BOOKSIGNING
IN OMAHA
Me, in line. when I left after I got my book signed, it was 7:30, full dark and there was still a LONG LONG LINE outside. Amazing turnout.
Just to give you an idea of the crowd that was there for the book signing for The Pioneer Woman
I got in line at 3:30 for a 5 pm signing
I felt like I was pretty close to the front of the line but what I didn't realize was there was one of those windy lines inside, with the back and forth, roped off area. I ended up waiting...from my 'pretty close to the front' position...2 1/2 hours to get my book signed...that's 2 1/2 hours after 5 pm. 4 hours in all.
The line stretched the full length past me to the end of this huge Bakers grocery store.
And then, look at this picture below, these folks facing forward...the line, twisted back...all the way BACK the length of the Bakers Grocery store.
The guy with the cowboy hat is Marlboro Man. Ree Drummond's husband. Famous from her blog.
I'm standing inside the grocery store now, finally and he was in there, he signed some books.
Here, below, in the next picture are her two sons. She's got four kids, her older two are girls and they weren't at the signing. I heard Ree say she and her husband and the boys drove up to Omaha from Oklahoma where they live.
I asked the boys if they'd pose for a picture and they were so polite and smiled so nicely.
Then, later, seriously a LOT later, I asked Marlboro Man and the boys to pose again and they could not have been nicer. I suppose they're trying to keep everyone who is waiting happy, bless their hearts.
Finally I'm inside and you can see that Ree is taking time to get her picture taken with anyone who asks. She was so generous with her time.
Now look at this picture below. Look at the stack of books this lady is buying. This happened over and over and over. People buying four, five, eight books. I suppose maybe buying them for Christmas gifts? Signed books make nice gifts. But there were hundreds of people in line and almost all of them were buying multiple books, in many cases, more then two. I can't imagine how many books she sold.
And now, f inally it's my turn!
She took a minute or even a bit more with everyone. The line was close enough I could see her do it. Bless her heart. I can't imagine how exhausted she must have been. But you couldn't tell it. She just had a great smile and energy and she was more than just polite. She seemed genuine and interested and really lovely. In the red bag, I brought her some books and candy and a few other things.
We've talked just a couple of times through email and she seemed to remember me. If she didn't, she faked it brilliantly, God bless her. LOL Poor lady. I gave her really upscale chocolate from Stam Chocolatier and also, from the same place, a little bag of tiny 'ears of corn' pralines with Cornhusker logos on them and the bag. Trying to give her a little taste of the Cornhusker state.
And that's my brush with fame. The Pioneer Woman. What an experience. I felt like I was standing in line for Rolling Stones Tickets. Of course I WOULDN'T stand in line for Rolling Stones tickets, but for the Pioneer Woman, SURE!
