. But Diana read a spoiler-free excerpt. There were a couple names I didn’t recognize, but I didn’t feel like she gave anything major away. Diana reads an excerpt from Book 9
So that’s my Top 5 Moments from ‘An Evening with Diana Gabaldon’. I had the best time, met so many wonderful people and made some lifelong memories. The event raised more than $20,000 for the Clay Street Table, which is absolutely incredible. Everyone who played a role in making the event happen deserves a party in their honor. It really was the perfect evening. I feel pretty lucky that this was my first Outlander-related event. It’s going to be pretty hard to top this event!
Have you had any favorite Outlander-events?
Written by Jamie C.
Jamie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, her rambunctious son and two dogs. The kitchen is her happy place. She spends too much time online. Chopin makes her cry. She thinks the Outlander fandom is a fun ride and blames That’s Normal for her Barrons obsession. Wishes she could get paid to binge watch shows on Netflix. Ellen Ripley is her spirit animal.
