Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Re: The Nights-- You're a cruel man, Mr. Gaiman.
  

    
Jouni -- Your pictures are great!  Make more!  The haircut is great,
as is Lucien and the fairy magic picture.  

I wonder if it's faster to pre-order American Gods to be sent home,
and then shipped by my mom, or shipped directly to Japan..... I am now
thinking I can't wait until July when I get home to buy it.  *bounce
bounce bounce*

I'm moving to Kyoto in October which is good because in Tottori there
is one bookstore with one English shelf, and they don't seem to want to
order things, and all the books are booklist stuff or cookbooks.  Not
to say that cookbooks are anything to be sneezed at, but I would nearly
kill right now for a nice big library.  I am deeply envious of y'all. 


Apropos of nothing, the cherry blossoms are blooming now.  They're
right about peak, which means in two or three days the petals will come
down thicker than snow but slower and more graceful.  It's easy to
understand why the Japanese have gone mad over them for all these
years.

Does anyone on here know Haruki Murakami?  Have anything to say about
his writing?
  

    
Re: The Nights-- Funny, but cruel.
  

    
Emily-- he's my best friend's favorite author, but I haven't read
anything yet.  
  

    
Crumbulae?
  

    
Email from Mary Roane:

That thing on the floor is my jaw.  I must have read "Murder Mysteries" 3
or 4 times, and I never got it.  And I consider it my favorite Gaiman
story.  I'm a chowderhead.  And I need to read it again.

Jouni--your stuff is amazing. Can't decide if I like the haircut or Lucien
better.....

JaNell-- That's sort of like my directing class, where we watched a shot,
backed up, frame-by-framed it, and watched it again.  Aaaaargh!

Len--yes, if you're ever in the Second City, you must let me know.  That
goes for everybody here, really.  It'd be a kick to put faces with names.

Neil--v. v. pleased about "Stars Our Destination".  See you there (& at B
& N, too)!  My wonderful friend Mark just gave me the penny dreadful ,
"Sweeney Todd" .  It's marvelous.  Is there just the one, or are there
several issues?

                        Mary Roane (sneezing rather a lot & reading
"Morality Play" by Barry Unsworth)
  

    
Email from JaNell:

(Ignore the smart ass behind the curtain posting this for me).

[Editorial note from smartass: <chuckle>]

Neil - No, you're not ignoring. I hope. Maybe I saw a smile once, at the
meat roll thing (not thingee). Do ignore my seeming to whine, these things
might be funnier if I was willing to use little faces : p (bleah, too
cutesy).

Question: If the layout/rough you gave for a cover was ghastly, do you not
draw or paint at all? You seem to do almost everything else.

#2: Are there really two signings only six hours apart on one day? How are
you going to manage that?

Dan - (Holding up my thumb in front of my field of vision) You don't see
me, there is nobody here!

JaNell, whose long lost (28 years since I've seen her!) cousin just showed
up on my doorstep this afternoon (Yeah!)
  

    
Neil- Yes, I found it on the web. 
  

    
Email from Cindy Speer:

Dear Neil,
 
    Thank you so much for your help!  I now know what to do next.  (I'm
referring to 486...yeah, it's been awhile, but it's not lack of gratitude
that's keep me from replying, but lack of transport.)  I'm sorry I took so
long, and I thank you again.
 
Effusively, 
Cindy
  

    
Email from JaNell:

Mary Roane -  I didn't quite watch it frame by frame, but a long time
ago, in a lifetime far, far away, I learned video editing in college in
the Video Tape Committee. I LOVED it. All the production stuff. And this
was with an editing deck that wouldn't sync up until you whacked it and
called it a sexist name. Still, I could get frame perfect. Sigh.
    I learned all this after meeting a guy in the hall outside the VTC
room while waiting for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer's League
(college club) to start. He talked me into joining the VTC instead, and
trained me (he had learned from working on Dr. Madblood, if anyone is
from the Chesapeake area and remembers it).
    The writer's group people went on to some success, most notably
Lowell Cunningham (creator of 'Men In Black').
    I had a kid, then ten years later, another. Anyone with children
knows the rest of the story there.
    So, did I miss the explanation about the directing classes? Are you
going into film? Maybe a documentary on plushies?

JaNell
  

    
Email from JaNell:

(Apologies for the two lengthies, but I'm about to get back into the
working-on-old-house whirl, and probably won't see the computer for daze
{deliberate spelling}.)

Neil:
    More questions, not to overload the noise or anything:

    I picked up this great book, "In The Shadow Of The Vampire", recently.
It contains essays by Anne Rice fans about their interest in her and her
books. One of the comments struck me, and I thought of you and your fans.
Do you find yourself isolated from "the real world" because you cannot
possibly interact with each person (fan) as an individual?

    Do you feel comfortable just shooting the shit with some stranger
(non-fan) at stores, or on the street, or is it hard to shift into being
Joe Schmoe when you meet someone who couldn't care less what you write, or
even that you write?

    Basically, how much has all this taken over your life, or is it your
life?

    All very personal, I know, so tell me to bugger off if you want to..
And, by the way, thanks for doing these posting things. Some of the (I
think) funnier Neil-Gaiman-visits-KnoxVegas stories I don't feel
comfortable posting here, but what a great thing it is anyway!

JaNell
  

    
Just a brief note wishing to all who celebrate it a good Passover, and
1-2 entertaining and swift seders.
  

    
Ramadan figure--After excitedly (but carefully) opening the package, I
spent 5 painstaking min. fitting the figure into the base.  I
delicately placed the red ball into his hand, and set him ever so
gently on my kitchen table.  After which he topples backwards onto the
tile floor, his red ball flings across the room, and his head pops off.
 His head is now re-attached, but my kitty enjoys stealing him off my
desk and gnawing on it to no end.

Michelle--perhaps your employer recognized the stupidity of your
fellow employees.

re-read Murder Mysteries realizing that I had obviously missed
something big.  I am very impressed now.  Yikes.

Angelina (who is wondering how to navigate things to get to two
signings in one day.)
 
  

    
I'm curious about "Murder Mysteries" being people's favorite story without
their having seen the thing.  That seems like having "Goldilocks" be your
favorite story except you never were told there were bears in it.
  

    
Emily - You're making me miss Sakura Matsuri in Tokyo... There's an
odd sensation in my brain at the juxtaposition of a concrete jungle
clothed in all these little fluffy petals. :)

JaNell - But you can't put your thumb in front of both of us, and *I*
see you too! :) <kids in the hall>I am crushing your head!</kids> And I
suppose I should add to the Anne Rice shelves now...

Angelina - re: my employer - I'm certain they all agree with me and
have said so much behind closed doors. The problem was that I was,
well, not quite *shouting* my opinion, but... any way... 

As for multiple signings in one day, the SF bay area is usually like
that, and I understand your pain. Luckily, said employers are also very
aware of my need to attend Neil-signings over work, and since they
don't happen all that often, I just take days off. All the discussion
over it has actually prompted a couple of my co-workers and other
friends to take interest, start reading things, and they might even
show up at some of the signings. :)

squeaks, who is all kinds of headachey just now, but I'm going comic
shopping any way. :)
  

    
just got back from seeing the flick memento.  won't give my critique
of it or any spoilers, but it is very interesting in light of the
murder mysteries thread that's been discussed the past couple of days. 
just wondering if anyone else saw it and made that same connection?

re: ramadan - i had minor troubles getting him together, and he
wouldn't stand on his on, but i managed to prop him up behind my cain
and abel bookends, and it's actually neat looking to have him
overlooking the murder scene that is about to take place.  plus there's
the added threat that the very unstable red orb could fall off of him
at any second, and clobber poor gregor.

while on this subject - did anyone else order the dreaming characters
pvc set from dc direct, back a year or two ago?  just curious if my set
was a fluke - lucien's hair didn't get painted, and it's just stark
white - as white as the daniel/dream character.  odd looking.

ok - back to the grind of the real world....

  --  s
  

    
Martha- Murders Mysteries wasn't my favorite until the second read...
  

    
Neil--I know that this is slightly premature, and that you are pretty
busy, but I was wondering if you could make up a do's and don'ts list
of sorts for those who have never been to a reading/signing.  Do you
have any fan pet peeves?  What should we expect?  Do you mind signing
things for people who are not there?  

I am looking forward to my first signings very much.  :)

Angelina.
  

    
Email from Jo Simons:

Seth - I went to see Memento on Friday night and it did remind me of
Murder Mysteries :). Very cleverly structured, I enjoyed it a lot.
Speaking of movies, I am going to see Princess Mononoke tonight at the
Lido, our "ArtHouse" cinema and am very excited <bounce>.

As to my favourite Neil short stories, I (seemingly like everyone else)
love both Chivalry and Murder Mysteries, but they are so different, and I
love them differently, so I find it impossible to choose between them.

Jouni - make more pictures! I need to see more.

I nearly ordered the english version of AG, but then thought about
conversion rates and shipping (total approx 100 NZD) then decided there
must be a more efficient way to get hold of one. Luckily for me, the
fabulous Tree has graciously acceded to my plaintive wails and taken pity
on me :)

Jo
  

    
Email from Jouni Koponen:

Thanks, everybody ;-)

Now that the page actually works (which still amazes me) I'm gonna update
it every once and a while. So you better check it out every now and then.
I think my first update will be a some sort of rambling about the
copyrights (you know... all the characters from The Sandman are copyright
of DC comics blahblah). Better safe than sorry, eh.

But now I'm merely happy the page works...

Adriana Roze - Well, there IS something sinister about it. Me. I'm
left-handed...

Jouni
  

    
Robynne - Yep! that's the one!

Neil - So... you're saying I need to dedicate TWO weekends for
American Gods? *grin* Actually, I think I've read about everything I
have of yours twice... and you're doing a great job of stoking the
impatient fires, here...

General - Hrm, I tried to log on from home, but for some reason my ISP
has a hard time finding a lot of stuff lately. I think I must engage
in some carnage...

Angelina - I don't know what the point is of these figurines that are
freestanding in such a way that they have less physical stability than
a two legged stool. Although the thought of your kitty gnawing on Dream
reminds me more than a little bit of the images of Dream of a Thousand
Cats.

Martha - I don't know about anyone else, but for me I got so enrapt in
the Silver City story and the BIG idea of the Injustice of God, that I
became quite fond of the story without catching the nasty bit in the
frame. I had assumed that I had blocked out the nasty bit because of my
own emotional hot buttons, but now that I see how many missed it with
me... I probably over-analyzed my inattention to details.

Michelle - you're not allowed to get fired until I get a chance to
swing by and say "hello". ... that's a rule.

Neil - I'd like to second the request for a "do's and don'ts" at Neil
signings. I'm pretty confident in my ability to not make a total prat
of myself, but it'd still be nice to read your thoughts on the subject.

*astonished and slightly stunned that it's monday already*
Dan
  

    
Jouni--D'oh!  

Reg-- I know what you mean about "Holy Blood."   I just finished 
reading William Cooper's "Behold a Pale Horse" when I picked this one
up, and it all has started becoming a big menagerie of paranoia in my
head.  I do, however, feel a strange need to delve into more about
Saunier, if there's any REAL information to be had. 

 *sigh* back to scores and scores and scores of Harry Potter drawings
everywhere.
-A (temping at warner bros so YOU can buy 600,000 Potter items THIS
FALL! *groan*)
  

    
Dan - Okay. I'll try to stick it out. ;-P. Just don't swing by on
Tuesdays, as I've convinced the bossman that the crew runs just fine
without me for one day a week. (FINALLY!)

Adriana - ... and my mother will probably buy half a dozen of those
items! She's actually got one of those scanning translator gadgets so
she can translate any words she doesn't understand while she's reading
(couldn't wait for Japanese translations).

squeaks, chasing loose baby mice around the apartment - slippery
little things, they are!
  

    
Adriana-- anything genuinely cool?

btw-- my first temp job was with the NFL (in the offices, not on the
field.) If you knew me, you would find this painfully funny.
  

    
In haste -- I'm still alive, and Mike will be going to university in
Washington DC. It has been decided. I'll try and do a big answering of
questions next time I get online. In the meantime, jaNell, GHASTLY
BEYOND BELIEF was the name of the first book, not a description of the
drawing style...