#1SamFanFollow – An Exclusive Interview

About a year ago, the first Sam Fan Follow occurred!  Here is the interview I did to commemorate the event! Remember, Barbara, it’s better to be a has-been than never to have been at all.

Sam’s @1 Fan Follow

An exclusive Interview by Norma D

At the beginning of last week. Barbara Fraser woke up and went to work just like any other day (Yo heave ho, ugh.  Yooo heave ho, ugh).

Little did she know that her life would completely change for the next 7 days, due to an idea Sam came up with to prevent Droughtlander Dehydration –  #SamsFanFollow.   Sam picked one person that he would follow for a week, who would then pick another, and another until April 4^th, when Outlander returns.  His first pick was Barbara, and the Church of Heughanology got an exclusive interview with her about her experience.

We sat down to talk while having Mimosas at the Don Cesar Resort in St. Petersburg.  I had prepared a few questions, to kick start the conversation.   Barb had just finished her reign as Queen of Outlander Fans and had a permanent (I believe)smile on her face!

Norma D:     So, Barbara, what was your first thought when you realized Sam Heughan had really followed you?

Barbara:  I was at work at lunch on Twitter (when am I not) when across the top of my phone crawls a message, “Sam Heughan is following you.” I thought, “This has to be a joke.”  So I went to notifications and there it was, he was following me. I checked his Twitter page and sure enough it was the same.

I started freaking out.  My hands started shaking, and I became short of breath.  (Secretly, I was happy I was at work, just in case I had a heart attack, I could grab the desk as I fell and someone would call 911). I had to talk to someone, so I tweeted a few friends, “Are you there? I’m freaking out!”

Someone answered back and told me she saw what had just happened and it was real.  I thought for sure it was a mistake and he would unfollow immediately, but he didn’t.   I started tweeting and saying, “OMG! OMG!  OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!” over and over.  Actually, I think I didn’t say anything else for quite a while!

Norma D:  So when did you start acting like a queen and not a raving maniac?

Barbara:  I had to fake it for a while.  But I got home without an accident.

t.

Norma D:   What happened next?

Barbara:    I got home from work, and looked at my notifications.  They were going crazy.   I noticed a tweet from someone else, who had tagged me and tweeted Sam.  It said that “She was probably in notifications and didn’t know Sam tweeted her. “ Which I was.  My Friends were thrilled!

I, your Gorgeous Babs, was followed by Sam Heughan today!

OMG! OMG! OMG! We’re so verklempt!

Barbara:  But I froze as one stood out.  SAM TWEETED ME!   His beautiful face flashed before me.  Why me?

Because I wanted ye more than anything I ever wanted in my life.

Norma D:   I am in awe and cannot imagine how you felt (except for the night Sam visited me and asked me to start CoH,  but enough about me)!   So, tell me, what was the funniest tweet you had with Sam?

Barbara:  We were discussing how to pick the next SamFanFollow and I said that it could be interesting. He responded, “Hmmmm”!    I went, Sam uses “Hmmmm” like the rest of us?  Impossible!   Actually, I think he was avoiding asking why I thought that.   (It is an excellent avoidance tactic.) I would have worried more if he said, “hmmpf!”

Norma D:   So how did you come up with a contest to assist you with picking the next SamFanFollow?

Barbara:   I thought about it for a while and of course friends started jockeying for position.

Barbara:  It didn’t seem fair to just pick someone. Who would I pick?  Then I thought, “Let’s have some fun during Droughtlander!”   I came up with the game!  I thought it would be fun for fans and it was my one shot at this, so I should make it count!   There were so many great entries that I couldn’t pick just one and then I came up with the voting from Six Finalists.

Barbara:  I RT several of the entries directly to Sam, more than my eventual six finalists.  I wanted him to see how creative we are.   I only used DM to comment on his hiking post, but I didn’t get an answer.  (Lost in the sea of Tweets)

Norma D:  So what was the best and worst part of the week?

Barbara:  The best part was how surreal this was.  Almost like a dream I would wake up from!  It also was very touching about all of the support and attention I’ve been getting.  I felt like Santa getting letters at Christmas only it was tweets.   Sam was my 802^nd Follower.  I have 1265 today! (Do ya think?)

Barbara:  I talked to so many people, that I may never have met without this.  I talked to existing followers, some I hadn’t heard from for a while.  It made me feel like this amazing FANMILY, was on this ride with me!   Oh and the memes!    So many, so clever!

Barbara:  The worst part about this was knowing it would end and a few of the negative remarks that were made.  Thank goodness there were so many more positive comments!   The others were never that important, just surprising.

Norma D: So what would you advise future SamFanFollow winners?

Barbara:  First, be careful how much you tweet and RT to Sam.   Don’t nag the crap out of him!  Do you honestly think he wants to see RT of some of the pics of Jaime or him that we pass around?

Barbara:  I was the first and it was shocking.  At least the next people will have some warning.

Norma D:  Anything else you’d like to share?

Barbara:  I’ll remember this experience forever.  I’ve never been involved in fandom before and never dreamed something like this could happen to me.  Thank you Sam!  It was a blast!

Norma D:  This EXCLUSIVE interview was brought to you by the Church of Heughanology.  Thank you Barbara, for your time.

You have served the fandom well!

#1SamFanFollow

 

Barbara Mills Fraser