you’re not supposed to talk to strangers … but here’s why i am.
the (hilarious) talking portion of the evening ended and flowed into the signing part. we stepped and shuffled and looked around trying to figure out where the line began. all i knew is that i was at the back of it. i left my bag guarded by G and settled in to wait.
librarian: oh, maggie, we have a signing table over here for you.
and just like that, the end of the line became the beginning and i was the third person handed a post-it note with my (first) name on it. being #3 was good (not a long wait) and bad (i only had two people in front of me to figure out what to say).
let me illustrate via tweets (read from the bottom up) what was roughly going through my brain at this moment:
okay, so, that was me 2 hours before the event and now THERE WAS ONLY ONE PERSON in front of me before it was my turn. i still hadn’t decided what to say! holy cow it was my turn! so fast! be calm, mumford. be cool, mumford. stop grinning like a lunatic, mumford. get your head in the game, mumford.
me: hi.
maggie: how are you?
me: i’m good and you? *sheesh, could i have BEEN any more boring?* *say what you meant to say*
maggie: thanks for coming tonight.
maggie: *looked at post-it note with name on it* wait, abby mumford?
me: *eyes widened* *tongue dangled out of mouth**crickets chirped* *somehow nodded*
maggie: i recognized your eyeballs.
me: *slightly confused because, look again at my avatar. me = sunglasses and this was the only way she could have known of me* *went with it* hmm, well, yes, they are out. no sunglasses at night for me.
maggie: *signed page*
me: *quickly changed subject because the line is long and i had to say this* thank you for writing THE SCORPIO RACES. that book! oh. that book. *there were too many things to say about it and all the words tried to come out at once* *mumbled some plus she knew my name!* *stopped talking*
maggie: oh, what’s your favorite part?
me: when sean comes over for dinner.
maggie: and he brings the bread. yes! when there’s that line “you’re my weakness,” my husband told me “that’s the money shot.”
me: oh, that was a good one! *wanted to say more* *peered at loooong line behind me* well, thank you, maggie!
p.s. if i want to get technical, i suppose this post should be named conversations with acquaintances #1.
p.p.s. i can’t stop smiling.
Abigail Mumford 
yay for you! i’m sure it was a flabbergasting moment when she recognized you…and your eyeballs :)
it was an out of body experience for (a) someone to recognize me, (b) as me and not as a celebrity lookalike and (c) by someone i admire so much. it was a good night.
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!! AAAAAAWWWWWW!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Cast of characters in order of appearance:
THIS IS ALL SO EXCITING!
OMG SHE RECOGNIZED YOU AND YOU GOT TO TELL HER ABT TSR HOW ADORKABLE IS THAT!
SO DISAPPOINTED I HAD TO MISS IT!
i was telling G about the “this is teen” event we went to and how nervous you were to talk to maggie and i was all, she’s a person, you’ll be fine, relax. and then i read TSR and then i became the girl who needed to be calmed down while waiting in line. :)
I get this, I really do!
:)
Oh, man. That is soooo exciting!!!
it really was!
aBby, you are a complete spaz LOVE IT!!!…. Isn’t it awesome to be all fanboy around your fav’s. Julie says a fav actor of mine, Jason Lee, had that..”who is this obsessed guy and do I need a restraining order” look, when I got to meet him! Fortunately I keep it together when I get to meet my favorite bands!!!
it’s a control spaz. a very controlled one, indeed. my mind is going a zillion miles a minute, which is why i often can’t talk and fortunately, my smile is very non-threatening. *phew*