all right, now here's my version of events:

i'll start with the night before, i had just found out from ottis that we were going to have dinner with nora before the book signing. i was basically in shock when i found out!! i know we were going to meet her at the book signing, but DINNNER?!?!? let me tell you i was in heaven, and soo hyper the girls on my floor were quite happy to see me off to work that night. i even called my parents and have them put me on speaker phone so i could tell them at the same time. they were very happy for me:) so i go to work, get off work, sleep for five hours, go to class and finish at eleven. i go to lunch with my friends after that, and when i tell them who i'm having dinner with that night, they asked me how i managed it, and i told them about how ottis had been talking to nora and her publicity people to work out a time, basically a "my people talked to her people" type of deal. so everyone was really happy for me 'cause i'm known down here among my friends for the number of romance novels i have.

well, i went back to my room and packed up my clothes, and the books that i wanted her to sign. only problem was that i couldn't make up my mind, so, as the others will attest to, half of my bag was my books, and not all of them (i did manage to weed some out). i managed to have everything with me that i wanted to bring, my "little" present for nora, my pictures that nancy decreed we bring, clothes for dinner and the next morning, and my books. i went out to the front of my hall to wait for ottis, was giving me a ride. apparently, she circled 3 times before she noticed me in front. i didn't see her at all, probably 'cause i was noticing how many red cars there are in town:) well, we finally get out to the mcdonald's where we are meeting the others, and we hear a honking behind us, but we didn't see anyone. as we're getting out of the car a chevy blazer pulls in next to us, and we immediately wave. i recognized nancy from her picture from ttp, but when she got out of the car she asked us how we knew it was her since we had waved at her as she pulled in. we told her about the honking, but she said it wasn't her. what can i say? serendipity. we all go in, but did not expect to see diane and lisa 'cause we hadn't seen a truck with wisconsin plates in the lot, but there they were. well we talked and showed pictures while waiting for check-in time at the hotel. when we get to the hotel, we sit and talk and get to know one another, nancy passed out the homemade cookies she had made for all of us. and at one point nancy pours coffee down her shirt, and at this point she and diane had been complaining about sue's lack of a coffee machine in her apartment. we then compare the books we brought to have signed, and we try to figure out how many nora will sign. diane had a "promise me tomorrow", diane and ottis had a first edition "irish thoroughbred", i can't remember what nancy and lisa had, but i remember lisa had about 7. and then there was me with my bag full of books, there were about 40. i finally decided on my hardcovers, "sanctuary" and "public secrets" and then "hidden star" and "captive star" because i already had "secret star" signed. we go to dinner, all 5 of us packed into ottis' car, and we get to timpone's. i'm giving directions since this is in the heart of campus. we get there and tell them that we're part of the roberts party, they lead us up the stairs and there's nora and her driver. it was just like "WOW!" nora was looking good in a black suit and pink blouse. i introduced myself and gave her, my present, 44 oz. M&M;'s and 2 litre dp, which was "wrapped" in a paper bag from dominick's. so i was unimaginative in my presentation, what can i say? i'm a poor college student. well we're talking and nancy asks if nora's suit is new, and nora said no, but this tour is her "black" tour with all of the black she's been wearing. she tells us about the tour, what an idiot her publicist is by making her wake up at 5 am in new york just to fly to chicago and sit around for four hours, and how she's going to relax with bruce when it's over. it was like talking with a friend. nancy is leading the conversation with nora pretty much though, since she had met nora before. yes, nancy got to sit next to nora this time around. i know i said some things, despite telling my parents i would probably sit there with my mouth hanging open the entire time , but i don't really remember what. lisa was pretty quiet when nora was there. she said in the car that she was just really shy, and it was the QUEEN! well we go to the book signing and get the books we had placed on reserve, and then all go find the little girls room, because we're not all about to stand in the line as long as it was and wait till after! well we get in this line that is kind of long, but it moves fast. ottis went and found her friends, judy and robin, and told them that we had dinner with nora. ottis said they didn't seem that impressed, but the lady behind them sure was. well we get to the front and nancy notices that one of the workers from the store who welcomed us is wearing this apron that says "nora roberts is j.d. robb" nancy offers $50 right then and there, but the woman smartly keeps the apron. we had nora sign our books, and while i was waiting for everyone else i found out the store was giving some mousepads with the "homeport" cover art on it away. i went and got the last one, and i got in line again and got nora to sign it. nancy went to get one and instead got this poster of the "homeport" cover. it was very nice. we then took pictures with nora again and said goodbye, it was just great! we then went to chili's and had desert, soo good! and then went back to the hotel room and compared inscriptions. we were all pooped and got ready for bed. that was a comedy of errors. someone caused the toilet to overflow, you know who you are, the "queen-size" pull-out sure as heck wasn't AND was missing a few springs at the bottom as ottis found out as she sat down and kept going. i had the cot while ottis took the pull-out which we figured was actually smaller than a full-size, diane took the floor (with the seat cushions between her and the floor) since she had her sleeping bag in the truck, and lisa and nancy had the king-size. i, surprisingly enough, fell right asleep after i had read for about ten minutes. i woke up once to go to the washroom, and heard diane sleeping quite soundly . i was the last one to wake up at 7:15 am (i never wake up that early!) because i heard everyone else. we got dressed and went to the hotel's lobby for breakfast, but decided that it wasn't worth it, so we went to bob evans which was very nice. we got back to the hotel, got packed and did inventory of our nora stuff (just kidding!!), talked some more (nancy spilled some more coffee), and said goodbye. it was a lovely ending to a great time. i wish i could see you all again at ttp, but i will be here making money for study abroad. thanks nora, nancy, ottis, diane, lisa, and bill for helping to make this one of the best weekends ever of my life.

katie d.

ps- the cookies are SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOODDDD!!!!!!