Of blogs and book signings

Neil Gaiman and Poppy Z. Brite are both here in Melbourne. Right now.

I went to a book signing of Poppys once before when she was in Melbourne. Hillary and I went to hear her talk, then got some stuff signed. Poppy looked like the walking dead by the time we got to her. We were just about the last in line.

But it kills me that they are both here in Melbourne and I'm not going to get to see either one of them.

Like I said, I've seen Poppy once before, so it would be realy nice to go to a Neil Gaiman signing.

I know he's at Continuum this weekend. I looked at the program and while there are a couple of events I wouldn't mind seeing, I just can't justify the $90 odd dollars they want for admission on the off chance I'd get to chat with Neil.

The only other option is the lecture/signing he's doing on Monday at 6pm at the State Library. I got all fired up about that idea, but when I called, I found out that A) it's not free (but only $10) and B) booked out anyway.

So I could stand around outside in the rain (hey, it's Melbourne. Of course it's goinf to rain) and scream out "I love you Neil!" as he runs for the nearest restraining order. But I just don't think I'm up for it.

I mentioned it to Paul the other day. Paul's the guy I went to LA with (Paul and Josh, plus myself) for the ill fated Chartruese trip. Paul is a strange person. If you ever play 6 degree, you want to mention Pauls name in there. He's not a famous person, but for some reason, he knows a lot of famous people. If you use Pauls name, it's only 1-2 more degrees to just about anyone cool enough to be worth mentioning. So I mentioned to Paul that I wasn't going to get to see Neil and he just says "Sorry, if I still had his number I'd call him and see if I could set something up."

Bastard for knowing Neil Gaiman and not thinking to mention it.

Bastard for losing the number.

I did once go to a couple of book signings with Paul at Dark Carnival Bookstore. Clive Barker, Anne Rice and Francesca Lia Block. Since Paul knows the guys at Dark Carnival (of course), as well as all the authors just mentioned, he got us in a helpers. All three were fun. The Clive Barker signing was notable for the costumes the fans wore. The Anne Rice signing was notable because the shop ran out of change, so Paul and I offered to go to the supermarket down the road and get some change. We had to buy something first, so we bought some garlic. It seems a bit naff now, but we thought we were being awfully cleaver at the time ;)