Star Struck

It's that time again... hard to believe a week has already passed!! Here I am writing my second well I guess third blog entry. I can't tell you how hard I have worked to make everything go smoothly, yet I have still had numerous problems such as the disappearing photo of Sharon's book cover. Sorry Sharon.

The good news is that after a lot of cuss words and few phone calls to my trusty friend, Sarah, I fixed it. Which leads me to my next thing... I never gave a shout out to Sarah Simas, who helped me get this blog off the ground. Without her I would still be wandering around wishing I had a blog. So hears to you Sarah... thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

And while I am handing out thank you's, I need to give a big Thank you to my first Spotlight Author, Sharon Lathan. What a wonderful interview that was. Don't forget the contest to win the autographed copy of her newest book, My Dearest Mr. Darcy is still going. You have until Friday night at midnight. But you must post on Sharon's interview comment page please. There was a little confusion yesterday and that's okay. :)

Now that I have my thanks you in order, I would like to get onto my post. Believe it or not I actually have something to talk about. If you are a personal friend of mine you will already know this story, but I hope for my sake you will suffer through it one more time. Just kidding.

Maybe you're wondering why I titled this blog Star Struck? Let me explain. These last couple of weeks I have been working diligently to make sure I have a wonderful list of Spotlight authors to interview for my blog and to make sure my readers are happy. I have contacted many authors, a lot of which I have never met in person. A lot of which are New York Times Best Selling authors and if they are not, they are well on their way. Talking to people that you put a level above yourself is not easy. Thank the lord for email. If I would've had to speak to these people in person it never would have happened. I am much braver when it comes to email. Thankfully everyone that I have contacted has been very gracious.

My story tonight has to do with a different sort of start struck.


A little more than a year ago, I was desperate to meet none other than, country music star, Gary Allan. Well, to be more truthful, the desperation actually began a few years back.

My sister in-law and I had been labeled "groupie's" by our children. Groupie's! Can you believe it?

I admit we've made our way to a few concerts, but I think we failed to meet the true definition of a groupie. Def: a fan of a rock group who usually follows the group around the concert tour; We have never followed any of our favorite singers (as much as we would like to) on their entire tour. We have simply caught up with them when they've come into town! Okay, maybe we caught up with them when they were in the next town, too. But never for the entire tour. That is where the fine print comes in and we are clearly not "groupie's!"

Through out the years the two of us have met many of our favorite country music stars. Someday I will share those stories with you as well. I'm sure you can't wait! (wink) I have pictures with many of my favorite hunky country singers, but there was just one that was missing. The one of me and Gary.

My sister in-law and I have taken road trips to Hollywood, House of Blues to get this picture. And off to Fresno twice, but came back empty handed every time. It wasn't until June 2008 when my favorite country music station KJUG brought him to meet me at a little thing called Jug Fest.

When they announced Gary would be their leading act I did a happy dance! It must've been fate! Just picture the sparkly stars in my eyes. They were there, I promise! So I checked the Gary Allan website daily for meet and greet opportunities. I am not ashamed to admit I am a fan club member. (Okay, maybe a little embarrassed, but not ashamed.) Every time I checked, nothing. And then one day there it was. Meet and Greet with Gary Allan. I have never typed my name and hit send so fast!

I went through weeks of sleepless nights while I waited for my response. And then finally one morning, I wake up and it's there in an email! Fate. Right? I was actually getting to meet Gary Allan all by myself. That could only mean one thing.

HE LOVED ME!

Let's fast forward now...

JUGFEST was here. The sun was shining, it was hot. When we arrived I found out that Gary wasn't doing meet and greets. But I had my email confirming our meeting. Still, they said NO! My heart was crushed. I was devastated. What happened to fate? There must've been some confusion. He must not have known it was me, Micole Black that he was meeting.

Where there's a will there's a way. I found someone who knew what they were doing. Someone who hooked me up with Gary's road manager. I was told to meet up with him at eight o'clock that night. Oh my gosh... the meeting was on again!

I went through the rest of the day. My heart in my throat. I was afraid to meet him. What if he wasn't a nice guy? What if he didn't meet up to my expectations? And then the worst thought of all came to mind... What if he was a really nice guy? What if when he saw me, he fell head over heels in love with me and wanted to take me away? What would I tell Jason and the kids? Guess I'd figure it out. (wink)

Eight o'clock rolls around. It's time to meet with the road manager. So I left my friends watching Clay Walker and I trek my way through hundreds of people to the merchandise table where we were supposed to meet. A little whistling, a little toe tapping and then the pacing starts. Where was this guy? Then my heart sunk into my chest. What if I was in the wrong place? What if I'd already missed meeting him? Oh my gosh... not another concert that I was going to have to leave with out that damn picture. Tears started to well up in my eyes. Then I see it. Gary's big black bus pulling into the concert grounds behind the stage. HE HAD ARRIVED!!! Within a few minutes the road manager had arrived and finally I was on my way to meet my man.

I was so nervous. What was I going to say? I had to have something to ask, something to say. Something witty that would make me stand out from all of the other fans he'd ever met before. Something that would make him remember ME forever. Sometimes things don't always happen the way you plan them.

It went something like this...

Imagine someone who'd just drank five energy drinks, had a couple of candy bars, and washed them down with a Mt. Dew.

"Hi Gary, this is the fourth concert of yours that I've been to. You are so great in concert. I'm sorry I haven't been to more of them. I would've but I'm married and a mother of three kids and my husband doesn't like me to travel that much."

OH MY GOD!!!!! Somebody give her a tranquilizer! What the hell was that? And yes, I said all of those crazy things. Probably more that I've blocked out. I'm married??? I am a mother of three??? What the heck? This was the guy that was supposed to fall madly in love with me and whisk me off to some tropical island where he hid me away from everyone and everything. How was he going to do that when I was scaring him off rambling about my HUSBAND and KIDS? Not just kids... I told him I had three! Geese! I was so tongue tied I almost forgot to get that picture I'd been waiting for four years for! But I got it!!! Yep I got it alright.

My teenage daughter's first response to the picture was that he looked scared. I argued, explaining that look in his was not fear, but in fact it was pure astonishment--dibelief. He could not believe that he was actually standing next to me!!! The woman he was madly in love with! The one he'd been waiting for. Yep he'd finally found me. That was the look in his eyes.

Well my friends, I have had some time to look at the picture... and I do believe after reading this story he is scared to death!!! Wouldn't you be??? Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think? Is that love in his eyes or is he looking for a security guard with his peripheral vision?












The three minutes I spent with Gary were great, but not enough. I am very happy for the three I did get, but never satisfied. I would love to spend a day with him. Just to see how he really is. Thank you Gary for the time... I hope I didn't scare you too much! If we ever get the chance to meet again, I promise not to be such an idiot.

So readers, how many of you have had an experience like this? I would love to hear about it. Leave me a comment in my box. Please tell me your story. Thank you for spending time here with me on my blog. Come back on Tuesday, January 19, for my interview with Tawny Weber.

Hugs

Micole Black