Stalking Neil Gaiman: part II
Saw Neil Gaiman in NY today, with thegreatmissjj and co. Even managed to be on time both to get the book and to snag a seat, despite the fact that NJ Transit has apparently decided that rather than taking 45 mins to get to NY, they will be 20 minutes late every time now. (Being late is MY job! I am swearing off taking the train. I can be late on the bus.)
Actually, should have snagged seat first, as copies of the book were also available during the break, and did not run out.
Anyway, definitely glad I went, much better than (what I managed to catch in) DC--longer Q&A session, longer reading, much more "show." "The Graveyard Book" sounds rather terrific read out loud, despite my usually NOT liking to hear books read out loud, because Neil's voices are very funny and the funny works here.
Neil relied heavily on his broken finger to evade any requests for autographs or handshakes (although he did allow himself to be mobbed afterward quite agreeably), to which I would like to point out that I have a gimp leg and a sprained wrist and I still manage to follow him around, so pfft! ;-) Not that I care about autographs very much, I just think he doesn't need an excuse not to do them. "Signing my name hundreds of times in front of unending lines as though I'm a conveyor belt does nothing for me" is excuse enough, I think. Although I did get my one thing that I really wanted him to sign, signed, so I suppose it's easy for me to say now.
JJ wanted to leave soon after for food as she was starving, but I stayed back because I wanted to do my stalking duty. I had already passed on my card to be given to him via his people, even though I saw him hurrying on and off the stage, because I did not want to get in his way, but to leave like that just wouldn't have been proper stalking etiquette. Happily Neil agreed with this, and allowed that he might not even know I was really stalking him if I didn't make the effort to say hi. Which would have been too bad, would it not?
He did pick my question for the Q&A ("who is the least favorite character you have created?"), but did not exactly answer it, saying that it was "horrible, like being asked to choose one of your children you like least," which is kind of unfortunate because I really would be curious to know the answer! Surely there are some villains he made up that he might consider unlikeable, or maybe some story that he would do differently in hindsight, or some character he felt did not work out... oh well. JJ's friend had a really interesting question, I felt, about the roots of some mythology Neil used in a work, but that did not get answered either. So hey, at least mine got read out.
Things I liked best: when he would go and dissect the author-audience relationship very matter-of-factly and thus expose its absurdities. Ie, saying he hoped that even though he would not do autographs, the Q&A session (wherein we have the entire first part of the reading to write down our questions on cue cards and pass them in during the break) would prove more rewarding than standing in line for hours, painstakingly composing just the right brilliant thing to say to him when we get to the head of the line, and then unable to manage anything except "um... I like your hair!" Or when he was done with the Q&A and was like, "I know that all of you coming up to me afterward and saying "thank you, I enjoyed that" and me saying "you're welcome" is an important part of the author-audience interaction, so I'll come down for a bit and you can come up, but then I will have to go..."
Okay, so that kind of makes him sound dickish, but it wasn't like that, although maybe a little. :-D It was just funny to me because well, yeah, what IS the point of all of us coming up to say "thanks, I love you!" as though we don't all already know this, and him having nothing else to say to that except "you're welcome, thanks"? Of course that didn't stop me from waiting to talk to him, but my problem with people is remembering to shut up, not being unable to say anything. Although I did mention his hair, since he lead into it so nicely and all.
But he was quite right, it was far more fun than a signing, and provided more room for actual interaction.
Not sure whether I'll have anything to say in Philly. Also not sure whether I should bother, or whether I am just getting annoying. Shall see!
I shall probably update this entry in a bit with photos of JJ looking cute. (ETA: or actually, I guess I won't.)
ETA II: Reasons to love Mr. Gaiman: he updates his blog right after his events too.
Actually, should have snagged seat first, as copies of the book were also available during the break, and did not run out.
Anyway, definitely glad I went, much better than (what I managed to catch in) DC--longer Q&A session, longer reading, much more "show." "The Graveyard Book" sounds rather terrific read out loud, despite my usually NOT liking to hear books read out loud, because Neil's voices are very funny and the funny works here.
Neil relied heavily on his broken finger to evade any requests for autographs or handshakes (although he did allow himself to be mobbed afterward quite agreeably), to which I would like to point out that I have a gimp leg and a sprained wrist and I still manage to follow him around, so pfft! ;-) Not that I care about autographs very much, I just think he doesn't need an excuse not to do them. "Signing my name hundreds of times in front of unending lines as though I'm a conveyor belt does nothing for me" is excuse enough, I think. Although I did get my one thing that I really wanted him to sign, signed, so I suppose it's easy for me to say now.
JJ wanted to leave soon after for food as she was starving, but I stayed back because I wanted to do my stalking duty. I had already passed on my card to be given to him via his people, even though I saw him hurrying on and off the stage, because I did not want to get in his way, but to leave like that just wouldn't have been proper stalking etiquette. Happily Neil agreed with this, and allowed that he might not even know I was really stalking him if I didn't make the effort to say hi. Which would have been too bad, would it not?
He did pick my question for the Q&A ("who is the least favorite character you have created?"), but did not exactly answer it, saying that it was "horrible, like being asked to choose one of your children you like least," which is kind of unfortunate because I really would be curious to know the answer! Surely there are some villains he made up that he might consider unlikeable, or maybe some story that he would do differently in hindsight, or some character he felt did not work out... oh well. JJ's friend had a really interesting question, I felt, about the roots of some mythology Neil used in a work, but that did not get answered either. So hey, at least mine got read out.
Things I liked best: when he would go and dissect the author-audience relationship very matter-of-factly and thus expose its absurdities. Ie, saying he hoped that even though he would not do autographs, the Q&A session (wherein we have the entire first part of the reading to write down our questions on cue cards and pass them in during the break) would prove more rewarding than standing in line for hours, painstakingly composing just the right brilliant thing to say to him when we get to the head of the line, and then unable to manage anything except "um... I like your hair!" Or when he was done with the Q&A and was like, "I know that all of you coming up to me afterward and saying "thank you, I enjoyed that" and me saying "you're welcome" is an important part of the author-audience interaction, so I'll come down for a bit and you can come up, but then I will have to go..."
Okay, so that kind of makes him sound dickish, but it wasn't like that, although maybe a little. :-D It was just funny to me because well, yeah, what IS the point of all of us coming up to say "thanks, I love you!" as though we don't all already know this, and him having nothing else to say to that except "you're welcome, thanks"? Of course that didn't stop me from waiting to talk to him, but my problem with people is remembering to shut up, not being unable to say anything. Although I did mention his hair, since he lead into it so nicely and all.
But he was quite right, it was far more fun than a signing, and provided more room for actual interaction.
Not sure whether I'll have anything to say in Philly. Also not sure whether I should bother, or whether I am just getting annoying. Shall see!
I shall probably update this entry in a bit with photos of JJ looking cute. (ETA: or actually, I guess I won't.)
ETA II: Reasons to love Mr. Gaiman: he updates his blog right after his events too.