Here's What Happens When You Meet Someone You Admire...

...you fangirl REAL hard.

And by 'you', I of course mean 'me'.

Some of you might recall my affinity for a certain British historian with heaps of knowledge about my favorite dysfunctional dynasty and access to all the chronicles and texts I can only dream of.

That's right, ladies and gents. I met Dan Jones. Bonus, he was not terrified of me and my fangirlish ways. He has been on a book tour in the US to coincide with the release of his fifth book, The Templars: The Rise and Fall of God's Holy Warriors.

Dan (I am going to assume from here on out we are on a first-name basis) spoke for nearly an hour, first explaining why he chose to write about the Templars, then delving into each section as he explored their rise and fall. He took a few questions from the audience, and THEN it was time for the book signing. My friend Roxy and I waited to be the very last people to have our books signed and I do mean BOOKS. He was gracious enough to sign all five of mine - including personalizing the Templars proof. I jokingly asked if he told the publisher to pick me in the hopes that I would not bring my crazy to St. Louis but he said no, he'd had nothing to do with it. I said something about the Plantagenets and Eleanor and kind of blurted out that I was writing a book about her; he did not seem at all surprised, considering the fact that I told him I named my daughter after her. THEN he asked what I thought of her and I completely froze because, HELLO! this historian who knows more about the period and people than I could even hope to was asking ME what I thought of Eleanor of Aquitaine! We ended up talking for a bit and it was incredible.

I got to talk to Dan Jones about Eleanor of Aquitaine!

I seriously still can not believe this actually happened.

Pretty fantastic night and here is the smile to prove it: