Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Rocky- If you mean names as in the Matrix guy:  well, I'm not sure
what his name is.  The guy who played Tank.  The one who was like
"We're supposed to do some of this, but that's major boring shit," and
"My brother and I are home grown humans, born in Zion."

Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Dianna's e-mail.  I wonder to
whom I'm a wotzit.

Erynn- I know you asked Neil, but I have to say; you're not deluding
yourself.  Writing is not built on conditions.  I mean, sure, there's
actually getting published, but writing and publishing are two entirely
separate things, and I think Stephen King is the only writer I've ever
heard of who's actually taken part in publishing (he went
half-and-half with Scribner's on *Bag of Bones*, as I recall).
Enjoy it.  Love it.  Play with it.  Follow it.  Explore it.
And remember; writing is a verb.  So long as you're applying your ass
to that chair and applying word to page, you're doing it, and you are
one.  No matter what comes out, no matter what anyone tells you, you
are one.  And to actually screw up the courage and the tenacity to do
it, to be that inspired to disturb the absolute perfect Zen of an
utterly blank page, that's something very, very special.
  

    
Does that mean you're *driving* to Boston for the lecture thing? 
That sounds like a pain.

Len, I hope to see you there. Everyone else will be sick, too.
*sniffle*

Will, I know you were talking to Erynn, and that I'm here because
I like to read what other people write and not because I even 
purport to dream about writing myself, but I really liked what
you had to say about being a writer, anyway.

dan, one more vote for being glad you're ok.
  

    
Neil - driving in Chicago in the rain?? *shudder* I remember having to
pull over for the first time because of rain while I was in Chicago.
I'd never been in a storm so bad that even with the wipers on Warp
Speed I couldn't see through the windshield. Then there was the joy of
being in narrow lanes on the freeway in show with sixteen wheelers
threatening to push you against the sidewall.
*double shudder*

Erynn, Roxanne, Abbe, Martha - Thank you. Last night I got a call from
a good friend who had just done a header on her bicycle and was fresh
home from the hospital and needed to be talked down a bit. It seems
like everything is just spinning the hell out of control nowadays.
Another friend told me to embrace the chaos, it's all one can do.

Tonight should be interesting. The woman who broke my heart is coming
to the show tonight. I haven't seen her in a month. It's one of about
three known factors that are going to make tonight extremely
interesting for me. I'm particularly curious as to how she's going to
respond to seeing Arbitrary Placement of Walls, Martha...
  

    
Dan -- Positive vibes your way.

Pam -- You authored a post that made me hum.
    Hidden posts here are viewable even by non-members; the only
restriction is visual -- a link must be followed to view it.

Erynn -- I am feeling better, thank you!

Neil -- Be safe; stay animate.
  

    

Hey, ho. I'm back from my trip, where I had a blast playing Madman Across
the Water on stage with my father, and then went to DisneyWorld. Now I hear
that my mother has just started American Gods. Now to make sure my brother
reads it...

Glad the show went well this weekend, I really look forward to seeing it.
Also glad the car accident was relatively minor!

I'm heading out now, more later, maybe.
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
Hey mob!

Will - Thanks for the offer on the Eddie tapes.  Let me know if you
want me to send you a tape or something (and sympathies for the
continued scariness, from one former geek to another).

Bill^2 - Thought I remembered you being from the Detroit area.  Spent
the first 30 years of my life in Detroit, still have family and
friends
there.  I'm from the Royal Oak/Troy area - you?

DanW - Don't be so literal on the "break a leg" thing, 'kay?  Best of
luck with the weekend's shows (and other events).

Will (again) - nice words on writing, very well-said.

Abbe and Len - My wife and I will be at MIT tomorrow, as well.  I have
no idea how this will be set up (seating, etc), but it would be nice
to meet other "mobsters", as it were.

Dianna - what everybody else said :^)

Rick
  

    
Rick -- I spent most of my "formative years" in Madison Heights, so I
know right where you're talking about.

Will -- *applause* Bravo. One of these days I'll find my writer's cap
again. I often get the overwhelming sensation that I have something to
say, only I'm not quite sure what it is. Anyhow.

All -- I posted this on the newsgroup, I'll mention it again here: any
Toriphiles who are not going to be able to attend a concert are
encouraged to email me if you want a tourbook. I'd be more than happy
to pick one up and ship it to you.
  

    
After very serious deliberation, I’ve decided on the term I like best
to designate "the mob" here, as differentiated from or as a subgroup of
the Thingies is:

WELLies!

Because it makes me really giggly to imagine us all going about our
daily lives in little green boots!

Congratulations to all the happy new owners of Tori tix!  Despite my
concert-aversion, I was going to get ‘em, but then I thought we were
going to be buying a new house, so I didn’t, but now we’ve decided that
we’re probably not, so… sigh.

Bill^2: You’re a gentleman^2.  I’ll take you up on your offer for a
Tori tour book, and email you soon.

And softy-soft tissues to everyone recuperating.

Rocky:  I completely agree.  

Erynn:  Maybe you should try writing in little green boots!  It’s
impossible to get too cross with yourself in little green boots.

Will:  That was great.  Thanks.  It helped me, too.

Dan W: You are the second person in a couple days who’s said something
like that.  I’ve basically decided that there’s something really large
and primal stomping around in the cosmos this year.  And tonight
sounds like a black leather jacket night.  You got one?  Good luck.

DanGuy: You’re welcome.  And thanks.  Hmm... now I’ll have to try to
figure out a different possible solution to the "hide" thing.  Will we
ever get to see pictures of Xander?

-Pam
who LOVES the picture of Neil and the lizard
  

    
E-mail from dianna:

Dan Wilson - Sorry to hear about your prang. Hope you are all 
recovered soon. And thankyou. i think :P

But really - that's what Bottersnikes do. Truly.

Pamela - Awww... shucks. And now i've been pseuded. Yay! i love that :)

Neil - It's been more than 20 years since i read it but it was a 
favourite of mine.  i'm glad i remembered right - or i really would 
feel loony :)

Please say "Hi " to Chicago from me.

i will go there one day to see it coz it is the place where my Dad 
was born. The way he told it was always so exciting. He'd say, "I was 
born in the hospital right around the corner from where the St. 
Valentine's Day Massacre took place." And in my head, when i was a 
kid - it was at the same time too. Of course, he was born decades 
later. But when i read Violent Cases, it felt familiar somehow :)

And if anyone hasn't read Violent Cases, by Mr. Smooth & English 
Himself, you must! It's one of his finest :)

from dianna
  

    
Pam -- You're quite welcome. I'm always glad to help, at least when
I'm in a good position to do so. :) 

Incidentally, it occurs to me that lurkers and casual readers might
not be able to view profiles, email addresses and suchlike. To
frustrate spam-email-suckers, you can email me at
[myusernamehere]@well.com if you're in need of a tourbook.
  

    
E-mail from Dianna:

Will and Rick - Thankyou :)

Dan W - Hope your big night goes well :)

from dianna
  

    
Real estate agents named Rocky from New York

Squeaks, who loves mousies, but never does eat pork,

Margret (who got thanked) and Tree, who's not Jinxie

These are a few of my favorite Thingies!

When the line's long,
When the ink's gone,
When his hand hurts bad
Neil simply remembers his favorite Thingies
And then he won't feel so sad! 
  

    
I would like to apologize profoundly for that. It's been brewing in my
head for weeks, and it just slipped out.  I blame Will--he was so
inspiring -_*

Dan--break a leg!

Diana--that was hilarious.

Dan again--glad you're OK! 

Pamela--you have a very disturbed relationship with little green
boots.  No wonder I like you!

More later.  But not like that^.

Mary (who finished Cause Celeb & thought it might be Helen Fielding's
best book yet)
  

    

You all might want to give some thought to what the title of the next
topic will be because it's getting close to rollover time again...
  

    
I've been thinking about that, too.
Here are some of my ideas for new topic names:

Neil's Kids
Gaimanholics Pseudonymous
What the Hell is that Thingie?
Who are these people, and why won't they go away?
This Topic is Endless.
The Sandman Returneth... Again... And Again... And Again...
We're Not Leaving Until You Tell Us Who The Forgotten God Is!
The Gaimanoni Family, Legitimate Businesspersons
Neil Gaiman, Marathon Man!
A Deliriously Good Topic
Um, who was this topic about again?
Gaimanesquities 
"Well, you know my name is Ne-il, and I like to do writings..."
  

    
Rollover time AGAIN?  My goodness!!  I was just getting settled.

I'm rather partial to "Who are these people, and why won't they go
away?" because it made me do the milk up the nose laugh.

I have been very sick lately.  Blah.  And I can't seem to get better
because I can't seem to find the time to rest.  So, I think I should go
lie down now, but I just had to say...

BASK IN THE GLORY OF MY 6th ROW CENTER TORI AMOS TICKET FOR THE
INDIANAPOLIS SHOW!!!  Anyone else going, by the way?  
  

    
Dan Guy, Madman, Rick, Mary - Thanks.

Bill - I'm tempted. Do we know if there will ever be any other way of
getting Neil's stories?

Pamela - I ended up going for what was referred to as the hipster
hippie vampire ensemble last night. (grey tye die drawstring pants,
blue turtleneck, blue silk shirt, blue mardi gras beads, blue
sunglasses with my black leather trenchcoat.) The show went well, and
by all accounts seeing Eden (the woman who devastated my heart last
month) went ok. It was hard, and I let myself get talked into going out
with the gang for drinks afterwards, so at various points my insides
felt like that painting "the scream"... but I think that it was all
necessary for the healing process to go forward.

Dianna - you're welcome, I think. *grin*

Linda - Rollover time already? Is this the most active forum on the
whole Well or what? I think that simply "Barking Mad" would do just
fin, thank you. Although "American DemiGods" would be appreciated.

Well, it turns out that the repairs to my car are going to be less
than my deductable (thank goodness for Saturn and their wonderfully
bult cars!) so that's one less thing to worry about. It'll be all fixed
by the end of the day Monday. I got through a major emotionally scary
situation last night, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest
of the weekend has in store for me. I just hope that the Shivering
Jemmy of the Laughing Brigade doesn't take that as an invitation to
throw something at me...
  

    
I like Barking Mad, myself...

WOOF!
  

    
I didn't suggest that one because, well, last night a friend pointed
out where I'd first seen the term: When Harry Potter tells his uncle
which platform his train to Hogwarts is leaving from, the uncle states
that the number is "Barking Mad", or somesuch...
  

    
HAHAHAHA! Janell, I love your topic ideas. We must use one of them! I
like the "We're not leaving until you tell us who the forgotten god is"
one.

Will and Neil- Of course it's all easier said than done (as it should
be), but thank you. You guys made my day. I do think I'm getting
better. My rejection letters are getting more and more polite and
encouraging these days. 
  The BIG problem I have with American magazines, both pro and
semi-pro, is that they tell me "Well, you should take out the explicit
sex." Even though it's important to the story and not smut porn. And
with the violence in them (and I'm very serious), they tell me that I
should "extend on that because it makes the story more exciting" 
Sometimes I feel like sending a rhetorical letter...but I don't. It's
pointless. Not that I don't use violence in my stories....there's
plenty of that....it's just. Damn I wish I lived in England or Scoland
or somewhere. 
JaNell, you remeber "Anna Lybel". Can you picture it without the sex?
It'd be like: "And the dark shadow entered though the window an kissed
her innocently on the cheek and said, "How about a game of Monopoly?"
(or I guess it has to be violent so..) "How about a game of Risk?"  
Blargh.

Anyway, so yeah.
Angelina- 6th row!!? You lucky, lucky....
I did the pre-sale thing and I STILL got the back of the orchestra
section. My sister will be at the Indy one. But you don't know her
so... I'm just glad I'm going. I hear the tourbooks are going fast. You
have to get them right as soon as you walk in the door if you want
one. 

Okay, I have to get up early tomorrow, er, today to get out of the
city and go to an apple orchard and get cider wine and pumkins and
frolic and such....too bad it's supposed to snow...I'm hoping to enjoy
some fall before the nine months of winter hits!

Later homies,
EEEE
  

    
Just a quick "Hey!" before bed...

I had a great night at 11th St., saw friends (no ToriBat,
www.xanga.com/BatsNeedFriends, though), drank coffee, talked, danced to
Motown... sweet.
Then a few of us (Kevin, www.xanga.com/I_doubt_it; Arlene,
www.xanga.com/Arlene; Krista & Shadow, The Apocalypse Fairies) went
over to a friend's (Gretchen, www.xanga.com/faeriegirl) apartment and
talked 'til three, and I came home to an email from one of my
favoritest people...

~doing a little exhausted happy dance here~

So, a little bit about my life for the voyeurs...
and I'm not tellin' who, but a Wellsian from here got a blogger at
Xanga, too.
Wheeeeee!
  

    
Dan -- I don't know if they'll be available anywhere else, though Neil
might be able to fill that in.
Erynn or anybody else -- any idea how much the tourbooks are? 
  

    
Well, I'm home and rested after going to the MIT Neil/Peter
David/Harlan Ellison event last night.  It was, to say the least, a
very interesting evening.  Probably a bit frustrating for a lot of the
people there, since Harlan was in a particularly Harlanesque mood, and
dominated the proceedings.  It got to the point that the last person
who was able to ask a question (the event ran very long, about 3.5
hours to the point where the signing began) hoped that Harlan
*wouldn't* answer her question.

But, you book Harlan, you get Harlan.  I imagine he's a bit
challenging in a multi-speaker format, especially when he's friends
with the other speakers.

That said, it was fun (and very funny most of the time), and Neil read
a very charming poem he wrote for Maddie in response to a "rude
e-mail" from her concerning his "Crazy Hair".  It was very sweet, and
magical, and, well, *Neil* (and I trust you all know what I'm talking
about).  I've never heard "Blueberry Girl", but I imagine "Crazy Hair"
will be much-sought-after in much the same way.

After the whole thing was over, and while the line was forming to buy
Harlan's out-of-print books and have them signed, I decided to try to
get to Neil to introduce myself.  He was up on stage chatting with a
few people, but as I started in his direction, he walked out into the
audience to say hello to a woman in a wheelchair who wouldn't have been
able to get to him on stage.

Needless to say, a crowd quickly encircled him, and he was trapped, as
was the unfortunate wheelchair-bound woman, who was looking distinctly
uncomfortable.  Being in the front of the group, I tried to give her
some room, but was being crowded by the jerk right behind me, who
seemed to be trying to push his way *through me* :^(

Neil proceeded to answer a Miracleman rights question ("Todd McFarlane
*lies*.........") and answered a question that I didn't really catch
from a woman on the opposite side of the circle from me.  Then he
turned around and I was standing right in front of him, so it seemed as
good a time as any.

I introduced myself (as calmly as possible, though I have to admit
that I was shaking for a while afterwards) and said that I was glad to
finally get to meet him - I've been vicariously communicating with him
and other fans since sometime around 1991 (on GEnie), but had managed
to never get to a signing or event.  He shook my hand, and commented on
how lucky I was, since I got to see Harlan in such fine form :^)  He
also confirmed that he drove to Boston, and that it was an adventure -
I'm sure we'd all like a bit more detail on that bit!

All-in-all, an enjoyable evening.  Harlan did the Harlan thing (think
"this Harlan goes to 11"), and Neil and Peter gave some really good
answers to audience questions.  I'm very glad I went, and my wife had a
good time, as well, even if Harlan did start to give her a headache
;^)

Neil, it was truly a pleasure to finally meet you - you remained
gracious, charming, approachable, and just-plain-nice under
less-than-ideal circumstances, and all of the fans in Boston seemed to
appreciate and respect that (with the possible exception of the guy
behind me, who thought you should be addressing the whole gathering as
if you were still "on").  Oh well, one in every crowd.

Hope the trip home is safe, and either less of an adventure or a
better kind of adventure (your choice!) than the drive to Boston.

Rick
  

    
I saw Tori last night!  It was mah-velous.  I had such a blast.  It
was my first time going to a meet & greet -- she seems so much smaller
in person! ^_^

Pam -- Yes, there are pics of Xander online at
<http://www.p0mi.com/xander/gallery.html>.