Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Neil remarked about surprising Linda by recognizing her from the clue that
she had the audio book.  He was very pleased about it.
  

    
Just wanted to add that I got my 'kersplooey' and it still doesn't
sound right.

Will write more when I've recovered from LA when the weekend is over
and I'm hosting a Tree...

-squeaks, who needed the kersplooey just then too. :)
  

    
Linda --- NOOOO!!!!  run away! Run away!!

Snicker, I just moved away from DC and am happily once more a hick
from West Virginia. (No, that's not western Virginia as someone once
informed me and no i do not run around wihout shoes....much.) 

I did not love DC all that much, the evil traffic got to me.  :)  It
does have a somewhat decent Metro system, I'd suggest using it
liberally. 

As for the rest of you that have gotten American Gods aready and/or
have gotten to meet Neil, I am most jealous. I am getting AM for a
birthday present on Saturday, else I would have gotten it already.  I
am  a study of anticipation. 

Signng out from WEBTV in a Hilton hotel room in Atlanta, 
Rani
  

    
Linda --- NOOOO!!!!  run away! Run away!!

Snicker, I just moved away from DC and am happily once more a hick
from West Virginia. (No, that's not western Virginia as someone once
informed me and no i do not run around wihout shoes....much.) 

I did not love DC all that much, the evil traffic got to me.  :)  It
does have a somewhat decent Metro system, I'd suggest using it
liberally. 

As for the rest of you that have gotten American Gods aready and/or
have gotten to meet Neil, I am most jealous. I am getting AM for a
birthday present on Saturday, else I would have gotten it already.  I
am  a study of anticipation. 

Signng out from WEBTV in a Hilton hotel room in Atlanta, 
Rani
  

    
Martha Soukup- you lucky thing! I'm so jealous. I was supposed to see
Neil briefly before the Lexington signing, but they got there late
(Sushi- WHY is it always SUSHI?). Now I've been wondering whatever
happened to the tree talisman I made for him as a tour gift... and
hoping he at least remembered to take it out of his pocket.

Suzanne- there are pics taken by the guy in front of me at Lex on the
AG Tour message board...

And some funny Neil-related links I found on a message board tooling
around earlier today:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=yabs=415

http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=yabs&article=98
2
  

    
TRUE STORY, NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

A week or so ago, a prostitute was found beaten to death, brutally.

Tonight at the 11th St. Espresso House, I was talking to some of my
younger friends who mentioned a guy they went to school with who, as he
and a friend were leaving a party last week, said, "Yeah, we're gonna
got out and find a prostitute and kill her".
After they did, they went to a late night club with her in the trunk. 

Very Twin Peaks.
  

    
Don't be jealous of me putting books back into boxes.

Be jealous because I heard part of the current working cut of a CD that
won't be on sale until September, and Neil made sure I heard a cut he knew
I'd particularly like.

But I can't talk about it.
  

    
Martha, you just DID talk about it, so... talk MORE.
And I am jealous, so there. Do you think I'd be working for a Con free
if I didn't get off on helping people, and being useful, or at least
entertaining?
  

    
JaNell-- WHAT?  What?  WHAT?  That is horrible!  God, sometimes I
really don't like people.  That bothers me more than I can properly
convey right now.

Martha-- You tease...

Linda--  Well told.  I almost don't feel bad for not being there.  

Rani-- A belated welcome to you...I still feel like a new person, but
I think I must have passed that stage up at some point.

And I know there is another newbie or two sliding around here.  I'm
too tired to look back for your names, but a big Hello to you!

Angelina.
  

    
JaNell-- Okay.  Just checked out your links.  The second one had me
laughing with little tears in my eyes, but I think I missed the Neil
reference in the first.  Could ya point me in the right direction?
  

    
Angelina- *Sigh*
The thing I didn't tell y'all, being slightly less shocking, is that
last Saturday night the Morrison Cafeteria night watchman, a few blocks
from UT, very near the coffee house, was axed to death and then the
killers set fire to the place. No connection with the other, I think,
except both probably being thrill kills. 
It's a little scary here in Knoxville lately.


So, go look at the links I posted, have a good laugh, feel better.
Look for the 2nd article in the first link.
  

    
JaNell--what on earth is goin' on down there, girl?  I live in
*Chicago*, for goodness sakes, and it's not that scary.  Be safe!

And I loved the links.  Neener, neener!  


Martha--I loooove that movie (Truly, Madly, Deeply)  Juliet Stephenson
is a goddess.  And Alan Rickman.........<sigh>....

Whoever mentioned "Living With the Dinosaur" (I hope I remembered the
name correctly) Thanks!  I'll go look for it soon.  It sounds good.

Mary (who can't scroll up 20 responses without losing her post)
  

    
Ooops--meant to say --get well soon, Robynne!
  

    
I can't talk about it.  If Neil hadn't already teased everyone about the CD
I wouldn't even have mentioned it.

It'll be a good one.
  

    
Janell - To say I'm horrified at your tales of mayhem would be too
mild. Did those bastards ever get caught? Prosecuted? This mindset that
prostitutes aren't people and that their murder somehow counts for
less than the death of "Respectable people" is one that is nothing
short of abhorrant. I say this because I suspect that the police are
doing little to nothing to investigate the murder, which is what
usually happens.

On a lighter note... the second story in the first post?? The Tomb
Raider one??
  

    
Thanks all for sharing your signing stories. Its really cool to hear
what's going on at the other signings. It sounds like those California
signings have been a lot of fun!

Kathy- How are you liking Herodotus? It's got some funny parts, and
some interesting gruesome parts, but it's a tough one to get
through...I did a bit of skimming with that one.  Though I have to say,
its a fantastic thrill compared to Bede's Ecclesiastical History of
Britain (which oddly enough I was reading the first time I went to a
Neil signing) or Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in
France. Sorry if I just slammed someone's favorite book there.

Martha-If that's the cd I think it is, I am very very jealous, but
also glad for you :)

--Blythe, debating whether she should work on her up and coming
website dedicated to (who else?) Neil, or listen to Troll Bridge on
W:CL....
  

    
Neil - Many congrats on making the New York Times best-seller list.
It's one of the biggest accomplishments for any author. We already knew
you were a literary god, and now the rest of the world agrees. :-)

Will Entrekin - Who was I? I was also up front, sitting on the floor
-- the blond librarian assistant-looking chick with Mother Earth body
and a silver ankh necklace. When I got my copy of AG signed, Neil was
not only kind of enough to recognize me, he also introduced me to his
editor. It was a great day.

All - I finally got a copy of Warning Contains Language from
Dreamhaven Books. Looking forward to listening to it on my flight to
Chicago next month. I prefer to listen to interesting CDs when I
travel. Makes the people sharing seats in my row look at me funny when
I suddenly laugh out loud or burst into tears.

Quote of the week: "Liberty is a bitch who must be bedded on a
mattress of corpses." -- Mr. Wednesday quoting someone French, as
written by Neil Gaiman

Jade Walker
  

    
JaNell- That's scary, and sick.  Be safe over there.

Martha- I'm going to be jealous for both reasons, if that's all right
by you.

JadeWalker- are you the girl I talked to after the reading, when
Claudia from the Magnetic Fields show showed up?  If so, well, it was
nice to meet you.  If not, well, wish I had.

Roy- Congratulations on Best-sellerdom, but do I have to send my
American Gods to Todd McFarlane, or send him more money so he can buy
more baseballs?  (you know, I'd say what I'd like to do with said
baseball, but it wouldn't be all that gentlemanly, so I won't.  But I
Don't Like Todd.  Oh, and has anyone ever seen Spawn, on HBO?  I
watched it once, years ago, when it first came out... Todd is the most
stiff, wooden, mechanic person I've ever seen on television... The
exact opposite of our Neil- er, *Roy* [sorry]).

-Will, who's got to pick up Truly, Madly, Deeply (which I thought was
the DVD for Savage Garden, but isn't, apparently), and Living with
Dinosaurs, now.
  

    

The essay about Hamlet and African bushmen which Chip Delany cited in
the essay referenced by Neil in the Rain Taxi interview is "Shakespeare
In the Bush", available online at:
<http://www.cc.gatech.edu/people/home/idris/Essays/Shakes_in_Bush.htm>
     It's by Laura Bohannon, but the gender switch doesn't really
change anything.

     It's well worth reading.  (For you too, Neil, if you've never
read the original source.)  There's a lot more to it then the bushmen
asking when they went out to kill the witch.  Bohannon gives a
blow-by-blow account of how the elders kept interrupting her to
recontextualize the events of her story in their own terms.  (For
example, in their culture the fact that Hamlet's uncle married his
mother was the admirable Right Thing To Do, ergo they fail to
understand Hamlet's depression.)  And the last quote from the elder is
*priceless*.

     I loved being a cultural anthropology major!
  

    
Well, you Wellians, a quick account of last night's fun at Vroman's.  

I wasn't really even planning on going, since I had a long audition
yesterday and was wearing really stupid clothing for the character and
I didn't have any of my stuff with me that I wanted to have signed. 
But something in me said, "go," so I went.  I'm so glad I did.

I had the priveledge of meeting Suzanne, Walker, and also Dax (hope
I'm spelling that right), Candace (right?) along with other nice people
whose names I'm forgetting.  The space was really lovely and it didn't
seem crowded at all.  I was expecting hoardes (which is actually what
I think will happen tonight at Book Soup).  I was struck with how open
and inviting everyone I met was.  It almost felt like a secret
gathering of magicians or some sort, who look like society's fringes
during the day and at night create dreamstuff for the unknowing world. 


Neil was great.  Tired.  Very funny.  Caustic.  Picked up reading
right where I had left off the night before, which was great.  Read
about robbing the bank.  His reading is so engaging, so funny, so
impressive.  But we all know this.  He talked about the movies,
inspiration, etc.  Spoke beautifully about how differently John
Grisham, Stephen King, and himself (that doesn't seem gramatically
correct) would tell a story about a house by a lake.  

I was reluctant to get in line, I don't really need to have a piece of
him.  I just wanted to tell him who I was.  Walker was kind enough to
snap a picture.  He signed "Goldfish" for my niece, which I feel was a
wonderful legacy.  I want her to know this magic.  I hope some day to
have a real conversation with Neil, but until then, I'm glad of these
moments, and mainly for the words.  I love the words.  Thanks, Neil.

-Adriana
  

    
Adriana: I'm so glad you went! It sounds like you had a lovely time :)

Will: Truly, Madly, Deeply is a gem. I'd also recommend a film called
"The Giraffe" by Dani Levy, except that it's not available for sale
anywhere except Germany *sigh*. I try to keep my eyes peeled for it on
cable, so I can tape it... But no luck of late.

Martha: hints?

All: Here's a sad story with a somewhat happy ending... So when I
lived in Albuquerque years ago, I used to drool over an illustrated
book of Russian Folktales full of Ivan Bilibin colour plates. I think
it was $70, and I talked myself out of buying it the entire time I
lived there because money was tight. 

But after reading AG, I decided I wanted to find this book again. I
first tried eBay, and then after being outbid, I thought "This is
silly, I should just ring up Birdsong's" because that was the wonderful
fabulous used bookshop near campus where I had always drooled over the
book. And so I decided, 'net savy gal that I am, to look them up
online to see if they had a website, or find their phone number.

Turns out they had a fire in 1997, two years after I moved away. I
tried finding the number at Yellowpages.com but got nothing. I was
devestated, until I called directory assistance and got the phone
number. It turns out that the shop was rebuilt, tho it's under new
ownership now because the original owner just didn't have the heart to
rebuild. It had been like losing a child.

The new owner recommended I try Bookfinder.com, which I did and I
actually found two books there that are now winging their way to me.
But I just was thinking about how used bookshops are so wonderful, and
it just broke my heart to hear one of my favourites had burned. I
remember when I was in Dublin a few weeks back, getting into a lively
conversation with a man from a faboo used bookshop (the name of which
is scrawled on a slip of paper somewhere in my new digs. Somewhere.
*sigh*) about the derth of used bookshops in some parts of the States.
I remember telling him how wonderful Birdsong was, and how he should go
there if he's ever in New Mexico. I'm lucky--I work a few blocks away
The Book Box (I think that's what it's called), which is next door to
the closed down Uptown Theatre on Broadway. I went on a Edgar Rice
Burroughs' Tarzan kick two summers ago, and they set me up very nicely
with all the books for less than $5 if I remember correctly. 

On a happy happy giggly note, thanks to a visit last night from Mary
Roane and Debbie (and Debbie's son Chris, who was very sleepy by the
time the "three crazy women on the couch" party broke up) I now have a
picture from Friday's Skokie signing framed and it's going to go on my
shelf full of neil books :) 
  

    
Tara--well, if that isn't the darndest thing.  I grew up in
Albuquerque.  I went to the University of New Mexico.  I most certainly
know Birdsong.  Now, as far as I understand it, you're in Ireland,
right?  What the heck brought you to Albuquerque?  What did you study? 
Wow, that's really weird...  By the way if you ever need anything from
there, my family lives there and I go home often.
  

    
Adriana Roze: Actually, I'm in Chicago :) But I went over for my
cousin's wedding. My father is 1/2 English, 1/2 irish, raised in
England, and met my mother when she was on a tour he escorted. I grew
up in Chicago, and then moved around like a gypsy for five years until
moving back here in 1996. I actually started University in Madrid,
Spain when my family moved there in 1991 (my father really believed in
globalism, and wanted to move back to Europe). Then we moved back in
summer of '92 and I went to U of I in urbana for a year, and then my
kid sister (who is currently a graduate student in History at U of
Florida Orlando) graduated high school and got in at UNM, and I
transferred with her so she wouldn't be all alone in a strange city.

So I graduated from UNM in December '95, with a degree in Creative
Writing, and worked part-time as a SCON. I used to work graveyard shift
in the CIRT pod from 10pm Friday until 8am Saturday, and I worked in
the journalism pod across the street from Olympia Cafe (the best greek
food I've ever had in my life) most of the rest of the time. It was
insane, but I actually enjoyed it. We lived downtown, near the Dingo,
and I *lived* in Cafe au lait (which I understand is under diff.
amangement than the folks who ran it when I spent entire days there
reading and drinkign coffee.)

Hey, does Cameron Goble still work in the comic book store down the
street from the Frontier? Heck, is the store even still there?
  

    
Hey people, we're corresponding with a New York Times certified
bestselling author!  

Congratulations Neil, just saw the list a few minutes ago and couldn't
be happier for you.  

Reading this book makes my eyes happy.
  

    
Adriana's snapshot of last night's reading at Vroman's was quite on
the mark.  Only addition would be while reading from chapter 5, Neil
mentioned that the publisher added an apostrophe someplace on page 87
(think that's the page...) which got a bit of a laugh since he stopped
in the middle of the reading and explained what happened.

Before the reading my husband Mark wondered out loud why readings
couldn't take place in bars.  Something about making the 4 hour wait a
bit easier (we flew in and had a bit of time to kill -- mind you he
finished 2 books while we waited). Mark found it quite amusing the way
that the well folk started chatting.  Dax started it... I swear!

It really was lovely meeting folks last night.  Adriana must tell us
if she gets a call back (fingers & toes crossed!).  Do think Carrie
wins the award for most travel miles by car --  LV to SF to LA! Plus
that bonus from the CHiPs can't be beat! Really was a bummer that we
couldn't stay and chat afterwards... would have enjoyed that a great
deal.

As Adriana said so eloquently in the previous post, it was a
wonderfully magical evening.  Many thanks to Neil for his words and the
kindness he shows to his fans.