On meeting Neil Gaiman (FINALLY!)

 (Photo courtesty of Lighting Octopus, THE best what-to-do-in-Phoenix site EVER)

What? You say I haven't written about the actual meeting of Neil Gaiman, and you are gagging to know what happened? Join the queue!

In a nutshell, it was memorable.

It was also over 2 months ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy, regardless of the memorability of the event.

We got there early. There were probably 100 people already in line, waiting to get in. It was open seating, so regardless of your signing ticket letter (we were "A" - FIRST!), you still had to wait in line to get a seat. So we did. Wait, that is. And wait.

It was an odd day for a Phoenix summer. I don't remember the temperature, exactly, but it was well over 100. Luckily, the event site had tons of shade, so we settled in on the grass and waited. Did I mention the waiting?

My kids, being my kids, garnered a lot of attention. They had brought a gaggle of superhero figures, and were playing Super Hero Squad, or something. Lots of people stopped by. The guy behind us and his son (late 40s and early 20s respectively) started a conversation with them about Marvel vs. DC. The kids didn't know much about DC, but they were stunning in their Marvel knowledge.

Finally, the line moves. In we go. Found seating about 15 aisles back on the aisle, which was perfect. And then, we waited. And waited. Oh, didn't I tell you? There was waiting.

But I josh. It wasn't that bad.

Then, out comes The Author, and he was brilliant.

He made a few jokes, talked a bit about this or that, and then about 10 minutes in, some CHILD started whining. No, not whining, SCREAMING.

So distracting.

Mr. Gaiman stopped what he was doing, and asked if everything was ok out in the audience. How very embarrassing for said child's mother.

So said child's mother picked him up and headed for the nearest exit. Child continues to scream.

The Author acknowledged the situation, saying "Oh, come on, we've all been that parent! We've all been in this situation."

Said child's mother dies of embarrassment.

-FIN

Did you figure out that it was Z making all that racket? Oh, yes, it was. Clearly, I didn't really die, but I was completely mortified.

After a minute out in the hall, Z calmed down, and we returned to our seats. We listened to The Author read from his new kids' book, "Fortunately the Milk" (which was brilliant), he may have read from Ocean, and then the reading was done. The host came on stage, and read a few selected questions, which the audience had handed in on little cards while waiting to get in.
He took 4 questions.
One of them? OURS!
It went something like this.
"We have read that "Ocean" was written in Dallas, and "something else that I can't recall as I'm blogging 2 months later" was written (or inspired) in Florida. Do any of your books have Arizona roots?"
Amazingly, the answer was "yes", and there was a lovely story that followed about the origins of "Stardust". It was a Tucson origin, and I wish I remembered all the details. Ah, apparently, someone does. See another blog here, which I had nothing to do with, obviously. Because there is RUNNING. On Purpose.
And a Geek News Network piece, which also mentions Z's meltdown (I didn't remember that he wasn't the only one) - And this one details the answer beautifully.
And then I died happy.

-FIN

No, not really.

But it was about the end. He took a short break, allowed pregnant women to jump the line, then it was "A" ticket turn. We were 50 or so people back, so yeah, we waited.

There was some confusion over how many books could be signed. I don't remember why. I didn't pull out all my books, we got just 6 signed (I imagine the people behind us are pleased that we didn't get them all signed!). We had a very short exchange with The Author, he was incredibly gracious, although obviously EXHAUSTED. And that was it. And then I died happy.

I wish I had had the energy to write about it closer to when it actually happened. But the fact that I was able to bring A and Z with me to meet one of the best authors EVER (high praise!) meant the world to me.

It has been an otherwise incredibly eventful summer, starting with Phx Comicon, and ending, today I suppose (Labor Day). I am working again, I am (mostly) not sick any more, the kids and I are (still) moving in to a great little place, and things are good. Great, even. I expect there will be an entry or two coming up.

Oh, as an interesting end note. I have not yet finished "Ocean". WHAT??? I know. Crazy. I had to force myself to put it down before the reading, as I love hearing an author read his own work for the first time, and then I started back to work, and haven't had time to breathe, much less read anything longer than a text.

But as we get settled, as I finish up on commitments I overscheduled myself for, as peace reigns over the chaos of the past year... it is first on my list. And for the first time in a very long time, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is Gaiman-colored.

BTW, pictures of the event can be found on my memory card, which I am not up for finding amongst the boxes right now. Check out those other two blogs, their pics are better anyway.