Excitement, Surprises, And A Little Bit Of Disappointment

So overall today was a very cool day.
Once Scott, Stacy, the kids (Vicki and Zoe), and I arrived in DC and got to the Mall, where the Book Festival was being held, we headed to the "Fiction and Fantasy Pavilion," in time to catch the talk being given by Diana Gabaldon, a favorite auther of Stacy's.
While she was talking we found out that one of the booths selling books was already sold out of her new book, but that there were still some at the other booth. So Scott and I ducked out to go grab a copy for Stacy.
While we were there, we each grabbed a copy of "Anansi Boys," Neil Gaiman's new book. Once we saw what the line was like just to pay for books, Scott handed me his copy and asked if I could pay for both of them while he went off in search of Stacy's book. He started to dig for money, but I told him I'd get it for him as a belated birthday present.
I got in line behind a family that was buying a bunch of Neil Gaiman books, and a pretty young girl buying a copy of “Anansi Boys” got in line behind me and commented on the fact that I was buying two.
Slowly but surely the line moved along, and somewhere along the line the cute girl buying the copy of “Anansi Boys” was replaced by some sort of hideous changeling.
Not that it really mattered because, Virginia’s legal age of consent notwithstanding, she was far too young.
While I was waiting in line I noticed that one of the tables had a stack of “Everyday Italian,” the cookbook written by Giada De Laurentis, aka the oft-mentioned crazy, hot Italian chick.
Since I was already in a book-buying mode, I thought, “Why not?” and grabbed a copy.
Eventually I made it as far the roped-off area where the line was actually supposed to form, and as I moved through the queue with all of the other people I found the whole thing evocative of cattle on the killing floor being led to slaughter.
Once I got to a register I had to wait a bit longer while two cashiers tried to straighten out the cash drawer. They apologized several times. I said it was no problem, and thought about how the minor inconvenience of having to wait for them to get things squared away was nothing compared to what would be waiting at the end of the line if I had actually been in the abattoir of my imaging while I waited in line…
Once I got out Scott was waiting for me and we headed back to the Fiction and Fantasy Pavilion to try to snag seats before Gaiman started.
While we were there, it occurred to me that they were pretty much only selling books by authors who were actually at the Festival, which meant that crazy, hot Italian chick might be there.
At the F&F Pavilion we confirmed that when Scott saw her picture in a copy of the Washington Post’s guide to the event that some lady was holding.
Unfortunately, her book signing was going on right at that moment, and was actually nearly over, so there was no way for me to get over to it in time.
That was kind of disappointing, but it was my own fault. After all, knowing that Gaiman would be there, I hadn’t bothered looking to see who else was actually going to be at the event. If I had bothered, I would have known Giada would be there and planned accordingly.
Worse, while she was actually giving her talk after her signing, it was at the same time as Neil’s signing.
The author who was speaking at the time wrapped things up, and Scott and I were able to move into the pavilion, but we weren’t able to get seats.
The next author up, and the one preceding Neil, was John Irving. His talk was set up to be like a pseudo-interview by someone from the Post. While she was going through the introduction, I was talking to Scott when someone tapped me on the shoulder and say, “Excuse me.”
I turned and saw a very cute young woman who said, “Can you talk after, please?”
I said of course and apologized, and found myself amused at the tremendous irony that can be found in the fact that I, of all people, had been told to be quiet.
After Irving finished and his fans trickled out, Scott and I managed to snag some seats.
Soon Neil came out and began talking.
I won’t bother trying to report too much of what he said, as I would fail to do justice to just how charming, funny, and engaging he was. The half hour he had to speak flew by all too quickly.
At the start of it, he mentioned that he didn’t have enough time to do much of a reading, so there was some debate as to whether he should bother or not. He noted, however, that the decision was made for him by the fact that he didn’t actually have a book with him.
As he mentioned, that, though, a girl rushed towards the stage with her copy of “Anansi Boys,” which he later used to give a brief reading before returning the book to the very excited girl who was sure to have a great story to tell her friends.
The book is based on West African folklore about the spider-god Anansi, a trickster god whose stories made their way to America, after a species transformation, in the form of “Brer Rabbit.”
After he finished speaking there was only 50 minutes until he began signing, so we made our way over. Stacy was still in line to get some of her books signed. Scott had found that the book she wanted was totally sold out, but she did have some others to have signed. In the meantime, I headed over to get in the Neil Gaiman line…which at that point, more than a half an hour before he was scheduled to start signing, stretched back about a block and halfway back again.
Shortly afterwards Scott arrived, and wasn’t long before Stacy did as well, after having gotten her books signed (Given her position in line when Scott saw her, there was some concern that she might not, which, given that she hadn’t been able to get the book she wanted, would have really sucked).
Even though Neil started signing a bit ahead of schedule, it was clear that we weren’t going to be getting to the head of the line anytime soon, so I opted to duck out for a while and head over to where Giada was speaking.
I have to say that she looks even hotter (and not quite so crazy) in person. Because she really didn’t have too much to say, she opened things up for questions fairly early on, and I actually found myself approaching the microphone.
I have to admit that it was pretty daunting, and I’ll also add that I hate microphones, as I never know how close is too close, so when I first spoke I was assaulted by the too-loud sound of my own voice.
She was actually very gracious, and my question got a laugh from her and most everyone present (there was a surprisingly big crowd).
Presumably there will be a Webcast put up at the Book Festival site, so check it out and look for me (my question is about halfway through).
After that, it was back in line for another hour and a half.
By the time we got up to Neil it was obvious he was pretty worn out. Between the traveling he’s been doing (and has ahead of him on his American and “bits of Canada” book tour) and signing books for hours, he must have been exhausted.
The limit was three books per person, so I had him sign “Anansi Boys,” “Season of Mists,” and “Brief Lives.”
While in line, the Barnes & Noble employees facilitating things came around giving people post-its on which to write our names and what we’d like for him to write in our books. I couldn’t think of anything in particular, so I simply suggested “Something clever,” “Something else clever,” and “Something extremely clever.”
Of course, when the time came, I said that they were merely suggestions and that the rest was up to him.
In “Anansi Boys,” Neil built in a message for book signings on the dedication page, which he simply personalized by writing the person’s name.
In “Brief Lives” he wrote “Jon – Dream,” and signed his name. Given that dreams are the primary focus of the entire “Sandman” series, it was a suitable exhortation and dedication.
In “Season of Mists” he provided a quick sketch of Dream Himself – The Sandman. It was very cool.
I didn’t really say much to him, other than to thank him for signing, and to note that “Brief Lives” is my favorite story arc.
While Scott was getting his books signed, Neil noticed Stacy, her pregnant belly, and her two kids and was appalled that she’d had to wait in line. He told all the employees nearby that pregnant women should be immediately moved to the front of the line, and he apologized to Stacy for the inconvenience.
Once we finished with the signing we started to make our way out of DC. We stopped at a Popeyes to get some food for the drive back, and while we were there we were treated to lousy customer service and were accosted by a guy who, according to Stacy, was wearing nice, expensive shoes, who was looking for a handout so that he could “buy some chicken,” though by “chicken” I think he probably meant “malt liquor.”
Once we got out of DC it was a pretty uneventful trip back to Manassas, where I got in my car and headed home, and Scott and Stacy headed off to their destination for the evening.
I found it kind of funny that the timing was such that I was driving along my usual route home from work at about the same time I would be heading home on a Saturday night.
And then I was home, and despite the fact that I don’t have to work tomorrow, having no other plans for my Saturday night, I was forced to spend it with you losers….umm, I mean, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be and nothing I’d rather do, I chose to spend my Saturday night with the best people on earth: people who read Threshold!
In any case, that will do it for this entry. I’ll be back at some point with some of the crappy pictures I took to further document my day.