Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Well, the mob of thingies that turned up with me certainly felt it was
worth the distance to see you and help out the fund. Any time.

And Martha, dunno if you would remember the reference, but you are so
very signing my shoes if we ever meet up.
  

    
Reg -- I was disabused of any naivete on that with, pretty much, my
very first comic, which came very close to sending a publisher to
prison (in Sweden) and had me arguing with Dame Jill Knight, a
conservative MP, on the radio. 

The UK customs laws are pretty bad too.

It was why, when I came out to the US, I found myself appreciating the
concept of the First Amendment so much.

Currently reading a book called GIRLS LEAN BACK EVERYWHERE -- a
history of the censorship of literature in the 20th century...

Incidentally, Reg, I don't see that a softly softly approach excludes
talking to your Member of Parliament, and getting your friends to do
likewise. Lobbying works.

Michelle -- I think you and Martha are practically neighbours. And
please pass on to the assembled thingies my thanks for their help.
  

    
I've already contacted my senator about the issue and will continue
pushing her office to take it further. 

Reg
  

    
Neil--  provoking people from the beginning, eh? Could you tell us
more about that first experience with censorship?
  

    
Shoes.  Shoes.  My brain is not telling me anything about shoes.
  

    
E-mail from Sheila:

Hi Neil -

Glad to see that you made it through in more or less one piece, and that
the tour earned such a nice amount for the CBLDF. We've got a formal "thank
you note" hanging around on our hard drives that will eventually get
printed up and sent to you and Chris Oarr.  The whole trip was such an
adventure - thanks for making it possible.  <grin>

I just want to follow up to Darrien's comments and the last bit of
Blueberry controversy.  I felt your hesitancy about the poem in Chicago,
and although what I was feeling was "please don't do something you don't
feel right about, but it would rock my world if you choose to do so..." I
think I only managed to get the second half of the sentiment out.  I regret
if I threw in too passionately on the side of getting to hear it.  It was
evident how special it was to you.

The chaos after the show didn't allow me the chance to remember to ask for
a copy, and I'm sorry to have missed the chance to relive the memory by
reading the poem alone later on (and when *not* sobbing my eyes out), but I
don't resent the fact that I can't just look it up online somewhere.  If
anyone should have the right to ask that that not happen, it is definitely
you.

I was upset to come back from Chicago and find that there were already
detailed "field reports" up on the Dent on a separate "Tori's baby's poem"
web page. I wrote Mikewhy an email when I found the page, saying that it I
knew I really didn't have the right to ask that audience members' reports
not be on there because 1) it was a public reading and 2) it's not my poem,
it's yours, but I felt kind of protective and strange about it.  He replied
very kindly, but as I didn't request anything changed since I didn't feel
it was my place, he left things as they were.

Perhaps he would put a link to this discussion, or a brief summary of it,
on the web page?  Dunno what you'd think about that.

People who feel they "deserve" to hear it no matter what you want... oh
god, these are the same types who get angry at Tori if she doesn't spend
gobs of time at every meet and greet with them alone, or play the songs
they scream out, who think they own an artist just by virtue of loving
their work.  It's just thoughtless and selfish.  (I rather suspect it's the
same sorts who become personally, mortally insulted and angry if I don't
interpret their "requests" as "orders" when I DJ... but that's another
whole rant that belongs elsewhere.)

The poem is yours, and Tori's, and Natashya's.  You're not too sensitive.

I was going to say that you gave all of us who were present a great gift
when you shared it, but that description isn't quite right.  You didn't
give it to us:  you loaned it, on the (unspoken) condition that we treat it
as reverently and gently as you did.

All right, enough on the subject.  I have to ask, I just can't help myself
- can you share anything about dinner in NYC?  I'm sure the company was
lovely, but... how was the FOOD?  <grin>

Sheila
  

    
Hi Sheila --

the food in Nobu was good... but my one experience of Nobu Next Door
was, actually, better. And there was a minor disaster with someone at
the meal who was really, life-threateningly, allergic to shellfish (and
had made this very VERY clear to the waiter) who was given Miso soup
with clams in it by a server and had to be taken to a late night
pharmacy for stuff to get her breathing again. The waiter was
apologetic but the hostesses were unprofessional ("drink water, you'll
be fine") and the whole thing rather soured me on the whole Nobu bit.


Mike-at-the-dent e-mailed me and asked if I wanted him to pull
everything about the poem from the Dent. I said no, because I could see
the whole thing escalating even more if he did...

...

I was just talking to Chris Oarr from the defense Fund, who is in
Portland supervising the editing of a video of the Portland stop. He
asked that if anyone has or knows of any reviews (professional or just
by punters) of the tour, can they let him or Chris Bleistein at the
CBLDF have links to them, as they need them for a final press
release...  E-mail addresses at www.cbldf.org

...
  

    
Drink water, you'll be fine??

Oy.
  

    
A request -- does anyone have the url for the Amazon.com essay I did
when Dream Hunters came out? The one which begins with me talking about
people with middle names that explain who they are, like Chris
"X-Files" Carter and so on. Karen Berger wants to see it, and I cannot
find how you find author interviews and essays on Amazon.
  

    
Email from Bill Williams:

Glad to chime in on this one...
The link you are looking for is this:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/16489/104-3779165-5039167
It can also be found by going to The Dream Hunters, clicking on
"Amazon.com
Articles" and then on "Read Amazon.com's article."
Enjoy! :)
--Bill
I have got no further than this:
every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth,
and every other man has a right to knock him down for it.
Samuel Johnson, 1780
  

    
Thanks Bill.

I really and truly will do my best to get back to all the questions
and things people have asked and I've not had time to reply to...

Chicago Humanities Festival this weekend. 

And I'm going to read THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS to Maddy's school
tomorrow afternoon.
  

    
What is Chicago Humanities Festival?
  

    
        Lucky kids.  Looking forward to getting that when it comes out,
though I suppose I'll also have to check Lucien's library (such an
evocative notion, that place) for the edition with the Gorey
illustrations.
        Martha slipped in.
  

    
Wolves in the Walls was always meant to have Dave McKean art. I don't
think Gorey could have drawn wolves rollicking and partying. They would
have been effete, pale wolves, sipping cabernet if Gorey had drawn
them.

It's CORALINE that Gorey was meant to illustrate, and that Dave will
be doing instead.

Martha -- well http://chfestival.org/november/events/speakers.cfm
lists everyone speaking  and http://chfestival.org/november/index.cfm
is the index.
  

    

Neil, have you ever thought of working with Nick Bantock as an
illustrator?
  

    
Linda -- I've never really written anything where it struck me that
Nick Bantock would have been the perfect illustrator for the project. I
think he's amazingly talented, though.

...

Okay, another odd request to the assembled multitudes. I'm looking for
Ramayana comics from anywhere in Asia. I know they're out there...
Anyone know of a source I could contact for Indian comics
  

    
Oh, and a happy hallowe'en to all our readers, living and dead.
  

    
Wow... that's quite a festival.

And yes-- Happy Halloween!  (Sappy Samhain?)
  

    

Happy Halloween. I think I am going as Dream (Morpheus) again this year.

I should scan in pictures of the last time I did that and put pointers to
them here. The Endless storm Disneyworld, and no one notices. (We were quite
disappointed at how few people recognized us...)
  

    
Neil - The assembled thingies say "your welcome". And Happy Halloween
back. Are *you* dressing up at all? :)

Martha - the shoes were something I mentioned on afng after the last
reading at the Other Change of Hobbit (or possibly the Booksmith).
After someone got one of your books signed, I decided that you needed
to sign my shoes (yellow Chuck Taylors, no less), for some odd reason.
I'll have to search Usenet to find it now. *sigh. So you're local eh?
Does that mean I have to stalk you now too? :)

-michelle
who is Leeloo (5th Element) for Halloween
  

    
Leeloo! Which outfit are you wearing?

I'll be Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas), as usual, complete with
prosthetics.
  

    
        Personally, I'll be a guy with his head twisted around backwards,
answering the door for the kids and giving them candy.  Though I'll
need a new jack o'lantern.  Turns out when you freeze and defrost a
pumpkin, it deflates like a balloon.  Live and learn.
  

    
Neil - both Vedanta Press and South Asia books have a selection.

try: http://members.sockets.net/~sab/colgen.htm

or:  http://www.vedanta.com

There is actually a reasonable article 'Rama Narami and the Ramayana'
with some links to online book sellers at:

http://www.mit.edu/people/sahai/rama.html


Happy Halloween...even though we doon't celebrate it here :P
  

    
doon't?  hmmm.  must have picked up a accent somewhere.

I have had a bit more of a dig around and this is the site you need:

http://www.indiabookhouse.com

You will want to click on the large aqua box with 'Amar Chitra Katha'
- the name of the comic book publisher.  
  

    
Okay. Deep breath and answer a few old questions...

916. Sarah -- no, I hadn't meant the gloves girl to invoke Wanda, and
all I know about Didi's medical condition was that it was
heart-related.


922 -- Mimi -- I don't know why Nicholas Was got that reaction from
the Chicago and New York audiences. I think familiarity was part of it.
Most of them *know* it. It may have been something I was doing...
it'll be interesting to see what they sound like on the DATs. 

I really don't know why some things are funny and some aren't. But I
do like being Niiru Gaiman-shi.

No, that wouldn't be too big to send. I just pick stuff up from
Dreamhaven when I go by there. 

I hope the jet-lag is better. It was lovely meeting you and your
sister at the meet&greet, and every time someone would tell me how far
they'd come, i would allow that that was indeed a long way, but it
wasn't Hong Kong...

923 -- Mary Roane not Shira -- I do vaguely mean to do a poetry
collection one day. In the meantime I agree that I will do one, when
publishers ask, and then in the meantime I don't do anything about it.

One day. Honest.

Linda -- I too think you've done a fantastic job keeping this strange
salon running.

Elise -- I'm delighted to know I cheered Mike up. He's one of the good
guys, and I hope he gets a new kidney really soon.

-- I hear from Chris Oarr that my refusing to go and do an encore was
caught on the radio mike, and has been put on the video.

Jade -- no, I don't refuse encores as I'm modest, just because that's
the first time the lighting guy hasn't put up the lights immediately.
He left them down, so people started stomping and cheering. Normally
they put the house lights on and people go home without thinking of
Encores.

Amanda -- I did Babycakes as the encore.

937 -- Darrien. Of course Sheila can have a copy of Blueberry Girl:
you two deserve it. have her e-mail Chris Oarr. And I don't mind you
forwarding a plea for people to come to the LA gig out into the world.

941 -- Randi -- I certainly suspect that Sandman is in its best
possible form and medium. But on the other hand, better a good film
than Howard the Duck.

Who knows. I might well do a Coraline reading in New York when it
comes out, of the whole thing. Might be fun. 

It's odd being part of the inner life of people you don't know, when
you are reminded of it. Mostly, you (er, I) never think about it. And
then I'll do something like the last tour and meet people who say
things like "you saved me from suicide five years ago" and I am
reminded of how big a part people like Harlan Ellison played in my life
before ever I knew them.

The weird thing is that the indecent proposals for the Q & A were only
in New York. I don't remember any more. (Mark Askwith, from the
Canadian sci fi channel recently  reminded me of a time he overheard a
nice young lady in a signing line offer to "F*ck you until your brains
bleed", and he said I declined astonishingly politely.)

Elise -- my fans *are* nice. I think I'm very lucky that way.

I haven't written any songs in a while. I wrote "Personal Thing" for
the Flashgirls about a year ago, when the reunion became possible,
although it was based on a song I wrote when I was about 17. If they
were back and recording I'd write more songs -- a song without a singer
is such a lonely thing.

950 -- Streak, no, i was mostly that the people who posted here had
really liked Blueberry Girl, and it seemed unfair to do it for half the
tour and not the others. And, as far as i could tell, everyone seems
willing to go along with me on this one. Well, until the thing shows up
on napster.

No, Writer's Prayer's unpublished. I gave a few of last year's
Christmas cards with the Writers Prayer on them to the CBLDF. If you
offer Chris Oarr a big enough donation, he might get you one.