My Two Cents- Fangirling
The Urban Dictionary describes Fangirling as this:
fangirling
v. 1. the reaction a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her "affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, fierce head shaking as if in the midst of a seizure, wet panties, endless blog posts, etc.
2. a gathering of two or more fangirls in which they proceed to waste endless amounts of time ogling, discussing/arguing, stalking, etc. the object of their "affection"
See also: fangirl, glomp, squee, groupie
Yes, I have fangirled, in fact, more than a few times in the last year have I been at a point that I could not breath or form complete sentences and even have been reduced to tears. It happens to all of us and I am here to tell you that it is okay.
Authors, like so many of us, are my rock stars. I read a book, fall completely in love with the story and characters and have all these feelings. Who better to talk to then the creator of the wonderfulness,right? Then, I think of all the things I want to ask, look up their websites and see when our meeting may occur, wait for the day, walk up to the table and forget everything I am going to say and become a babbling mess. Or even better, a friend introduces me to a most amazing author, and I have no idea who she is until said friend elbows me and says “You know, you have her books in your room for the signing tomorrow!” Then it occurs to you that the person you were just introduced to unbeknownst to you has a real name and not just intial as a first name. Yes, that has happened to me too.
I want to stress that even though you want to crawl under the table and die, DON’T!!! Take a breath and remember that the glorious, most talented person in front of you is a person and wants to talk to you too. Author’s want to talk to you. They want to hear how you feel and why you feel the way you do. Just be you. You are amazing and special and have put thought and time to come see this person and that means something.
I have had some fascinating author encounters and the ones that have really stood out are the ones where I got over my “I’m not worthy” attitude and just talked. I have even made a few friends out of these signings. The most recent fangirl moment was meeting Sandra Brown.
Sandra Brown was one of my Big Mama’s, my grandmother that meant everything to me, favorite author. She became one of my favorite too. The book that I took with me for her to sign was really special to me. You see, it was the last book that sat by my Big Mama’s chair before she died. I know she had finished it and it was one of the few things that I took just for me after her passing. I have had that book on my shelf for all these years. So the night before the signing, Ms. Brown was having dinner with a whole slew of people and I did not want to bother her but when the room started getting full, she was still sitting there and I thought, I need to go talk to her but I couldn’t. A blogger friend had already meet her so I grabbed her and said introduce me and she did. It was spectacular. I needed to tell her how much I loved her and what she meant to my grandmother, and as tears were rolling down my face, I did. I stopped, took a breath and spoke, then took a picture and said thank you and she hugged me. The next day, when I went to get my book signed, she talked to me and told me she had told her husband about me. This is when it hit me, if I had not have gotten my head together, I would never have had this experience.
DO NOT miss out on the ride. It is so worth it. Talk to your favorite authors. Be active. You might get another chance but again, you might not.
The Urban Dictionary describes Fangirling as this:
fangirling
v. 1. the reaction a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her "affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, fierce head shaking as if in the midst of a seizure, wet panties, endless blog posts, etc.
2. a gathering of two or more fangirls in which they proceed to waste endless amounts of time ogling, discussing/arguing, stalking, etc. the object of their "affection"
See also: fangirl, glomp, squee, groupie
Yes, I have fangirled, in fact, more than a few times in the last year have I been at a point that I could not breath or form complete sentences and even have been reduced to tears. It happens to all of us and I am here to tell you that it is okay.
Authors, like so many of us, are my rock stars. I read a book, fall completely in love with the story and characters and have all these feelings. Who better to talk to then the creator of the wonderfulness,right? Then, I think of all the things I want to ask, look up their websites and see when our meeting may occur, wait for the day, walk up to the table and forget everything I am going to say and become a babbling mess. Or even better, a friend introduces me to a most amazing author, and I have no idea who she is until said friend elbows me and says “You know, you have her books in your room for the signing tomorrow!” Then it occurs to you that the person you were just introduced to unbeknownst to you has a real name and not just intial as a first name. Yes, that has happened to me too.
I want to stress that even though you want to crawl under the table and die, DON’T!!! Take a breath and remember that the glorious, most talented person in front of you is a person and wants to talk to you too. Author’s want to talk to you. They want to hear how you feel and why you feel the way you do. Just be you. You are amazing and special and have put thought and time to come see this person and that means something.
I have had some fascinating author encounters and the ones that have really stood out are the ones where I got over my “I’m not worthy” attitude and just talked. I have even made a few friends out of these signings. The most recent fangirl moment was meeting Sandra Brown.
Sandra Brown was one of my Big Mama’s, my grandmother that meant everything to me, favorite author. She became one of my favorite too. The book that I took with me for her to sign was really special to me. You see, it was the last book that sat by my Big Mama’s chair before she died. I know she had finished it and it was one of the few things that I took just for me after her passing. I have had that book on my shelf for all these years. So the night before the signing, Ms. Brown was having dinner with a whole slew of people and I did not want to bother her but when the room started getting full, she was still sitting there and I thought, I need to go talk to her but I couldn’t. A blogger friend had already meet her so I grabbed her and said introduce me and she did. It was spectacular. I needed to tell her how much I loved her and what she meant to my grandmother, and as tears were rolling down my face, I did. I stopped, took a breath and spoke, then took a picture and said thank you and she hugged me. The next day, when I went to get my book signed, she talked to me and told me she had told her husband about me. This is when it hit me, if I had not have gotten my head together, I would never have had this experience.
DO NOT miss out on the ride. It is so worth it. Talk to your favorite authors. Be active. You might get another chance but again, you might not.