Just another day
The other day I made the blanket statement that Neil Gaiman is a damn funny man. I still stand by this statement, and I will add that he is very personable and nice. (even at almost 10 in the morning)
And he has a Sinister Beard.
(A Neil in his natural habitat)
He was at the Library of Congress Book Festival on the Mall on Saturday. I went and got a book or three signed (in fact, in the picture above, that is my copy of Coraline he is signing)
I got up there at 8:50 and was one of the first 25 (insane fanpeople) or so in line. He started signing at 9:55 and when I got my books signed - the line stretched from the Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian castle (2 and 3 people wide). I neglected to get a picture but trust me - it was impressive. (EDIT-According to Neil's blog - it was about 500 people)
I then studied a bit and sat through part of Neal Stephenson's presentation (in which he proved to be funny). Then Catherine Asaro (wherein I thought I might give one of her books a try), then Frederik Pohl who was very cool and related stories about Robert Heinline and other "golden age" authors as well as insights on his writing process, and finally Neil Gaiman spoke. He read from his not yet published book (which was damn funny) then took audience questions -Some one asked him to sing the rat song from Coraline . His answer? A resounding NO. Apparently Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields) sings it in the audio version. Everyone laughed and a good time was had by all. Neil was funny and gracious and hopefully they will cybercast the whole damn thing so everyone of you can see it.
After that I headed home, went and got the boy and did domestic things.
All in all a pretty good day.
More in a bit
And he has a Sinister Beard.
(A Neil in his natural habitat)
He was at the Library of Congress Book Festival on the Mall on Saturday. I went and got a book or three signed (in fact, in the picture above, that is my copy of Coraline he is signing)
I got up there at 8:50 and was one of the first 25 (insane fanpeople) or so in line. He started signing at 9:55 and when I got my books signed - the line stretched from the Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian castle (2 and 3 people wide). I neglected to get a picture but trust me - it was impressive. (EDIT-According to Neil's blog - it was about 500 people)
I then studied a bit and sat through part of Neal Stephenson's presentation (in which he proved to be funny). Then Catherine Asaro (wherein I thought I might give one of her books a try), then Frederik Pohl who was very cool and related stories about Robert Heinline and other "golden age" authors as well as insights on his writing process, and finally Neil Gaiman spoke. He read from his not yet published book (which was damn funny) then took audience questions -Some one asked him to sing the rat song from Coraline . His answer? A resounding NO. Apparently Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields) sings it in the audio version. Everyone laughed and a good time was had by all. Neil was funny and gracious and hopefully they will cybercast the whole damn thing so everyone of you can see it.
After that I headed home, went and got the boy and did domestic things.
All in all a pretty good day.
More in a bit
posted by depressoboy at 8:17 AM
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