From Nora -- added on
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 @ 2 A.M. |
Eileen
Long one. Up at five to do morning TV. Met the
kid who plays Dewey on Malcolm in The Middle
in the green room. Very cute. I love that show, so
that was a kick for me.
His mom was with him. I didn't know the kid was
Swedish. Bilingual, with an absolutely adorable
smile. Seemed a bit shy, and a bit tired. I could
relate to the tired part.
Back to the hotel where I stretched out and fell
asleep for twenty glorious minutes. Put self back
together and headed down for next TV thing.
Then we head to Framingham. Had some time--hit
some shopping. Started on Christmas. Ha ha ha!
Just enough time to breeze into a jewelry store
after. Whew! Fabulous stuff there. I bought me a
terrific diamond filigree slide. Very
antique-looking. And a great opal and tanzanite
ring, and a silver bracelet, open work with little
sapphire dots. Good haul. He cleaned all the
jewelry I was wearing, and we dashed out--had him
hold the stuff I wanted--so we could make the lunch
with the BJ's staff. Good food, nice people. I had
some really terrific boiled haddock.
Signed books, chatted, ate, signed t-shirts.
Then back to pick up baubles.
Couple hours to kill in Framingham before the
signing at BJ's. So we stopped into a Borders and
signed much stock. Stopped into a B&N for
ditto. Then hit a Chi-Chi's for a monster
margarita. Marianne and I drank and relaxed and
hung out until it was time to head over.
Early enough arrival to sign most of the stock
ahead of time. There's a delightful man, first in
line, who missed me the last time I was up here.
He's been reading me for some time, and wrote me a
really charming poem.
Nice little crowd of happy people, and the BJ's
staff was so cheery and friendly.
Our driver on this leg is just sweet as he can
be--and gets us everywhere without a hitch.
Back at the hotel, dinner ordered. Going to eat,
unwind and hopefully drop off to sleep early even
though tomorrow lunch/interview is cancelled as the
guy has to be in the hospital. I hope he's okay.
Probably won't need to check out for the drive
to Worcester until about one.
I think I could sleep for 12 hours without any
trouble.
Nora
From Eileen
I almost did not go to the signing at BJ's in
Framingham. Not enough time, too far, the sun was
in my eyes...the usual 10 cent excuses for not
doing what I really want to do.
After receiving assurances from DH that he had
the family under control, I grabbed a soda and
headed for Framingham anyway. It took just under an
hour to travel from Mansfield to the Framingham
BJ's.
This was my rookie experience at a book signing.
What do I do? What do I say? After a relatively
short wait, there she was, my hero, Nora Roberts. I
bowed to her. Well, at least I didn't kneel on the
ground. As far as the hero part goes, here is my
spin on that. I work as a Substitute School Nurse.
Today my assignment was a field trip with 40 fifth
graders to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I
have 4 wonderful children who seem to be involved
in 5 sports and scout troops each. My 8 year old
daughter has challenges and my challenge is to give
her the encouragement and opportunities to create a
happy and fulfilling life. And hubby wants dinner
on the table at 7:30. Plus clean laundry. My hero,
Nora, rescues me. Nora Roberts is a terrific
storyteller and her books allow me to travel
(without jet-lag), meet interesting characters
(without having to be the hostess), and to escape
(without having my family abandoned). So, yes, I
bowed.
I brought my own copy of The Villa, and
the BJ helpers were very wonderful about not making
a sale. I also brought my copies of
Captivated, Entranced, Charmed, and
Enchanted. Nora is every bit as friendly and
nice as everyone has said. I told her she could
sign as many or as little as she wanted. She signed
them all. I told her I want her hands to keep
healthy so she can write more books! We also
chatted about the Red Sox no-hitter at Camden Yards
in Baltimore. The Baltimore fans were a real class
act and were rooting for the Red Sox pitcher, Nomo,
to get the no-hitter.
She mentioned that she will be finishing her
tour next week and you could see that she is
looking forward to going home. I'm glad the weather
was nice for her today. We have had a cold and
miserable spring. Usually, there is green something
starting to bud, but not this year.
I'm so very glad I went. Thank you, Nora
Take care,
Eileen St. James
Nora's The Villa Tour
2001 