Is anybody going to this? Have I missed a thread somewhere? Help please?

*thinks about amount of work at work*

*looks at pile of college work at side*

nope, not going

I just wondered if anyone else from here went to the Eastercon 2008?

We met a new author called Jonny Nexus and his wife Jules who said he read Neil’s Blog but I don’t know if he joins in here. He’s just had his first book published and was promoting it – it’s called Game Night and sounds most interesting – but I didn’t buy one as I ran out of money and will get a copy from his website instead.

I took two of my kids Sunday, because that's when Neil Gaiman said he was doing the most stuff - and he did! We had great entertainment in a huge hall. He read a short story which was the answers to a questionnaire, but we missed the beginning (story of my life) so I don't know what it was called, anyone know?

Then he read the beginning of the first chapter of The Graveyard Book, which gave me the creeps and now I really can't wait for the book to come out. There was a toddler that started grizzling and making noises at just the right time in the story, when - no, I can’t tell you – it’s just not my place!

Then a few questions and answers, on which Mr Neil went completely off the subject and then back again, which seems the norm! Aw.

We popped in to a workshop to make silver clay jewellery – lovely stuff – may buy some online to play with. Spent a fair bit of time in the bar, special tariffs, and the hotel staff were lovely.

Later, in a small room he read us (kids and parents) Crazy Hair and The Wolves in the Walls - it was great (my ten year old loved it - and I was pleased to hear her say that he read it better than her teacher did!) but my 13 year old looked on in full bored mode. A couple of girls had made him a giant pig puppet, which the kids seemed to be more into than Neil. It was fun, really great fun.

If anyone else was there – show yourselves now! (please)

And now, with apologies for the large post, my daughter wants to add a footnote:

I was really annoyed because Mum was dragging me out to London for a stupid science fiction thing - on Easter Day! She’s a HUGE fan of Neil Gaiman and keeps trying to make me read his books. I got halfway through Neverwhere once and then lost the book. I’ve tried reading various other ones of his but have never really liked them. I s’pose its partly the fact that Mum likes him and keeps trying to win me over. I do like reading, just not really his books, I prefer Darren Shan.

Anyway, I’d been to one of his book signings before, hadn’t really enjoyed it, waited in a queue for hours, bored stiff. I wasn’t expecting much from this.

We went, late as usual, may have been partly my fault, I’m not going into details though. Walked into a huge room where hundreds of people were sitting listening to him, I didn’t really see the point because we could only see him on a big screen so it was the same as watching interviews on youtube. He was reading something we’d missed the start of, about orange blobs or something. I wasn’t too impressed. Then he read the first chapter of The Graveyard Book, it wasn’t that bad, I was just a bit grumpy and had had a really late night which was why I found it hard to stay awake. A really sweet little baby started babbling at exactly the right time, as I almost fell asleep, this kept me awake. Also the price was annoying, I thought it was a bit stupid to spend £15 on me being forced to something I didn’t want to go to, when it could have been spent on something else which I’d enjoy.

Plus, there were so many NERDS. I mean, I’m considered a nerd at school, because I enjoy school and I refuse to become another citizen of chavdom. This was something else though. I don’t have anything against them, they were just very interesting to observe. It was quite sweet how they all looked up to Neil Gaiman, and he started talking about finding “his tribe” and I suppose it was true, they could feel at home here without feeling awkward and being teased by people (really, people like me). What was nice though, was that there wasn’t a single chav in sight, (I felt like a chav there, seriously) no antisocial behavior, or anything. Although some people had very funny loud laughs.

We back to be registered properly, I thought it was really cool because we had these laminated name tags. Then we went to the dealers room, I’d seen some people carrying two headed bears around and wondered what they were. Beeblebears or something, from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I haven’t read the book yet, I’ve watched the film but quite frankly, it was rubbish and I fell asleep (see, I fall asleep in a lot of things). My little sister got one, I thought it was a bit pricey though, £23. I probably would have bought one if I had any money, but I’ve just spent everything I own on a new flute, so it would have meant Mum would have bought it for me. I was also a bit grumpy because everyone smelt awful, not of body odour but stale tobacco. Urgh, it was disgusting, I can’t stand smoking.

We had the reading of Neil Gaiman’s “Wolves in the Walls” and a poem about Crazy Hair. The Crazy Hair poem was amusing, but I didn’t like the Wolves in the Walls book. It scared me. I had a nightmare when I was little about a clever wolf. Not the dog-like ones, I love normal wolves. But something about wolves when they appear half-human freaks me out. What made it even worse was that he’d drawn a picture of this evil wolf right in front of me on a flipchart. All the little kids called out about it being “a stupid fox” or a “piece of paper”. I didn’t like it though. Some people had made a giant pig puppet and presented it to Neil which was quite sweet.

The day was better than I thought it was going to be, at the start I was SOOOOO bored, it got more fun though, even if it didn’t appear so in my account of the day. We started chatting to some people, well Mum did. They were really friendly. My little sister enjoyed it, so had everyone else I’d seen. I just hope I didn’t ruin anyone else’s day by being a wet blanket.

(Ah, life through the eyes of a disgruntled 13 year old girl – I won’t take her again!)Mum

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Motley Hippie,

Sounds like you missed the beginning of his story "Orange" and I don't know where you could find it published. I think it's really interesting and good; sorry you missed the beginning of it. And sorry your 13-year-old didn't enjoy herself. My kids love him (now aged 22, 20, 18, and 12) and have loved him for years. But maybe they're nerds like me?

Yes, but at least I have two kids which appreciate him! The eldest was away and didn't come with us.

I wonder if I do a search on this site if anything about "Orange" will come up?

Thanks for your help x