Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Erynn -- well, I expect I'll write something for the tour book. It's
practically traditional now. (Normally it begins with a phone call
telling me they're very sorry but the deadline is two days away...)

There are two places in the book that live and work under assumed
names. One is Eagle Point, Indiana. The other is Lakeside, Wisconsin.
Every other place in the book goes out under its own name.
  

    
Neil - Kevin... that's right. Well, since he's doing the 'Readers for
Leaders' thing, that's awesome. People need to take such things
seriously. It's just the image of big, imposing Kevin... in a Ronald
McDonald suit. Weirdness.

As for the Book Soup thing... are they going to attempt to find
another venue? Maybe the Director's Guild Theatre again? There's got to
be a bigger venue (vaguely Library-ish) nearby...

-- 'Walker --
  

    
Trevor -- dunno. I'm just posting what I've been told. Last time they
had that great cafe area, but I think that's gone (although even then,
there were a lot of people outside with their faces pressed to the
glass for the reading).
  

    
O.K., I e-mailed the link (and then the corrected link) to everyone I
know.  We're all slavering.

It's fascinating.  I don't know how you did it, but you don't sound
English in this book. You sound American.  By sound, I mean (I think)
that the rhythm of the language is American.  In everything I can think
of that I've read of yours so far, there's something....*English*
about your prose.  This reads like Neil with an American accent.  It
was ...odd? unsettling? at first--like running into a friend who used
to have a thick accent & hear them speaking perfect mid-Atlantic. 
(God, I'm such actor-trash)  It's the perfect tone for the story (so
far).  Do you read your work aloud as part of the process of writing,
or do you hear sentences in your head as you write?  Sorry this is so
disjointed & inarticulate--it's been buzzing around in my head all day,
and I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to express what I'm thinking.  


Anyway, just when I think you can't astonish me anymore....

Oh, *love* the last line of the Green Man poem.  Let me know if you
find that notebook, and where I can purchase the finished product.  My
friend Denny will want a copy, too.  Do you by any chance know who
Courtney Davis is?  The Celtic artist?  My friend Denny wrote the text
for his last book, The Celtic Bestiary, and they're working on
another-'"Journey to the Spirit World" (looking for a publisher,
actually).  Our Denny's brill, and a priest, and quite liked Good
Omens.  He's going to try to be at one of the signings here.  Oh, and
he knows Ursula Vaughn Williams.  How cool is that? 

Um, er, um--OH!  How's Furball?  Did she deal with the grooming O.K.? 
Does she look really funny?

Oh, and I would like to be the first (but not the last) to thank you
for warning people to be nice to airline employees.  I work in travel,
and my friends are gonna *love* you for that.  Written like a man who's
spent a few years in airports.  And I love the simile about the fox
eating shit on a barbed wire fence.  Did you steal that or make it up? 
'Cause it shore sounds Southern to me :-)

Mimi--yes, I have all of Utena.  I've seen 29 of them so far & am
dying to finish.  Maybe over the weekend.  I'm digging it.

Oh, my God, this is *way* too long!

"Bye!
  

    
Well, Neil's previous novels weren't about Americans.

He set himself a task, so he did it.
  

    
Trevor -- And on Kevin ... a quick google check showed his recent
wedding photo...
http://hometown.aol.com/iminface/myhomepage/profile.html and photos of
him in clown gear (pre Ronald) at
http://www.gurlpages.com/okeedo/starr.html

mary -- thanks so much. That's why I didn't want to read the audio
book. The poem should be in a Datlow/Windling Green Man anthology.

The groomers managed to un-dreadlock Furball without shaving her. I
was delighted. She looks beautiful. Obscenely fat, but beautiful.

"Grinned like a Fox eating shit from a barbed wire fence..." I've seen
it used a few times, although if memory serves the first time was in a
novel by Robert Nye --either Merlin or Faust, I forget (both wonderful
books.)

Martha, well, yes. I hope so.
  

    
Oh, you did it.  I think so.
  

    
Mary--I was just about to post about how much I loved the first
chapter, but that it took me a moment to get used to the rythym.  And
here you have described it perfectly.  Ahhh, how I love this topic! 
(That Ahhh is a contented sigh, not a scream...)

Linda--kudos to a good monitoring decision.  Gosh, I sound like an
idiot, but its 4 in the morning, and I don't care...hehe.

To bed I say!
Angelina.
  

    
Neil - Thanks... I've *got* to email Kevin and Kali now... I'm so glad
everything is going well for them. They were Cool People to meet and
hang with.

As for the Cafe area, I have no idea if it's still there or not (I
used to frequent the Tower Records across from it, but no longer). I'm
going to be driving by it in the area today... perhaps I will look.

That was a cool setting, too... I have it on video somewhere...

-- 'Walker --
  

    
Neil -- I've had this question rattling around in my head for a week
now and every time I sit down to write, I forget it.  But today I've
finally broken through.  What I was wondering was this: why did you
choose to have neilgaiman.com registered in HarperCollins' name rather
than in your own, or have Lorraine in charge of the domain, as is the
case with neilgaiman.net et al?

I had a friend that went to the Ringling Bros. clown school.  He did
all sorts of clowny things and a little stage magic.  He worked for the
RB&BB circus.  One night he saw his now-wife in the audience and was
taken with her, so he asked her for a date right there in the middle of
the show.  Eventually they got married and he quit the circus and
started working in her father's print shop so he wouldn't have to
travel all the time.

It's very rainy here.  The baby is being stubborn and has yet to
emerge.
  

    
Spent the night revising, and it came off swimmingly.  I don't know
what novel I was writing, exactly, but it wasn't mine, I've realized in
the past couple nights.  A week or two and I might be able to send it
off again (and I think the agents rejected me for the right reasons. 
I've thought about sending off my second one, because it has been
muchly loved, but, well, it's my *second*).  Thanks, Erynn and Neil,
for the follow-the-story advice, which I think I knew but needed to
hear.

Erynn- didn't mean to ignore you.  I *totally* agree; it'd be great to
rent out a banquet hall and have a CTAG party.  I feel like I know all
of you so well...
On Tori: it's funny how rumors start and continue, and are backed by
sources twice-removed by marriage.  When I went to see Cocapelli play
one night, I was having a drink with the drummer before the gig, and I
mentioned how I'd only recently fallen in love with Tori, and he told
me that she's one of five or seven or so artists who are so prolific,
they could produce an album a month if their record companies would let
them (Prince was on the list, too, which I can't much doubt,
considering how many of his recent albums have been multiples).  Rumors
I hear tend to die with me.

Mimi- any comment on a character that means "one who shapes"?  I think
Neil passed it on to you.

Neil- I should have told the Borders guy about the 800.  That might
have stunned him.  He told me to get there an hour early to get a good
seat, and suchlike.  I replied that an hour early, the WTC will be
overtaken by people waiting for Neil.  He said we'll see, and I hope we
do.

Danguy- the executive producer of Shrek, and head of PDI, did a
presentation here yesterday, and I got to talk to him.  A group of us
were talking about the smaller jokes in Shrek, and I mentioned the
mother bear rug.  He couldn't believe I'd noticed it, and I told him a
friend had pointed it out to me.
Just the other week I was leaving a PATH station (like the subway),
and saw a RB&BB circus train going the other way.  I half expected
animals on it.

Dan W- exactly on the American thinking outside the borders... no
wonder we get such a bad rep around the world.  For me, personally,
nothing I really want to see (Great Coral Reef, Aurora Borealis) or do
(Eistedfoddau [sp?]) is in America.  Probably will get to LA soon, and
probably will settle in Jersey, but, really <looks around> there ain't
so much here as there is other places.

Sarah- Are you leaving us?  <hanky>

Linda- I didn't like Men in Tights either, and I wonder what other
movie you've walked out on.  I've never walked out.  I almost walked
out on The Sixth Sense only because it so very deeply disturbed me (I
had performed CPR, unsuccessfully, on a woman the night before, and I
was just in a weird place, and, really, I *so* knew where HJO was
coming from), but I slept through some Anna Thompson (right name?  The
blonde from THE CROW) movie that was just bad.
I'm also sorry I went against protocol and asked Michelle to post for
me; I really didn't realize there were WELL-hosts for specifically that
purpose (and, honestly, hers was the only e-mail address I could find,
only because I followed the links to her web-site).  I only found this
place through The Dreaming website, and before I joined, this was the
only topic I visited (still just about is).  So, sorry.

-Will, who's gone on long enough, really.
  

    
So many posts, so little time.  I wish I had more time to leave my
brain droppings in here, but things have been hectic.

Dan & Linda - I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in my disappointment
in Men In Tights.  All of my friends here defend it, and it drives me
nuts sometimes.  

I don't recall ever walking out on a movie... But that's mainly
because tickets are on average $8 and I try to at least get my money's
worth.  The only times I've ever left a theatre were the two occasions
when the theatre accidentally printed the wrong room number on the
ticket.  I remember vividly waiting on line for a refund (because by
the time we were told of the error, we had lost any hopes of seeing the
movie and demanded our money back), and a gentleman held up the line
for about 15 minutes because he was trying to get his money back for
the food he bought ("I ate all my food, and I never saw a movie!  I
wouldn't have bought the #$@* if I wasn't going to see Unbreakable!")

Joe "whose laptop suffers from Wandering Cursor Syndrome"
  

    
Less than 200 posts left - well, no point in signing up now, but if a new
topic with Neil opens up, please somebody let me know & I'll sign up and
everything...  Walker, our computer has had problems, and I've lost your
email address, as well as Rocky's. May I get it again, if you still have
mine?

Neil, thanks for looking up the bodyguard stuff, but that was more of a
"Hmm, small world" than any need to meet him... besides, clowns are evil
incarnate.

Oh, and I was corrected about one of my (verbal) stories recently. The
Apocalypse Fairies
(http://scifidimensions.fanhosts.com/Feb01/chattacongallery/twogirls.jpg)
from ConCat straightened me out - it was Krista (blue hat, t-shirt reading
'Can't sleep, clowns will eat me') who yelled "I don't give a f#(% who's
here, we're not g@&&#%$ ready!".

Shadow (shimmery hip wrap) actually slammed the ConSuite door on you. I
only mention this because your main character seems to be named Shadow as
well. Won't she be surprised?

Happy birthday Jacqui? Mine is the 12th, too!

Not only has Chloie lost your address, I've lost Lorraine's. Is there any
way to get one or both again? Our Con is trying to establish a (closely
guarded) contact list of former and potential future guests. Your privacy,
as it has been, will be respected, but if it's OK for me to write
occasionally, let me know that, too.

I woke up this morning with a rough of a "Blogger as an Expletive" post in
my head. You know, like "Get this blogger Todd McFarland outta my face",
incorporating your definition as well, he-hee. A personal dictionary is,
and has been, in the works... my current fav being "phallacious", creating
by a coffee shop friend...

See, it's started - I sort of almost had a Neil dream last night. It was
something rather unclear about my skin, then my body, changing, some sort
of uncomfortable but not frightening transformation via the Blogger. Let
Freud explain that one. (I'm pretty sure what he'd say about the end of
your first chapter.)

JaNell, only slightly carnivorous.
  

    
Will- awhh...^_^  You won't miss me too much, really.  I may be back,
just can't afford it now.  And I'll still keep up with it.  
  

    
Erynn - you had a sociopath stalking you for six months? See, I figure
I'll know I've been successful as an actor when I get my own stalker. 

Linda - stern or not, you rock.

Neil - Hey, if you want a bodyguard in Berkeley, I could wear my black
 leather trenchcoat, shades, and stand menacingly behind you and
occasionally crack my knuckles meaningfully.

Will - I want to travel about and see things other places, but I'm
quite happy living in the California Bay Area. It's a matter of places
you want to see and places you want to live. Of course, LA doesn't fall
into either category, but I suspect that I'm going to have to deal
with it sooner or later in some capacity anyway. *shudder*

I've only walked out of one movie, which was Ghoulies... waaaaaay back
in the mid-80's. We ended up going to see Beverly Hills Cop instead.
There have been one or two movies I've rented that I've turned off in
disgust halfway through. Cannonball Run II comes to mind.
  

    
Neil - Photo shoot story: is that the one at The House on the Rock?
Oops! I just kept thinking the Author Photo one was something else, and
this one was a magazine shoot... sorry! *^_^* 

Will - I don't think I know such a (single) character (if one exists,
it's not in the regular person's vocabulary),  but a 2-3 character word
can be built to mean what you want it to: [verb, which will be one or
two characters] plus [character that means 'one who']. I'll be happy to
think something up for you if you want, though you'll have to
elaborate on what you mean by 'shape' a bit more for me to find the
right verb (help me here so you don't end up with something not quite
what you had in mind...). And of course, you can always opt for other
single character things like 'Dream,' depending on what you prefer
visually. ^_^ 

Mary - Episode 29?? Ruuuukaaaaaaa ~~ ;_; <-- teary eyed I love the
Juri arc. *^_^* And yes! That's why chapter one sounds a bit different
in my head.

DanGuy - *crosses fingers for ya*

Linda - thanks so much for hosting this conference! ^_-

-- Mimi *bed* *bed* *bed* 
  

    
E-mail from G Seymour:

Neil - You may think that a clean copy of the first chapter is
posted, but when I just checked I came across this:

"His tie was dark gray silk, and the tie pin was a tree, worked in
silver: trunk, branches, and deep roots. I "

I thought this was a particularly interesting way to end a paragraph,
what with the incomplete sentence and all.

But anyway, even with the obviously mistyped words, I enjoyed it, and
on the release day I shall have to decide which bookstore I show up
at to see if they have a big display.

- The Other Glen
  

    
I spent many hours reading thru http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ last
night - many thanks for the link!

Also, random link of interest: http://arum.doit.wisc.edu/  ... the
plant itself just looks *old* - prehistoric, as cheesy as that sounds.

-K
  

    
Had to share!

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/lensbeetle/mervpumpkinhead.jpg";>so
cute...</a>
  

    
damn. ah well, I tried...
  

    
Neil- Good to know.
Yeah, there were typos in the excerpt, but I knew what was supposed to
be there and it didn't take anything away from the story, for me
anyway. Beautiful, beautiful.

Danw-Yeah, just make sure they don't steal your debit card and charge
over 1,000.00 on it....

DanGuy- The baby's not out yet? Wow.

Will_ Shrek was an awesome movie, much funnier than I expected it to
be. I especially love the interigation of the ginger bread man and the
Robin Hood song and dance thingy. I was almost on the floor laughing.
How could anyone not notice the bear rug? I don't go to movies very
often so when I do, I usually know it's going to be a great movie. The
only two I can remember walking out of were: Waterworld and THe Mummy.
(and the former I saw at a Drive-In that I had snuck into, so I didn't
lose any money over it) And yes, rumors are funny and kind of scary at
the same time. "Um, Neil is doing the tourbook so I think the album is
about Sandman. Covers about Sandman. Jon Evan's cousin's sister's
friend said so." "But wait! Jon Evan's cousin's sisters friend said
that she isn't touring for this album." Jon Evan's cousin's sister's
friend must be confused. Hahahaha. 
  Congrats on revising your book. When I'm writing a story, I always
think it's the greatest thing, and then, after leaving it alone for a
few weeks after finishing it, I go back to edit and revise. I usually
don't like it as much. I don't know if it's because I'm sick of it
after looking at it for so long, or it really does suck. We'll see, I
guess. Tell me when your book gets pubished and I'll definatly buy it.

Okay, now I want to write. Hee-Hee. 
EEEEE 
  

    
Neil - Thank you. Still don't know if I can go to B('cause if I go,
it'll mean more ink, and if I can't afford more ink, I don't think it
justifies all the time off), but at least now I know what day :).

NightWalker - And what makes big guy in a Ronald McDonald suit any
stranger than big guy in a pink bunny suit wielding a Claymore? (did I
tell you I'm making a Devil Bunny suit for my friend for Burning Man?)

everyone - Linda rocks on so many levels that it's hard to fathom
sometimes. :D

DanGuy - Enjoy the procrastination while you can. I know my Mommy
Dearest was thankful for two extra weeks of peaceful sleep. :)

squeaks, who wonders how long Linda's b-day hat lasted.
  

    
Silly stuff--there is an Eagle Point, In.  One of the travel agents
looked it up in the computer at work today.  She'll be # 5 in line at
Stars Our Destination.  I'll be # 4, and my friend Les who worked for
Sondheim on Sweeney Todd will be #3.  Guess who pre-ordered their
copies of AG today?


When is the EW article coming out?

Mimi- just watched up to 34.  Things are getting *interesting*!

Will--I'm with you.  I'd give my right arm to live in London for a
bit.

DanGuy--this sounds like the definition of stress.  Definitely sending
good vibes your way!

My friend Les , who took me to the Producer's opening night for
Christmas, is sending me to the dress rehearsal for the staged version
of Sweeney Todd with Patti Lupone, George Hearn, etc.for my birthday. 
He rocks!!

Mary, who has decided that Really Cool People is her favorite Good
Omens character.
  

    
DanGuy -- neilgaiman.com was owned by Trevor (gaiman.net etc weren't)
-- he transferred ownership directly to Harpercollins. I believe there
are certain systems in place whereby I get to renew their running it on
an annual basis -- my agent was sorting it out with Harper.

Will -- I wouldn't worry about what some guy in Borders said. He
hadn't heard of me, and has no idea. After the signing he'll have some
idea, if he's working that day. If he's not, he won't.

Mimi -- no, the photo shoot story was the one of the day I had my
photo taken for the book jacket. It's 
http://www.americangods.com/archive/2001_05_01_archive.html -- the May
10th entry...

Mary -- there's an eagle point in NY, Oregon, Iowa, Alaska, Wisc and
Pennsylvania, but I don't think there's one in Indiana.

I expect the EW review will be sometime within the next 4 weeks...
  

    

squeaks - my birthday hat lasted just about forever.  <brady> - speaking
of clowns - did a fabulous job.