Terry Pratchett...
It was actually a plesant event, there weren't too many people there so it only took a half hour of waiting in line... Kind of like the first time I saw Neil Gaiman. Fewer than a hundred people (I was afraid there would be many more), which allowed for it to still be comfortable.
So I get to the train station and miss the one I intended to take down. Waited about half an hour for the next train and got to Philly around 6:50. I walked to the bookstore just around the corner, and got there just as he started talking.
He first started talking about his experiences having his books published in America, and told us about how his early publishers thought it would be really great to 'hide' his name, as though his books would sell better if you didn't know that he was attached to it. After his publisher merged with someone else, he got a Publicist that had actually heard of him, and things went on the right track. And while he has more money than JK Rowling, he hopes that in a few years he will be at least a third as Neil Gaiman is in America.
Next he talked about how he wrote the book. It started out as an idea for a boardgame, setting trolls against dwarfs, and evolved into a story. The game was made, but the book got pushed back because he was allready doing The Truth and Going Postal. Once he got those out of the way, he was capable of writing Thud.
After that he talked about his surgery, in which he had to have a cathater inserted into his heart. Everything was going fine, but after the surgery his doctor asked him 'what was that about sandwiches?'. During the surgery Terry was completely out, but saw a man in the corner of the room with a tray of sandwiches around his neck (COMT Dibbler?). He repeatedly tried getting off the table to get one, and the doctors were forced to hold him down. The moral of this story is 'if your ever in the hospital and you see the man offering you sandwiches, don't go toward the sandwich. There will be plenty of time for sandwiches later, and they will always be waiting in the end'. Some friends of his decided that it would be funny to have somebody dressed as Death walk down the hall in the CCU, but I don't think they went through with it.
He told us a little about his shepards cottage... He employed somebody to find him an old shepards cottage out in the mores somewhere so that he could have a place to get away. When the man returned he asked what Terry intended to do with it, and Terry responded "I was going to use it as a shepards cottage". The man broke down crying, "I've been locating these things for people for years, and all they want to do with them is use them as offices, or apartments, or something. Your the first one that's ever wanted to use a shepards cottage as a shepards cottage". So Terry bought the place, got a pot bellied stove, and he's got himself an authentic shepard's cottage where he can disappear to.
He told us about his upcoming projects, two more Tiffany Aching books, and another Discworld book about Soccer. He told us that he's not a sports fan, which is why it took so long to get around to it. The only important thing to him is that Brittain beats Australia, then all is right with the world. He also told us about soccer fans in England, especially the ones that make the most Rabbid Trekkie look like they're a Amish Priest.
He wrapped things up with some question/answer stuff. Vimes is his favorite character because he's the most fun to write, he won't trust that Good Omens the movie is going to happen even if it does, he didn't particularly like the Hitchhiker's guide Movie. He also told us a story about how he always sees copies of Good Omens when he and Neil are doing signing tours at the same time, and at one point they came up with the idea of sending messages to each other through their dedications. It was a terrible failure, but it still sounds cool in theory.
I took my copy of Thud, Nanny Ogg's Cook Book, and my special edition Mort and it was fun to get him to sign, even if I couldn't think of a thing to say when I actually got up to the front of the line. I downloaded an MP3 somebody made at the signing the day before mine if anybody wants to listen. I haven't had a chance to listen to it all, but it is good if your into that sort of thing.
Ran into Scott Lutz while waiting for my ride at the train station and caught up with him a little bit... We each had trouble recognizing the other, till we started talking.
So I get to the train station and miss the one I intended to take down. Waited about half an hour for the next train and got to Philly around 6:50. I walked to the bookstore just around the corner, and got there just as he started talking.
He first started talking about his experiences having his books published in America, and told us about how his early publishers thought it would be really great to 'hide' his name, as though his books would sell better if you didn't know that he was attached to it. After his publisher merged with someone else, he got a Publicist that had actually heard of him, and things went on the right track. And while he has more money than JK Rowling, he hopes that in a few years he will be at least a third as Neil Gaiman is in America.
Next he talked about how he wrote the book. It started out as an idea for a boardgame, setting trolls against dwarfs, and evolved into a story. The game was made, but the book got pushed back because he was allready doing The Truth and Going Postal. Once he got those out of the way, he was capable of writing Thud.
After that he talked about his surgery, in which he had to have a cathater inserted into his heart. Everything was going fine, but after the surgery his doctor asked him 'what was that about sandwiches?'. During the surgery Terry was completely out, but saw a man in the corner of the room with a tray of sandwiches around his neck (COMT Dibbler?). He repeatedly tried getting off the table to get one, and the doctors were forced to hold him down. The moral of this story is 'if your ever in the hospital and you see the man offering you sandwiches, don't go toward the sandwich. There will be plenty of time for sandwiches later, and they will always be waiting in the end'. Some friends of his decided that it would be funny to have somebody dressed as Death walk down the hall in the CCU, but I don't think they went through with it.
He told us a little about his shepards cottage... He employed somebody to find him an old shepards cottage out in the mores somewhere so that he could have a place to get away. When the man returned he asked what Terry intended to do with it, and Terry responded "I was going to use it as a shepards cottage". The man broke down crying, "I've been locating these things for people for years, and all they want to do with them is use them as offices, or apartments, or something. Your the first one that's ever wanted to use a shepards cottage as a shepards cottage". So Terry bought the place, got a pot bellied stove, and he's got himself an authentic shepard's cottage where he can disappear to.
He told us about his upcoming projects, two more Tiffany Aching books, and another Discworld book about Soccer. He told us that he's not a sports fan, which is why it took so long to get around to it. The only important thing to him is that Brittain beats Australia, then all is right with the world. He also told us about soccer fans in England, especially the ones that make the most Rabbid Trekkie look like they're a Amish Priest.
He wrapped things up with some question/answer stuff. Vimes is his favorite character because he's the most fun to write, he won't trust that Good Omens the movie is going to happen even if it does, he didn't particularly like the Hitchhiker's guide Movie. He also told us a story about how he always sees copies of Good Omens when he and Neil are doing signing tours at the same time, and at one point they came up with the idea of sending messages to each other through their dedications. It was a terrible failure, but it still sounds cool in theory.
I took my copy of Thud, Nanny Ogg's Cook Book, and my special edition Mort and it was fun to get him to sign, even if I couldn't think of a thing to say when I actually got up to the front of the line. I downloaded an MP3 somebody made at the signing the day before mine if anybody wants to listen. I haven't had a chance to listen to it all, but it is good if your into that sort of thing.
Ran into Scott Lutz while waiting for my ride at the train station and caught up with him a little bit... We each had trouble recognizing the other, till we started talking.