Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Shawn - If you want to email it to me, I'll give it a home on my
webpage so everyone here can see it.

In other news, I went to go get my copy of AG. Had to run errands
first, so didn't get to the book store (The Booksmith) until 3:30.

"Hi, I had a pre-order in for Neil Gaiman's new book, American Gods.
Is it here yet?"
"What name is it being held under"
"Michelle Hyman, or possibly Michelle Montrose... or... nevermind,
just try those."
"Hmmm... I'm not seeing it... wait, what book is it again?"
"American Gods... by Neil Gaiman."
"No, it's not here. Are you sure it's out yet?"
"<contained frustration and only a slight squeal uttered>Yes, I'm
sure. It's out today, the 19th, Tuesday."
"Wait, what's the title again? I'll look it up in the computer"
At this point I grabbed one of the Neil Gaiman author trading cards
sitting on the counter, flipped it over, handed it to her "<pointing to
title> American Gods. Neil Gaiman. He'll be here next week. The book
is supposed to be here now."

Frustrated that someone who was very interested in spending money at
her store was not being helped at all just because she wasn't familiar
with the author (or the event), the girl called over a co-worker to
help find the book. After much looking through computer files and
bookshelves, the clerk went to the back, checked the labels on a few
boxes, opened one and said "A-ha! Let me check this into our system
right now. Have it for you in just a minute."

So as of 3:30PM today, it was available at Booksmith. Might have even
been on the shelves by 4PM... *sigh... frustrating...

squeaks, who may have interested the guy at the leather shop in owning
a copy of AG today.
  

    
Nah... he probably does save the world in the last frame... so...
what's the creamtion thing?!??
  

    
Adriana... George Guidall perform's AG.  His bio says he's "one of the
foremost narrators in the audiobook industry. He is the recipient of
the 1999 Audie Award for the best narration of unabridged fiction."

Happy to report that the audio book is unabridged and the 14 tapes run
approximately 40 - 45 minutes each side (the exception being the last
two tapes that run more like 35 - 40 minutes in length per side).

Unfortunately I was running about the library and thus couldn't listen
(yes, figured I'd break down and listen to the tapes as I read the
book since I might not be able to read more than a chapter a night. 
Then again... there's something to say about savoring the book!).  

And speaking of reading... 

Suzanne
  

    <scribbled by satyr Wed 20 Jun 01 06:35>
  

    <scribbled by satyr Wed 20 Jun 01 06:35>
  

    
Oooops...
  

    
Well the first thing I did yesterday when I woke up was went downstairs
and checked to see if there were any packages from amazon.com waiting for
me.  and there wasnt. so I went about my day... and I checked before I
went out to lunch with my mom. and while we were out I kept seeing all
these UPS trucks and telling mom: "they're going the WRONG way!" (you know
not towards my house!) so I get home and there isnt a package waiting for
me. and so I start to clean and the vacuum cleaner falls apart.. like the
wheels and this little metal thingy. and I was trying to fix it and it
wasn't working! and then I hear the knock at the door and I knew it was my
book! and I was thrilled! and if it wasnt for the broken vacuum I would
have opened it right away! finally I fixed the vacuum and tore open my
package--> it was like my birthday~ *smile* and even though I knew what
the cover looked like I was still surprised at how NICE it looked! so yeay
to Russell Gordon/Kamil Vojnar~ *laugh* anyway--> after I vacuumed, I
started reading... I'm at page 65 right now~ I hadn't read the chapter 1
preview thingy online cuz I wanted to wait.  so I enjoyed it.  I giggled
to myself when I read the thing about Iceman's last girlfriend--> and the
food her family ate... I'm greek and I love greek food, and its always
amusing to have my boyfriend over cuz I'm sure he feels the same as
Iceman. anyway... Its a FABULOUS book Neil, and I'm enjoying it greatly...
I'm taking it with me to work~ I've been reading all the books on Andy
Warhol *laugh* so this will be a great way to pass the time! I'm glad I am
able to read at work cuz in the next 3 days I have SO much to do, to get
ready for my trip to lexington...I wouldn't have any time to read and it
would drive me well...batty looking at my new book and not having the time
to read it! *laugh* well I'm off to work~ bye for now!
                                             *HUGS* 
                                                  Tori Bat! 
  

    
Linda - You are most welcome. Glad you like him. He looks great hung up in
the corner :)

Neil - Now it's #16 at Amazon :)

  - dianna, who is imagining the night sky over America filled with 
    the sound of contented reader noises...
  

    
squeaks--

I'll take you up on that. I was forced to engage in some emergency
pool playing with a friend last night so I didn't get around to
scanning it, not to mention of course that I didn't want to stop
reading in order to plop it down on my scanner :^)

I'm trying to read casually so I won't find myself finished too soon,
but it's very difficult...

-Shawn- who's awful at pool
  

    
Tona--Yep, I was talking about Salival.  Tool is wonderful, I agree. 
I bought the new album the day it came out.  I don't listen to it
unless I have the time to listen to the whole thing...I feel like its
an Experience, and isn't half as great if you don't listen to it all.

I saw a Perfect Circle concert not so long ago.  Do you like them too?
 I started listening to them only because of Maynard, but I ended up
liking them as a band.  It was a great concert.

I am at the start of chapter 8...I'm trying not to read too fast...but
its hard.  I can't wait to see how everything comes together.

Angelina 
  

    
Michelle- Cam went out at lunch yesterday to try and get the book at
the one & only bookstore in Townsend, but was told that "HE wasn't the
kind of author OUR readers are interested in." That's a shame; I'm sure
other people at Cam's job (http://chad-c.dyndns.org/cupcake-2.html)
(Cam is the one stuffing his face in the lower right hand pic)  would
love to buy it; most of them are from out of town and live in hotel for
the duration of the job, and so have to scramble for interesting
things to do.


Dreams:  I had the weirdest dream last night; Ro had somehow gotten
the flesh over his shoulder blades torn almost off, and we went to the
hospital, but never got him seen. This morning, I was reading de Lint's
'The Ivory and the Horn' and realized that it was as if Ro's wings had
been torn off in the dream, as what I saw in my dream was exactly what
that kind of trauma would look like. Very weird.
  

    
Well, after discovering that Amazon didn't send my copy until Monday,
meaning it won't get here until Saturday or next Monday, I went down
and picked up a signed first edition from the Barnes and Noble at Jack
London Square, then headed over to a restaurant and proceeded to devour
it. I made it through the first seven chapters last night, and wish I
didn't have rehearsal tonight... I probably won't be able to do more
than a chapter at a time until Saturday. *grumble*

Suzanne - Yes, it is a wonderful start. We talked about that event
recently. She said that she was thinking at the time "What are you
getting yourself into?" 
*chuckle*

Adriana - I thank the heavens... and am keeping a close eye on
Desire... lest it try anything funny.
  

    
Michelle - aha, thanks! great pictures - that looks like a lot of fun
(when you don't get hurt)

No AG-shaped packages from Amazon have arrived yet. I'm a bit
disappointed. Anyone want to call Boston and read to me over the phone?
;)
  

    
Tara (GL): When I realised that my Amazon copy likely wouldn't make it
to Chicago in time for Friday's signing, I cancelled it and last night
after work, took the train down to the closest bookstore to buy a
copy. AG was in the first stack  facing the entrance, so it greeted me
the second I walked in. It ahs to be the shortest period I have ever
spent in a bookshop in my life. I was very good, and snatched up the
novel, paid, and then went across the street to the housewares story to
buy a spoon rest (for $1!!) and 4qt. saucepan...

Okay, so I'm a housewares slut. I can't help it! Pots and pans and
oven mitts and towels and blenders and such make me happy... And you
never realise wheat you need until you move and realsie you've been
using your roommate's *whatever* for 5 years and now need to buy your
own. (In this case, it was a nice tall saucepan with a lid. I tried
ruimmage sales, but after coming home with an antique brass and copper
fire extinguisher, and no pans, I decided perhaps this was not the
wisest coruse of action...)

I tried to read on the bus home, but it was too crowded, so instead, I
waited until I was cuddled on my sofa, and now I'm on page 73. I would
have gotten further, but I talked to the backflip boy for an hour
longer than I had intended... Bristol's dress rehearsal is Sunday, and
the show opens next week-end, so I'm trying to scam a performer's pass
so's I can see him, since this is the first year I'm not working the
show *with* him.

Fellow Chicagoians: I'm gonna try and get to Old Orchard early Friday,
and get some supper at the Bagel (the Jewish deli at the mall) around
5:30pm or 6pm (all depends on how easily I can get their from the
Argyle El stop...), if we want a pre-signing meet and greet? My friend
Vuch and his lady wife are gonna try and come too (Mary, you know the
Vuchuchevii, right?) I can wear a red carnation, or a nametag, or just
carry a sign that says "104"...

Tara
  

    

I am the proud owner of a signed, first edition brom
Brentanos in Century City.  (I plan to take the afternoon
off.)
  

    
JaNell -- Well, I think you've very amusing.  He is a busy man, after
all.  I feel your pain.

Dan -- Thanks!


Thanks to some incompetent nurses, Lori and Xander and I didn't get
back from the hospital until last night.  Yesterday, wanting to stretch
my legs a bit, I left them napping and ran around to all of the
bookstores in Fairfax, moving the copies of _AG_ to the front of the
stores so that people would see them as soon as they came in (and
looking for a signed copy as I did so).  Alas, no signed copies were
found.
     So last night we return home at long last and still there was no
package from Amazon.com on my doorstep.  Disappointed, I checked out my
order online to discover that it had not yet been shipped yet.  So I
ran out to all of the bookstores in Fredericksburg (where, thankfully,
all copies were already placed in the fronts of the stores) looking for
a signed one.  Still none were found, so I bought one and came home to
cancel my Amazon order.
     While Amazon, on one screen, continues to maintain that my order
has not yet been shipped, on the cancel order screen it claims that it
has, in fact, been shipped and so cannot be cancelled.  Bah!  No
biggie, though, I will just give it to someone for their birthday or
something. ^^

Lori and the baby feel asleep on the couch.  It is quite a cute scene.
  

    
First of all:  DanGuy- CONGRATULATIONS <SMILES! EXTENDS HAND>  Woohoo.
 Soo happy for you and your family.

Second; this may run long, because there have been 200 posts since my
last one, and I have News.

So, my week went in a whirlwind that started with a halfway decent DMB
concert that was just all right.  I've met a wonderful young lady, and
feel summer romance blossoming to full on, year-round bloom.

And I met Neil!  Went to the Bottom Line Sunday (and missed both Len
and Rocky.  Darn!) with my best friend, who came up from Philly.  Both
sets.  The first set was awesome, in which Neil read both "Blueberry
Girl," which is everything you've expected and then some, and
"Instructions," which was also great, and "Wolves in the Walls," which
was hysterical, and "A Writer's Prayer," which wasn't at all what I'd
expected, and which I enjoyed.  And then the MF fields went on, and
rocked, and then there was a break, and I saw Neil Gaiman in the
audience as everyone was leaving.
I didn't think I would, but I went into utter fanboy catatonia; Neil
passed me, came within two feet of me, said "hi," and then that total
fanboy catatonia is a good thing.
It worked out, though, because I had told the piano player of the
Magnetic Fields that they're set rocked, and then, a couple seconds
later, she called me over, and asked Neil, given the choice between me
and a gothic young man, which of us was a Neil fan and which was a MF
fan.  I took that opportunity, and introduced myself, and he goes "Oh,
you're Will, from the Well," and I got a picture with him.
Also went to the reading Tuesday.  Went with my friend, my sister, and
her boyfriend (who asked Neil about pumpkins [and had Neil talking
passionately about fox and wolf urine, which was great, and had the
audience in stitches] and had him sign a fish).  We waited seven hours,
but it was worth it; I have the first copy of American Gods signed on
the American Gods tour (woohoo).  And, when Neil saw me stand up, he
said, "hi, Will," which I thought was great (sure, would have been
awkward if he'd called me John, or Jimmy, but I'd have been too nervous
to correct him).
And so now I'm breaking in my new laptop and reading American Gods. 
I'm sorry this post was so long, but, well, I had to gush, and I
figured you guys were the best people of all to gush to, because you
understand.

And Neil- Great readings, great signing.  Thanks for "Writer's
Prayer," and "Instructions" (which I'm going to ask you for a copy of
when you're settled down again), and especially for "Blueberry Girl,"
which was a beautiful poem, and a beautiful moment (I know there's talk
of the poster, but what about having Tori do some music for it, and
releasing it as a signal, with the same charitable intents in mind? 
Just a thought...).  Yes, my sister (Nyssa)'s boyfriend was the guy
that asked about pumpkins, and they both said to say thanks, so I am. 
And Claudia stopped by the signing, but couldn't get through the line
of people to say hello (she was going to call you on your mobile, but
didn't).  So, 'Hi', from Claudia, if you didn't already get it.

-Will, who's gonna be quiet now, because he'll be reading.
  

    
Yeah! Got AG yesterday, which was a pain in the ass, but of course
worth it...got lost on the way to Joeseph-Beth (where Neil will be
signing Sunday) and then they were closed for inventory! So we went
back across town to another bookstore. Two copies left. And one of
them's mine!!! Yippie!

Will- How wonderful! I'm afraid I'll get all fanboy too. I guess I'll
find out....

JaNell- Are you cremating people again?! Geez. 
  

    
Well, I arrived at Borders at nine o'clock yesterday morning to pick
up the copies I was buying for me and my roommate and after about three
rounds of "Yes you have the book, no you didn't call me because I
_know_ it's out today and you've actually had it for several days at
least but weren't allowed to put it out today and... stop looking
behind you!  It's not there!  Yes, you do in fact have it..." she rang
for help and I went home and then work and then my parents came down
and then today I got to sit down and read it and I just finished about
half an hour ago and I really highly enjoyed it.  And now I just have
to wait for my roommate to finish it so we can discuss it but he reads
far too slowly for my tastes.  And now for a practice run to Books and
Co...

Jen.
  

    
E-mail from Claudine Chen:

Hello! Whee, it's been a good two days for books. Bought 4 copies of
American Gods from Vroman's yesterday (they make good gifts, no?). The
shelf was already emptied of AG so I had to wait for them to get them out
of storage, which is a good sign. Also went to Border's and they
surprisingly didn't have the book out or in the computer (?). And I
finally ordered Arbitrary Placement of Walls from Dreamhaven today. Lotsa
reading to do. And I have the time now, I just graduated last Friday! Whoo
hoo. Oh wait, have to find a job ...

Michelle, will you be coming down to LA after all? I've missed a lot of
the Well posts so apologies for not keeping up to date on happenings
myself. If not, I think I can connect the pictures of thingies that are on
the web with the faces I see at the signings. Will people mainly be going
to the Book Soup signing, or will some show up in Pasadena?

Happy travels Neil. Thought you might like to know ... years ago Vroman's
decided not to carry comics anymore, but yesterday I saw a full shelf of
Sandman trade paperbacks and more there. I guess they decided you were
worth an exception. :)

Claudine
  

    

dreaming - George Guidall is SO good!  I've been commuting 3 hours a day
for the last four years and surviving by listening to recorded
books.  George Guidall is just awesome.  He does great characterizations
and accents and he can even sign.  Sometimes I get books just because he's
the narrator.  And I am so relieved to hear that it's not
abridged.  Abridged audio books should be banned by law.  But my mother
won't listen to any story longer than two hours, or exactly the time it
takes to get to and from their desert house.  

Dan - Barnes and Noble in Jack London Square, that very bookstore that
treated me so rudely when I tried to get them to request a Neil appearance
actually had signed first editions?  How did they do that??  They surely
don't deserve to have anything nearly so nice.

Will - you waited seven hours??
  

    
E-mail from Margret:

So, I sneak away from work on the pretense of going to the bank (well, I
did stop at the bank) and I get to Barnes & Noble around 12:30.  The
book is on the table right in front of the door.  I look through a few
just to see if any signed ones ended up there.  They didn't.  Not that
it matters because I'll be able to get it signed in person.  I flip
through the book, check out the acknowledgements, and do a little happy
dance. : )  I take it to the cashier, who tells me that it's the second
one that she has sold that morning and wants to know if it is any good.
I tell her of course it is, and she ought to buy a copy or three.  Then
I have to head back to work and I spend the afternoon helping out in the
school library organizing books, all the while wishing I could be
reading.  I finally get home, and have to finish typing a paper that was
due today.  And then the kids want to eat dinner (the nerve!) and then
there's the dishes.  Much, much later, children are bathed, read to, and
tucked into bed.  I finally lie down in bed all ready to read and the
phone rings.  It's my sister, who will be watching the kids this weekend
so I can go to Chicago, so I can't be rude to her.  We talk for awhile,
and at 11:30 I get to start reading at last!

I have spent nearly every free moment since then reading, including the
5 minute break during my graduate class.  While I was reading there, a
classmate came up to me and said "Is that a whole book by Neil Gaiman?"
Apparently he was a Sandman reader, and never knew that Neil had written
anything that didn't have pictures.  Of course I set the boy straight,
and gave him a reading list to keep him busy, but suggested that he run
out as soon as possible and buy American Gods.  I proudly showed off my
name in the book, and he was duly impressed.

I now feel somewhat obliged to read the book on a bus while loudly
proclaiming how good it is.

Anyway, I leave Friday morning for Chicago.  I will be at the Stars Our
Destination signing, and will probably go to the reading at Barnes &
Noble as well.  I don't know that I will be able to meet up with anyone
before or after the signings, because the friend I am going to visit may
have other plans, but I would like to find some of you at the signings.
Any ideas what I should look for?  I could wear a sticker saying "Hello,
I'm from 104"  but I am more of a lurker than a poster, so it just
doesn't feel right.  One of these days I'll be able to afford my own
membership and I won't have to feel guilty anymore.

So, if you are going to be there, let me know how to find you, and I'll
say hi!

See you then,

Margret
  

    
Right.  It's not a good idea to listen to audio books at work cause
either you won't do work or you can't listen to the story and that just
isn't right. Keep thinking that I should just call in sick and read
but I've too many deadlines looming. Gah!

Linda... from what I did manage to hear this morning George Guidall
reminded me of EG Marshall (pretty sure that's him).  Use to host radio
theater a looooong time ago on an AM station (listen to it in bed when
I was a kid).  I'd listen to it on the way to & from work, however the
rental car has no cassette player and when my car comes back from the
shop (someone was ever so nice to liberate the front tires & brake
system from it while it was parked at the airport), there's only a CD
player.  Considering breaking out the old walkman...

Re: abridged books. They're a crime against nature, IMHO.  Have you
sat in your car to finish a chapter or to hear how something turns out?
I tend to do this quite a bit... with news shows as well. 


Will... lucky you!  Neil and the Magnetic Fields!  Think you were
actually the first person to write about the show... thanks!


Dan... ::chuckles:: at least she knew you're one to appreciate a good
massage.

Best go and read my chapter before time passes away... 9a-9p work
shifts leave little time to read or spend time with Mark (who probably
wouldn't mind me reading at him).

Suzanne
  

    
Gonna go grab a copy tomorrow, I hope. Want! Want!! Ogg have
booklust; Ogg go thump book and drag home!

signed,
Elise,
who hasn't been around much,
but who's glad to be back.
  

    
Hi, Elise.  Hope you guys are doing well.