Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke
I went to see Neil Gaiman interviewing Susanna Clarke on Tuesday evening. (Sorry for the quality, my phone photos in auditoriums are notoriously bad.)
Unfortunately they were rudely interrupted after about 10 minutes by a pesky fire alarm. Apparently it was coming from the nanotech lab next door. I fully expected to find David Tennant running around outside, but alas, all was quiet. Except for the scream of fire engines. Notice the blue flashy lights below.
We stood around for 45 minutes with teeth chattering whilst the firemen made sure the buildings were clear. Eventually we all traipsed back indoors and got on with it. And 'lo, it was good.
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/officialgaiman/397559.html?view=8628727#t8628727
Overall it was an excellent evening. Susanna mentioned that she got a lot of her room descriptions from pictures and water colours done by ladies during the Victorian era, which makes loads of sense. And I don't think I'd realised that she'd taken nearly 10 years to write Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I'm just finishing up the first third of it, and I can see how it would have taken her that long. Edits alone would have taken ages, nevermind the actual writing of the thing! It's an excellent read, though.
Unfortunately they were rudely interrupted after about 10 minutes by a pesky fire alarm. Apparently it was coming from the nanotech lab next door. I fully expected to find David Tennant running around outside, but alas, all was quiet. Except for the scream of fire engines. Notice the blue flashy lights below.
We stood around for 45 minutes with teeth chattering whilst the firemen made sure the buildings were clear. Eventually we all traipsed back indoors and got on with it. And 'lo, it was good.
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/officialgaiman/397559.html?view=8628727#t8628727
Overall it was an excellent evening. Susanna mentioned that she got a lot of her room descriptions from pictures and water colours done by ladies during the Victorian era, which makes loads of sense. And I don't think I'd realised that she'd taken nearly 10 years to write Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I'm just finishing up the first third of it, and I can see how it would have taken her that long. Edits alone would have taken ages, nevermind the actual writing of the thing! It's an excellent read, though.