Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Angelina- Yeah, I'll never forget one of the Dew Drop Inn shows I was
at where there were two girls behind me. One of them cried and snorted
cocaine out her necklace pendant (at the same time even!) for most of
the show and the other one kept chanting "I love you Tori, I love you
Tori" over and over again until she passed out and hit the floor.
Needless to say, I found a vacant seat somewhere else so that I could
enjoy the show. Those are probably the same people who somehow know
which side of the bed she woke up on.I still don't know why Mikewhy
posts them. Oh well. I do, however, believe that the "crazy fanatics"
are a minority among Tori fans despite what the media likes to portray.
The crazy ones just always tend to be louder. I think that The
Dreaming is the best fansite I've come across because it tells me
everything I need to know (about Neil) and there's not a lot of things
that I DON'T need to know. No loonism.

Neil- What shampoo are YOU using? Tee-Hee!
  

    
Neil is having some kind of weird connectivity problems in the place where
he's hiding and writing, so he sent this to me to post here:

======

Michelle -- the problem with the last 3 pages, is that they comprise a
postcript which takes place about three or four months on, and which
finished the book. Without it, it's a different ending.

Rocky -- thank you. No, I left the Chinese Emperor out in the end. It made
my UK editor sad as well, but I couldn't find anywhere in the book to put
the story that it worked -- by which I mean, it added to the whole. It's a
lovely story I'm proud of. I made it this year's Xmas card.

London Hanged was about criminals and statistics. I just remember the
oddness of describing someone as African-American who might well have been
African, and was probably Afro-Caribbean, but wasn't African American
(apart from anything else, this was in the 1730s). And I thought, someone
simply blue-pencilled black and wrote in African-American without thinking.

Daniel -- I get to make some suggestions, and even send out a few e-mails
and letters, but mostly my letters are of the "I know how busy you are and
if you don't get around to it, or you hate the book, don't worry" nature --
I suppose because that's what I'd like to get from people. And sometimes I
do.

Mostly it's the publisher. I often tend to think that quotes are less about
getting people to say something good about the book than they are about
positioning it -- saying "it's this kind of book".

Erynn -- I met Mike backstage at a Tori concert in Minneapolis a few years
back. Nice man.

Dan -- I'm on the first 3 albums, the fourth has the velvets, and Venus had
a song called Zero Time (I think) which had me in, but never made it onto
the album. I think I was lucky on the first three in that I never became a
B-side -- Tori always records more than she uses, after all.

Angelina --  that's the English spelling, I suppose. Or maybe an archaic
spelling.

Erynn -- tonight, Asira Green Tea and cypress, which is what they have in
Radissons right now. (Overall I approve of motels and hotels replacing icky-
smelling soaps with nice ones, but the icky-smelling ones were always great
for keeping the deer away from the apple trees. Which I doubt the Oatmeal
Watercress soaps will do.)

And I am profoundly grateful that no young ladies ever shout "We love you
Neil!" and then pass out while I'm trying to do a reading.
....

I'm reading Lawrence Norfolk's novel Lampriere's Dictionary, and grumbled to
someone about him having a Captain Byrne who, on seeing something says
"Things fall apart. It's scientific."

And the response was "But you do that sort of thing all the time." (It's a
Talking Heads reference, if you missed it.)

And I admitted that I did...

...but then I thought, afterward, well, yes I do, but not like that I don't.
I'd not put an easter egg in a historical novel which, if you noticed it,
would bounce you straight out of the story.

(I say that, although it's quite possible that someone will now turn around
and say "But you did it here, here and here..." and will simply mutter
"guilty as charged" and slink away.)


I think I try to do those kind of things in the way Bill Gibson used Pale
Blue Eyes in BURNING CHROME -- if you get it, it adds depth and subtext.

The Norfolk is a really good book, by the way.
  

    
Neil -  What Chinese Emperor? You mean I'm missing another good one
too?  No, the chapter you read for us was the accidental meeting
between Afreet and the salesman in which you absolutely nailed a
description of NYC. I've never felt jealous of your Xmas card list
until today. 

Re Pale Blue Eyes in BURNING CHROME: Been ages since it was read,
please take pity and solve the mystery.
  

    
Neil- Your shampoo sounds much more interesting than the one I'm using
now. So you're hiding and writing more stuff already? Don't you ever
need time to "reboot"? Wow.

I'll have to read The Norfolk book after I read Martha's.
  

    
Here's another transmission from Neil:

======

I can get onto the internet for about two minutes before it drops the
connection, and then it won't redial for hours. Argh.

Can you tell the well world:

Teller sent me a review of his book about his parents (which I read in
September & loved.)

<http://www.globebooks.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.GAMArticleHTMLTemplate?tf=book/
review/AP/fullStory-
BookReview&cf=book/review/AP/config-neutral&slug=BKTELL10&date=20010310>
;

...

And Rocky, no the New York djinn story is still in there. My goof. I thought
I read the Chinese Emperor story as well, which I had to cut.

Pale Blue Eyes... when you get a moment, re-read Burning Chrome, while
keeping the Velvet Underground song Pale Blue Eyes int he back of your head.
Post the results here.
  

    
Madman, Angelina, Neil - Ah, yes. I get my Tori order mixed up a lot
lately. I've been converting my CD collection to MP3s, loading up
iTunes and putting it on "shuffle"... so I pretty quickly forget what
song goes with which album which came out when. 
It does make for a wonderfully random experience though, to have Louis
Armstrong followed by Tori followed by something from the soundtrack
of Hamlet.

On screaming girls - As tempted as I am to go into my usual soliloquy
on the peculiarities of fame and my discomfort with the extremeist
tendencies of the devoted.... I just want to say how much I admire the
ability and willingness of people like Tori (and Neil, despite the
dearth of screaming, swooning teenagers at his readings) to swim in the
waters of public adulation and not drown in the process. To be a
cultural icon... and maintain your grip on who you are... that's
*truly* impressive.
  

    
Oh, I forgot.. I actually had a question today...

Neil - I was talking with a friend last night about trickster myths,
and she was relating some of the more ... interesting... ones from some
of the Native American tribes. I paraphrased the story from Kindly
Ones about Loki, Thor and the Squirrel from the Tree of the World and
was wondering if that was an actual Norse myth, or simply a
particularly funny story that you came up with.
  

    

Thanks to the delightful miss-mousey, who drove for over an hour and
bravely weathered a table-full of boisterous WELLperns whom she did not
know at my birthday brunch for the sole purpose of delivering to me a bag
containing the entire Sandman series!!

I now know that I have also already read The Doll's House but will
probably re-read it now that I have them all lined up in front of me...

Squeaks rocks!
  

    

Wow! How wonderful!
  

    
<trying to remember story from Kindly Ones about Loki, Thor, and Ratatosk>
<failing>
<going off to find copy of Kindly Ones>
<very likely getting lost in library>
  

    
Here's another one from the computer-disabled Neil:

======

Well stuff.

There are worse things than having an internet connection that only lasts
for about 90 seconds. For example, not having one at all. And I am pleased
that my battered old DOS compuserve interface still talks to the modem
directly...

Anyway. Dan... the late Don Thompson, in his last review of Sandman before
he died, blessed me for telling that story. He'd heard it as a dirty joke in
the army, but had had to leave before the punchline.

It's an old -- a very old, as the part played by the squirrel was played by
an organ grinder's monkey -- dirty joke. Although most dirty jokes go back a
very long way, and some of them began life as religious narratives (and in
some cultures there's not a big difference between them). One of my
favourite characters in American Gods is Whiskey Jack, and many of the
versions of him have stories just as dirty attached to them.

Linda -- I'm personally a huge fan of Michelle's (who has gone from being
not-a-stalker to being my favorite stalker), although due to extreme hair
colour and style changes I never recognise her from one signing to the next.
Make her show you her tattoos when she comes to take the books back.. & yes,
she rocks.
  

    
Email from NightWalker:

The instances Tori mentions Neil are as follows:

- Little Earthquakes - 
Song: 'Litte Earthquakes' (ref. Hanging out w/the Dream King/Neil says
Hi by the way)

- Under the Pink - 
Song: 'Space Dog' (ref. where's Neil when you need him)

- Boys for Pele - 
Song: 'Horses' (ref. making her a tree)

- Chiorgirl - 
Song: 'Hotel' (ref. Where are the Velvets)  
Thank You listing: 'Neil and the Velvets'
(along with a trip across 'Troll Bridge' on the map in the liner notes)

- Venus - 
Song: none that I can find, talks of a b-side called 'Zero Time' 
Thank You listing: 'Neil - send the Baku, not the Nephilem'

I lost the liner notes for LE, UtP, BfP, and Chior. when my CD case was
nabbed. Bastards.

Oh, and Neil:  Michelle's only the Fav. Stalker 'cause she's cuter,
dammit. (Which, she is, but that's besides the point)

T.S. / NightWalker
not_neil@neilgaiman.com
  

    
Whew... back from strep throat's door-- hi, all!  Spent the last five
days in bed, feeling like a cat was clawing its way up my throat. 
Since taking Levaquin I feel like its claws have been trimmed, but the
cat's still there...(..."Levaquin cats come out tonight...")

Have thoroughly enjoyed all drink entries, potable and non-- need to
throw a Neil-themed cocktail party now.  Rocky, Jinx, anybody else in
the NY area-- wanna be the Distingished Panel of Judges?

Neil-- consider the book plugged-- I'll print out the page from amazon
and bring it to my school library today.  In fact, I'm pleased to
announce that the library has started to receive the Sandman books it
ordered, thanks to the annotated bibliography that I began for them and
that many on this group added to!  Now I have to go around pitching
the books to kids to make sure that they circulate-- and to keep my
credibility intact.

As to "Things fall apart. It's scientific."  Yes, it's funny, but yes
it does take you out of the book-- I presume that the rest of L's
Dictionary doesn't do that sort of postmodern (and post-punk)
tomfoolery?   I've heard that Pynchon's Mason & Dixon is full of that
sort of thing, but that it's kind of the point.

And such Easter-eggery is kind of fun when you're writing; in one of
the musicals I'm working on, a character calls himself a "satellite of
hate" in homage to Lou Reed(the play takes place in 1899, so it's
clearly a cheap and out of place reference,  all ego.)  Sometimes I
think that such Easter Eggs are sub-ether signals from, say, one
Talking Heads fan to all the others out there. After all, Neil, if you
hadn't ended Season of Mists with "Happily ever after in Hell," which
was, of course, perfectly appropriate to the context, I wouldn't have
known you were a Sondheim buff (except for Hal's rant in Dolls
House...and the intro to that story in Angels and Visitations...and the
Sweeney Todd posters in Brief Lives...)[must...stop...showing...
off...geekery...now.]  Or maybe it's just a different way of giving
voice to things that are important to you.

I guess the point is, they're cheap when they're inappropriate but
serendipitous when they fit perfectly--like a perfect rhyme.

Here's something I DO want to show off-- My collaborator and I got
accepted to the Anderson Center, a writing/arts community in Red Wing,
MN, for two weeks in July-- wahoo!!!
  

    
Email from Mary Roane:

Len--Congratulations!
 
Neil--Congratulations on the Nebula nom!
 
Linda--for doing that, Squeaks does rock. And Happy Birthday!
 
                                     Mary (reading Animal Husbandry by
Laura Zigman)
  

    
More from what's-his-face:

======

Trevor -- but I thought you weren't a stalker either...?

Len -- Congratulations!

       I think it's fun to build easter eggs in; but I don't think they
should ever bounce you out of the text if you spot them.


Wish I could figure out what's wrong -- the computer makes a connection.
Then I have anywhere from a minute to two or three minutes to get online
before it drops it.

Attempts to get back on line for a while are met with the kind of error
messages that say things like "you shouldn't ever see this message under
normal circumstances."

And I don't want to go messing around under the hood or anything, as I
don't dare lose the things that are working.

n

who isn't even going to go into the need to sit crosslegged on the floor to
do e-mail...


PS: On the There Is Too such a thing as Karma front -- I just got the
coolest present in the world, from someone (one of my favourite authors,
coincidentally) who heard that I donated my leather jacket to the CBLDF and
decided it was time for me to have a new one.
  

    
Linda,...Happy Late Birthday!

Len,.....well pick a day and I'll see what I can do, have a horribly
restrictive work/days off thingie going on. Looking for a new job,
would love one where I had weekends off and didn't have to wear a
nametag or deal with 106 mil every other day.
Mostly congrats on the Anderson Center acceptance, it sounds
wonderful.

Walker, Michele is the favorite stalker because not only is she cuter
then either you or I, but she also doesn't break bones randomly or
carry sharp and pointies to breakfast at Denny's in Fla. Plus do you
really want to be known as the stalker? You have where scarier
potential then that.
(Michele remind me to tell you the Denny's story)

Martha,....No one has thanked you yet for posting the messages from
Neil here, so let me be the first.

Neil as a rock star,.....hhhhmmmmmm,........well I've met rock stars
and I've met Neil and I couldn't speak to one rock star, but I can talk
to Neil about when Heinlien's writing fell off. 
But I'll tell you I wouldn't want to be either, goddess bless Neil's
patience.

Jinx who doesn't really have any of her own
  

    
Congrats, Len!

Martha, if you could send me an update about Jenna, I would very much like
to hear; this is first I've heard of it, and I like her a lot....
  

    

So, who's up for a Bay Area inkwell 104 Denny's run?
  

    
This is a memorial website about Jenna.  It includes an appreciation by
Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

<http://www.sfrevu.com/2001/9949%20Jenna%20Felice/jenna_felice.htm>
  

    
Neil - Well, I wasn't talking about the last 3 pages of *your* book.
:) And if you need screamers at signings, I'm sure I can find a few.
kidding. VERY kidding. Although at the show I went to on Saturday, I
met a loverly gal named Lydia who may swoon a bit when you come to
town. Apparently she hates nearly everyone at shows, but one mention of
"Neil Gaiman" and, POW! - instant friendship. :) She and the friend I
went to the show with were both in the first Grandaddy video (she's the
girlfriend of one of the memebers of the band), which I have yet to
see, but which I'm becoming more and more curious about. Sorry,
rambling...

Linda - I enjoyed myself immensely, no thanks necessary. As for the
long drive with very little sleep - ask Neil; 1 hour is not far for me
to drive for a thingie. Besides, the Wellpersons have the coolest toys!

Neil (again) - So does having a 'rock star author' for a fan make me a
sort of a rock star? :D And it's mine and Walker's jobs to keep you
confused. I do it with the hair (currently in blue and blonde twisties
nearly to my waist) and Walker does it by announcing and renouncing his
stalkerhood. As for the computer thing, mine went through something
similar, but cleared itself up in a week with no explanation. And
there's nothing wrong with sitting cross-legged on the floor with your
computer as long as you keep your toes far enough away from the heating
vents (spoken from experience).

Jinx - But I carry my sharp and pointies everywhere. And I nearly got
into a bit of trouble taking some of the larger ones to the last photo
shoot. Can't wait to get my custom one! <insert crazy evil grin here>
And I've met a few lesser rock stars: Most are just as approachable as
Neil, tho many aren't nearly as entertaining off-stage.

Martha - Seconded, thanks for posting all the Neil-posts. 

squeaks, favourite_stalker@snafu.org <- I've considered adding
'cuter_stalker@snafu.org' to the list, but thought Walker might kick
me.
  

    
Len -- Here's to feeling better! I'm in the NYC area, so add me to
your cocktail party invites list, please. :-)

All -- Tomorrow night I'm going to hear Henry Rollins read on his
latest speaking tour. I love hearing authors read their work, and few
compare to Neil in this category. What authors give the best readings?

Neil -- I'm doing my first reading in the Village next week to promote
my new book. Any suggestions?

Jade
  

    
Email from Jouni Koponen:

Well, since there seems to be quite a few Michelle fans around, I simply
HAD TO do this.

Heehee.

So, there's a cartoonish 'portrait' of the lady in Thingie club, in my
'photofolder' (called Jouniac's Endless). Hmm, looks a bit familiar,
doesn't it?

In case you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, just go to
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thingieclub and sign in...

Teeheehee, Sorry Michelle. I just couldn't resist the temptation.

Heehee.

Jouni (drawing stuff)
  

    
Jade--will do!
  

    
Neil- that's fabulous about the coat. I just received a leopard print
cowboy hat and some emerald city glasses from a friend who felt I
looked better in them than she did. Spontaneous acts of generosity are
wonderful things for drawing attention away from the lost internet
conenction problems of the world. (which, btw... probably has more to
do with your service provider than with your computer itself (he said
without any diagnostic information whatsoever))

Madman - Hrm... Bay Area is a lot of geography... and Dennys?? Surely
we could do better than that.

Dan
  

    
Jouni - ^_^ !  I love all your drawings there...the hedge trimming one
was employed as my windows wallpaper for while.  I'd love to be able
to use watercolors like you do...