Billsbabe, Cherie, a.k.a., cjcsbennett attended a Charlaine Harris book signing in New Orleans on October 31 and below she shares her experience with The Vault. Thanks Cherie!
Going to a Charlaine Harris book signing was a blast. And what better time and place than on Halloween afternoon just outside the French Quarter? It was a great experience and I’m thrilled to share it with The Vault. The location was The Garden District Book Store. We arrived at the store around 12:30, with a good amount of people already there. The atmosphere was pretty fun and was a great way to mingle with the fans of the books, and there were actually quite a few people who were fans of the True Blood and just wanted to meet the person who started it all. It was a great mix of people.
Shortly before Charlaine came out, the store employees went around handing each person number placements and asked if they wanted anything specific for Charlaine to sign. I went simple, just asking for her to include my name in my Dead Until Dark paperback.
They had everyone line up shortly before Charlaine came out. The store was actually in a building that housed a few other shops, but it was really small. There were probably 200 or so people there, so the place was jam-packed. I was #96, so I took my place and line and began the long wait. The store employees came around and passed out candy and they were even selling bottles of True Blood.
I talked to the other fans, and had a great time discussing the books as well as the show. I had my Team Bill shirt on, so they immediately knew which character was my favorite. Bill fans were well represented, judging from the people I spoke to. I received a lot of compliments about my shirt. I will admit that I was also in the midst of a lot Eric fans and the girl who was behind me was a huge Eric fan, and we talked about how we both hated the whole “Team” wars going on in fandom. We also had a good chat about how the show has changed things up a bit, but appreciated that there are plenty of surprises for the book fans who watch the show.
My husband, who didn’t wait in line, was sitting right near Charlaine’s table, so he was texting me some of the questions people were asking. I think the funniest one was her being asked if True Blood was better than Twilight! I died when I read that text. Judging from the texts my hubby was sending, she had more questions about the show than the actual books! But, my hubby told me that Charlaine was a great sport about it, talking about how much she enjoyed the show, the people involved with the show, etc.
My Mom, who was also with us, stood in line with me and was pretty excited about seeing Charlaine. She works with a lot of True Blood fans, so she wanted her picture taken with her so she could show it off to her co-workers. This is the same woman who kids me for watching Season 1 on Blu-Ray as much as I do! LOL. I will say this about her: She has admitted that she thinks Stephen is “handsome” so she gets “Cool Mom” points from me from me!
When I finally got up to get my book signed (I think I waited for over an hour), I decided to keep things simple, so I just told her that I enjoyed her work. She looked at my shirt and said “Oh great, a Bill gal”! I told her that I am a huge Stephen Moyer fan and I also mentioned how I just recently joined the ranks of countless BillsBabes! I asked for a picture, Mom included, and she happily obliged. Also, at the table were bookmarks and temporary tattoos for people to take. I grabbed the tattoos and was warned by my Mom that I didn’t need any more tattoos (I have 6)!
And just like that, my time was up. I had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed mingling with other fans. It’s an experience that I won’t soon forget. It made my vacation to New Orleans even better!
What a delightful read. Thanks for sharing your memorable encounter with Charlaine. I love book signings; I have yet to attend my first and you got me green with envy. I am so glad you had a lot of fun.
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Thanks, Cherie, for sharing your experiences with us. Bless your hubby and mom for participating with you. Sounds like a grand good time. You got to meet book and show fans, and exchange thoughts and ideas. Very well written. Kudos to you!
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Cherie, thanks so much for sharing your experience! Sounds like a fun time was had by all, and you represented the Billsbabes very well. :)
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Cherie Great Read ! Thank you for going to this and representing not only The Billsbabes but Team Bill! Looks like you had a great time in NOLA and at the Book signing. Great pictures – thank you for including them. How cool it is to be able to meet the “original maker” of our wonderful Sookie Universe.
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Dorothea (LISMlvr) Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 16:13
Cherie, thanks so much for taking the time to write about your day with Charlaine. The pictures are lovely. It’s nice to be around others who have the same affliction…I mean affection, for the books, the show and the characters.
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Thank you for the wonderful report, Cherie!! It sounds like you had a great time and thanks for representing us Billsbabes at the event!! The lovely Bill couldn’t have had a better representative!
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Great read Cherie! I know you had a good time in NO….how could you not! Thank you for sharing your experience with us and wonderful to have a Bill Lover to represent the Billsbabes at this event.
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Cherie,Thanks for sharing your experience with us. What a great way to spend Halloween afternoon, with the woman who started it all! ;-)
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Cherie, thanks so much for sharing your vacation with us. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I’d love to meet CH and given the chance pick her brain. lol Love the pics and you represented us in grand style.
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I’m so glad everyone enjoyed my report! I was thrilled when Sterling suggested I do one for the site. And seeing Merlotte’s waitresses on Bourbon street on Halloween night was a real treat.
Spending Halloween in New Orleans is going to go down as one of my favorite vacations. There was just so much fun to be had and you really get a feel of the spookier aspects of the city. Such a great vibe.
I usually hate having my picture taken, but for this one time, I just had to make an exception. lol
Again, thanks for the kinds words!
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Cherie, thanks for sharing, and it sounds like you had a blast down there! How fun to get to meet Ms. Harris!
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Cherie, love your T-shirt! and glad you had a great time meeting Mrs. H. Thanks for sharing.
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Cherie, thanks for sharing this wonderful experience with us. Great articles and pictures, glad you had fun!
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Thanks for sharing; glad you had a safe, fun time!
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