Wait, I only get to pick 10??

You've probably noticed  a recent trend on Facebook these days of people posting lists of 10 books that have influenced their lives and then nominating certain friends to make their own lists. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone tagged me, and it was my friend Sarah from my work book club who got me a couple days ago.

There's a couple rules associated with this. "Don't take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They do not have to be the "right" books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way."

Pish, rules are for losers. If I want to over think something (and I always want to over think things) I'm going to go ahead and do it. So why make a simple list in a status update when I can instead write lots and lots of words about one of my favorite topics? Books, that is. So in a loose chronological order, here are 10 books that have affected me and are pretty much responsible for the current course of my life.

1.  The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan and Jan Berenstain

2.  Kristy's Great Idea (The Babysitters Club #1) by Ann M. Martin

3.  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L Konigsburg

4.  D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

5.  The Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Chronicles #1) by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman

6.  The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time #1) by Robert Jordan

7.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

8.  Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

9.  World War Z by Max Brooks

10.  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

1.  The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.: The first books I remember actively and independently reading were The Berenstain Bear books. I loved the pictures, the stories, the lessons, and how all the characters (including the parents) weren't perfect and often messed up. Sister Bear could be an insufferable know-it-all, Brother Bear acted like a jerk to his little sister, Papa Bear couldn't stay away from the treats...even the mom had some issues (and obviously questionable fashion sense). The Messy Room was always my favorite...mostly because I loved seeing how they organized everything at the end in different labeled containers. I guess it was the beginning of my OCD.

2.  Kristy's Great Idea: Oh, god, the Babysitters Club. It was my gateway drug to Scholastic books. Every month I would get myself to the bookstore for the latest book in the series and I even ordered a bunch from the forms in the back of the books. When that box from Scholastic arrived in the mail it was like Christmas Day. And after I outgrew the Babysitters Club...Sweet Valley High was right there waiting for me.

3.  From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: This book hit so many of my tween fantasy buttons. Kids run away from their boring suburban existence and live in a MUSEUM. And! Solve a mystery about a beautiful statute, basically saving the day. But saving the day because of their smarts. Guess how they were able to make money? By taking baths in the museum fountain and scooping up all the change people threw in the water. Of course, this was back when a cup of coffee was like 10 cents, but still. How cool is that??

4.  D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths: I went through a HUGE Greek myth phase around middle school. I wanted to read every Greek myth I could get my hands on and this book was my favorite. The stories were well told and the pictures were awesome. Nowadays we have Myths Retold, but circa 1992? This book was my jam. In fact, it's still sitting on my bookshelf (I actually own physical copies of all these books listed here, in the editions pictured).

5.  Dragons of Autumn Twilight: Talk about your gateway drugs...this was my first real fantasy book. We're talking dragons, wizards, elves, dwarves, all your basic Dungeons and Dragons style fantasy elements are in this book. And I loved it. I remember the guy who lent it to me in 8th grade literally saying, "this book will change your life" and me stroking the cover reverently in response. You would think it was the freaking holy grail or something. But you know what? He was right. It did change my life; I loved it and have been a solid fantasy nerd ever since. 

6.  The Eye of the World: And then we come to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The Eye of the World was gifted to me at Christmas by my stepmother, probably around 1994. By New Years I had devoured it and the next two in the series. I spent the next....oh, say 18 years reading this series. Jordan died before he finished, but Brandon Sanderson took up the reins and crafted a brilliant ending (basically achieving the impossible). Despite a loss of momentum in the later books as the characters and subplots moved further and farther away from one another, this fantasy series has been a HUGE part of life. The release of the last book was kind of a big deal for me.

7:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: I got on the Harry Potter train kind of late. I was already in college (I think the Christmas of my freshman year in 1998) when I read the first three books. I remember the son of my William and Mary Women's Chorus director (Jamie B. shout out!) went as Harry for Halloween that year, and while his costume was adorable...I had no idea what the hell he was supposed to be. A wizard? With glasses? And a weird scar who chased after a gold ball called the snitch? Um, ok. Sure. Sounds kind of lame.

Look, I'm not right all the time, ok? Of course once I read the books I was instantly hooked, am now a superfan, and have many fond Harry Potter-related memories. Like when I worked the release party of the 5th book at the college bookstore in law school. Or when I took off one day studying for the bar to binge-read the 6th book. And how a group of friends and I drove down to Richmond for the midnight release of Deathly Hallows....and I stayed up until 4 in the morning reading. Harry, man. What can you really say?

8.  Neverwhere: It was a rainy day in St. Andrews, Scotland. I was studying abroad the Spring semester of my junior year in 2001, and needed to kill some time. So I popped into the Waterstones bookshop on Market Street. I was browsing through the Fantasy/Sci-Fi shelves...and came across this book. I had never heard of Neil Gaiman before and didn't have any real experience with urban fantasy.

It is now my #1 favorite book of all time and Mr. Gaiman is my favorite author. The first time I met him, I took my original copy of Neverwhere (from that rainy Scottish day) and had him sign the inside cover. Sometimes life is really good, you guys.

9.  I didn't expect for World War Z to be amazing. I expected to be funny, a joke, something to read on the Metro while on the way to work. Instead it BLEW MY MIND. This book is brilliant. All the different stories, the different points of view, the way it moves around the world...amazing. As soon as people hear zombies they tend to tune out, but this book is the real deal. If you can't get past the zombie aspect, just think of it as any global viral pandemic. It will affect you.

As for the movie...it's a solid zombie flick. It doesn't have anything to do with the book, but it's an entertaining film.

10. Fangirl: Here we are at the most recent book on the list. I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell last year (or, to be precise, I listened to the audiobook) and was immediately bewitched. The main character, who is herself obsessed with a fantasy book series, felt so real to me I just couldn't. stop. listening. I could sit here and go on and on with my glowing review of the book, but that's probably boring. So I'll just say that it is one of my favorite books of all time, I now read anything by Rainbow Rowell, and I can't remember the last time I related so immediately to a fictional person. Read it. Seriously. 

So there we are! 10 books that impacted my life in some way. I swear I didn't put too much thought into compiling the list--all I had to do was walk over to my bookshelves and let the memories pour over me. These books are like members of my family. I mean, it's probably pretty obvious how important they are to me, considering I can pretty much remember the exact circumstances I first found them. Or should I say, the exact circumstances where they first found me. 

Good Times in the Big Apple

It's so easy to get to New York City, I don't know why more people from around here don't make the trip. It's 4-5 hours on the bus (I always use Bolt Bus, which goes direct from Union Station to Manhattan), and you can sit back, relax, and not have to worry about tolls or paying attention to the road. Maybe I'm weird, but I don't mind bus or plane trips since it gives me uninterrupted time to read, listen to music, or just nap.

Of course, as soon as I arrive in NYC, I like to hit the ground running. When you're only spending one night in the Big Apple, you need to cram in as much fun and adventure as you can, and this trip was no exception. Along with my friend from work (and fellow WM alum), Dorilyn, I spent the last two days in NYC hanging with friends, seeing two of my favorite actors, and stuffing myself with chocolate.

I've had worse weekends. And not that many that were better.

This trip came about because Dorilyn is as big a nerd as I am. When she heard that Patrick Stewart (i.e. Captain Picard) and Ian McKellen (i.e. Gandalf) were performing on Broadway together, she thought I might be interested in going up to NYC and seeing them in Waiting for Godot.

She was not wrong.

Per usual, we took the first bus up and arrived in midtown Manhattan at 10:30, leaving us the entire day for shenanigans. We met up with our friend Caroline and grabbed a quick lunch at Fresh & Co. (basically the NY version of Sweetgreens and Chop't) and made our way to the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to take in some of their exhibitions.

I love visiting FIT when I am in New York; the exhibitions are free, include stunning fashions spanning the centuries, and don't require too large a time commitment. Basically, it's ideal for someone who wants to see something "very New York," but can't spend hours wandering in a museum.

We were particularly interested in two exhibitions, Trend-ology, about the sources and forces that alter trends in fashion, and Elegance in the Age of Crisis, an exploration of the clothing of the 1930s, the period between the Jazz Age and WWII when modern fashion was created (mostly due to the development of synthetic fibers).

From Elegance in the Age of Crisis: I'll take one of each, please. Well, except that one with the green bow. I mean, REALLY.

 From Trend-ology: perhaps camo should remain on the battlefield. 

After feasting on fashion, we headed back to Caroline's apartment, and watched Terminator 2: Judgment Day, ate some cookies, and shot the shit. You know, typical girl stuff. Running around the city is all well and good, but sometimes you just want to catch up with your friends. 

But before too long, it was time for me and Dorilyn to head out. We had dinner reservations at a fun French bistro-type place in the theater district called Marseilles. It was Restaurant Week in New York (which actually lasts for about 3 weeks) and Dorilyn took advantage of the three course prix fixe menu to get a little adventurous. I stuck with my typical roast chicken entree I try at most places, but had a bit of her sweetbreads appetizer. Surprisingly, I found it delicious. I guess eating outside your comfort zone can pay off. And of course, I couldn't turn down fancy melting chocolate cake for dessert. 

And then! It was time for the main event! We walked a few blocks to the Cort Theater and saw two fantastic English actors in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The show was great (of course), with 

engrossing performances from Stewart and McKellen, whose ease and affection for one another was obvious. Despite being at its core a pretty depressing study of the futility and meaningless of human existence (how cheery!), the play was still very funny. Stewart and McKellen proved they were as adept with acts of physical comedy as they are with wordplay, and it was just a genuine pleasure to watch two such talented friends act alongside one another. The audience was also one of the best I have shared a theater with; their respect for the actors and play was obvious and there was no inappropriate talking, cell phone usage, or other distractions.

Their epic bromance lives on!

Did I mention the adorable dance routine they performed at the curtain call?

Right before the curtain went up....we were practically giddy with excitement.

The show let out around 10:30, but our day wasn't over yet. We headed  back to Caroline's to pick up our bags (she was kind enough to let us leave our stuff at her place) and then we journeyed over 100 blocks north to my friend Sarah's place where we were spending the night. It ended up being something of an adventure--I won't get into details, but let's just say it involved a dead cell phone battery, my not writing Sarah's phone number down before the phone died, Dori and I remembering the wrong house number, and a very kind deli-counter worker with a battery charger. Despite the hiccups, we finally got to Sarah's and settled in for a night's sleep.

We had hoped to make it to the gym in the morning, but because of a noon brunch reservation and a late opening time of the gym, it didn't work out (we were of course, DEVASTATED). Instead, we had a bit of a lie-in, grabbed some coffee at a tiny, adorable coffee shop down the street, and took the subway back to midtown to meet up with Caroline and Joe and walk to Union Square, where we also met up with a friend of Dorilyn's, Dave, who lives in Queens.

What was in Union Square? Only some place I have been trying to visit for the last couple years: Max Brenner, a restaurant that believes in "creating a new chocolate culture worldwide." Most of the items involve chocolate of some kind and other sweets. Example: sandwiches are served on rosemary waffles instead of bread and the pizza is actually a sweet pizza crust topped with chocolate and mini marshmallows. Fries are dusted with coca powder and salads come on top of a corn waffle.

So yeah. To say I was looking forward to eating there was a bit of an understatement.

The food and dessert menus are extensive and creative. Everything we had was tasty and decadent, but aide from a few standouts, it wasn't really anything too terribly special. The regular food is on par in terms of quality with your typical chain sit-down restaurant (think Ruby Tuesday, etc.) except for the unusual ingredients and construction. The desserts were all delicious, but again except for a few items, didn't really blow my mind. The real appeal of Max Brenner is the experience, the presentation, and the fun of ordering things like the Spectacular Melting Chocolate S'mores Sundae. And the indulgence of all that chocolate. The chocolate was amazing.

And now it's time for some food porn (apologies for the yellow tint in the pics, my cell phone camera isn't great at taking indoor photos):

Hands down, the best thing I had was the Italian Hot Chocolate (available in milk, dark, and white chocolate). I had the milk chocolate, and it's a very thick warm hot chocolate with added vanilla cream. Completely and utterly delicious. It's also served in a special mug called the "Hug Mug" since you have to hold it with both hands to sip.

 It really was like a warm chocolatey hug.

We were there for brunch after all, so I ordered the goat cheese and spinach omelet. The eggs were ok, as was the sugar-dusted biscuit, but the spicy breakfast potatoes and little dish of chocolate (for biscuit dipping) were the stand outs here.

And now the desserts:

The above-mentioned S'more Sundae. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream, with toasted marshmallow, fudge, graham crackers, and peanut butter sauce. Ice cream is always yummy, but I couldn't really taste any of the peanut butter. It was good, but not great.

My other favorite item: the OMG dark chocolate chunk cookie served with strawberries, whip cream, and pourable chocolate. The cookie was fantastic: warm, crispy outside, soft inside. Kind of like a brownie in consistency Yum!

Dessert #3: chocolate cherry waffles. A waffle covered in chocolate, whip cream, and what was essentially cherry pie filling. The cherry filling could have come from a can and all the other toppings basically masked the flavor of the waffle. Again, you can't call something that looks like this anything other than delicious, but still, not the best dessert ever.

 Pourable chocolate served in little beakers. So cute.

DC peeps: don't feel like your Max Brenner dreams can never come true. They opened a dessert bar in Bethesda last year that includes all the desserts on the NY menu, but not the actual food menu items. And there are also locations in Vegas and Philadelphia.

After stuffing ourselves with chocolate and sugar we needed an activity that didn't require too much physical exertion. Good thing Union Square is also home to a huge bookstore, The Strand. If you're familiar with Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, it's kind of like that. A huge, sprawling, wonderland for book lover's filled with used and new books of all kinds. I could have spent all day in there, but alas, we only had about an hour and a half. Still, we all found some books and we headed back to Midtown flush with chocolate and excited to read our new books.

Unfortunately, by that time Dori and I had to head out to catch our 5:00 bus home. There was a large snow storm headed for DC, so Dori and I were fervently hoping we would make it back before the weather hit. Turns out we didn't have anything to worry about--we got on the bus with no trouble and made it back to DC in around 4 hours with no traffic and only a little rain.

All in all? It was kind of a perfect visit.

Next excuse for a trip to NYC? Alan Cumming and Michelle Williams in Cabaret. YES, PLEASE.

 Me and Dori heading home on the bus. Until next time, New York!

Time for MAGIC!

When you still have two days left on your three day Universal Studios pass...you HAVE to go to Orlando, right? Right. Especially when Harry Potter World is there. So Chris, Kent, and I packed our bags and headed down to Orlando over Columbus Day weekend for four days of magic, mayhem, and outlet shopping. Oh, and this time? I decided I was doing Disney. It had been 18 years since I had been there, and dammit, I wanted the full experience.

I was ready to drink the Kool-Aid and have a truly magical time. And I gotta say, we had an amazing little vacation.

Our first day in town, we did what any red-blooded patriotic American does. We went shopping! Hey, it was Columbus Day weekend which meant sales and Orlando is known for its huge outlet malls. And I definitely needed new clothes--losing a bunch of weight also means that none of my clothes fit. And I can't resist the chance to buy new sweaters. And shoes. And skirts. Ok, so I just love shopping, so sue me.

The next three days were completely dedicated to theme parks. We started with Universal, which I have to admit I have been to three times before. But that darn Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just so awesome! One of the good things about having visited the park so many times though is we knew exactly what was worth seeing. We immediately jogged to Harry Potter land and got in line for the Hogwarts ride (which already had a 20 minute wait even though the park had only been open for 10 minutes). Then we rode the Dueling Dragons (twice!) and obtained butter beer. Priorities, people.

In line at the ride that runs through Hogwarts. Best theme park ride EVER.

Chris and Kent enjoy their Butterbeer!

After spending the morning in Hogsmeade, we made a quick circuit through the other Islands of Adventure hitting our favorite rides. Then we made a trip over to Universal Studios for the roller coasters. We also tried out the new 3D Transformers ride, which I have to admit, was really really neat. It wasn't a roller coaster per se--you rode in a transformer (shaped as a car) and with 3D screens and moving you around, they made it appear as if you were in the middle of a fight between the Decepticons and Autobots. It's kind of hard to adequately describe, but trust me when I say it was way better than any of the actual movies.

By the time we finished up in Universal Studios, it was the late afternoon and we were kind of tired. We still had two full days of theme-parking on the trip, so we decided to call it a day and head back to our resort a bit early.

The next day we began our Disney adventure! I had joined a website called touringplans.com which studies the parks and crowd patterns and lets you know which day to visit which park and puts together itineraries for your visit. So we knew that we should hit Hollywood Studios on Sunday and save the Magic Kingdom for Monday. With our trusty day-long guide, we managed to see every major attraction in the most efficient way possible. And y'all know how much I love efficiency. Let me put it this way: we had ridden the Rock and Roll Rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror (twice) before the park had even been open 30 minutes. Score.

Group shot at Hollywood Studios!

I was SUPER excited for our lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

Suck it, Gene Kelly!

Hollywood Studios was fun....but the Magic Kingdom was definitely the main event of our trip. We followed our touring plans and were literally the third car in the parking lot for the monorail and the first people in line to get through the gate. When they counted down the parking opening, we sprinted through the arch and raced down Main Street USA. I know we probably looked like crazy people, but we just felt like big kids running into the best playground in the world.

First stop: Space Mountain. You gotta get the big stuff done first or the lines would be impossible later. We pretty much followed the recommendations of the touring plan and had done 5 rides before 10am. We also utilized the new Fast Pass system (you get a ticket to the ride at a specific hour long window and get to go through a quicker express line). By the time we made it to our late lunch reservation at the Liberty Tavern (think Disney does Colonial Williamsburg), we had pretty much seen everything on our list. We had just enough time to stop for ice cream and take a picture with Mickey before we were done for the day.

And so endeth our Orlando adventure! The weather the entire trip was stunning--warm and blue skies--and we just all really embraced the feeling of being a kid again and enjoying ourselves. You really shouldn't over think Harry Potter and Disney. Just let yourself go and have fun!

Introduction to the Maggie Cats Bookclub: How Novel!

I'm introducing a new regular feature here on my blog, mostly because I think it would be fun, but also because it will make for an interesting reading and writing project.

The Maggie Cats Bookclub: How Novel! 

I'll be reading my way through selections from the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels List (both the Board's selections and the reader picks), and writing up posts with my thoughts. It will probably break down to approximately three to four posts per book, but obviously that depends on the length of the selection.

Let's just clear this up right now: epic tomes like Ulysses or Anna Karenina ain't happening. I so don't have the time for that.

But there are a bunch of other books on the lists that I have always wanted to read and some that I am eager to revisit. Looking over the list I was honestly surprised by how many I have already read--looks like a public school education is good for something after all. But with more than 20 years having gone by, it will be fun to reread some of the books.

This will also present an opportunity for you all to read along with me! I'll announce what book is the subject of a post and how far I will be reading before the next write-up. If there is sufficient interest, maybe we can even organize an online chat to discuss aspects of the book with one another and I can put a copy of the transcript up here on the blog.

But even without an outside participation, I think this is going to be an interesting (and challenging) experiment. Will the celebrated novels live up to their reputation? How different will my adult perspective be on the books I read when I was a teenager? And can I honestly stick with the consistent blogging? Only time will tell!

The first book selection is.....(drum roll please).....1984 by George Orwell.

I've never read this one, but am eager to see what kind of totalitarian dystopian future Orwell predicted in his landmark novel. Can it rival The Hunger Games? Let's all keep our fingers crossed for a good love triangle in there somewhere.

If you want to read along, I'll be reading Part One of the book and planning to write up a discussion around the middle of next week. If you are interested in chatting about it, let me know!

Until then....happy reading!

An Evening with Neil Gaiman

On Friday night, Politics & Prose bookstore hosted Neil Gaiman at GW's Lisner Auditorium as part of his book tour for the newly released novel, Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Neil Gaiman is hands down my favorite author. If you aren't familiar with his work, then clearly something is wrong with you. Just kidding, but seriously, he is a genius and a true storyteller. I've scoured the internet to try to find a description of his style and genre that can express what reading his books feels like...and the closest I have found is a snippet from a review of the new novel from The Times in London. "His prose is simple but poetic, his world strange but utterly believable - if he was South American we would call this magic realism rather than fantasy."

Magic realism--I like that. It's typically used to describe South American authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but wikipedia defines the term as "magic elements are a natural part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment."  This is Neil Gaiman to a tee. He is a master at setting atmosphere, of the creepy, of the extraordinary, of the funny, and making you feel. With a few monsters thrown in for good measure.

I was lucky enough to see him last year in September, and when I heard he would be returning to DC on his current tour, I snapped up a bunch of tickets for me and my friends as soon as I could. We gathered in the Lisner Auditorium on the GW campus along with 1,000 other fans to hear Neil read from the new book and answer audience questions. He was his typical rumpled, brilliant, quietly hilarious self. He began by telling us that he would sign books after his talk for as long as it took to get to everyone....but asked us to allow those who are disabled or pregnant to come to the front of the line so they wouldn't have to stand for hours. How can someone be that talented AND so nice? Not fair, man.

Apparently, his adding pregnant women to the list of those who could jump the line stems from an appearance he made in 2003 in the Philippines. Over 3,000 people came to hear him speak and have their books signed. After autographing books for 6 hours, there were still over 1,000 people waiting in line. He spotted two pregnant ladies waiting, and asked the event organizers to bring them to the head of the line. When another woman who had been waiting her time finally reached the signing table, he asked her why she hadn't come up with the other pregnant women. "No, I'm just fat" she told him. He told us "I never wanted to die as much as I did at that moment."

Before beginning to read from The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil told us a bit about the process of writing the novel. It was more or less accidentally written--it began when he missed his wife, musician Amanda Palmer, when she was living in Australia and working on recording a new album. He started to write a short story that he thought she would like--since she doesn't really like fantasy. He then quipped, "I don't know why she married me." Amanda likes stories with honesty and feelings, and he doesn't normally do honesty and feelings, mostly because he is male and English.

He decided to write about a character who was the seven year old version of himself who lives in the world Neil remembered growing up in. But then there was a small problem. He just didn't stop writing. The short story became a novelette, which became a novella, which became a very long novella, and the end result was the new book. Neil sent a surprised email to his editor and exclaimed, "I appear to have written a novel."

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Neil then read from the fourth chapter of the new book (which was a nice surprise since I had heard him read the first chapter when I saw him speak last September). To provide some background of the story, Neil told us that in the beginning of the book, a lodger living with our narrator and his family drives to the end of the lane and kills himself. The narrator is a seven year old boy who meets the strange and witchy Hempstock family (all ladies). Just prior to chapter 4, the narrator has received a mysterious silver shilling in a most uncomfortable manner (it appeared suddenly in the back of his throat), and he and the youngest Hempstock strike out in the woods behind the Hempstock farm to seek some answers.

If you have not heard Neil Gaiman read in person, you are still in luck as he reads many of his own audiobooks. He has a flare for it, and he reads the audiobook for The Ocean at the End of the Lane (link goes to audible.com). I would also recommend the audiobook for his novel, Neverwhere, which is my favorite.

And now! Answers to audience questions!

--"As a writer, what is one mistake you are glad you made?"
"Writing a letter to a friend, Caroline, and transposing the "a" and the "o." (this is a reference to his very successful children's story, Coraline, which is also a super creepy animated movie.)

--"How did you develop and foster your love of mythology?"
When Neil was six years old, he borrowed a copy of the book Tales of the Norsemen, and loved it. He then saved his pocket money and bought Tales of Ancient Egypt...which promptly ruined his life since he couldn't figure which of the author's three names was the appropriate one to use on his alphabetized bookshelf. He fostered his love of mythology by feeding it.

--"What was it like to work on Doctor Who?" (Neil has written two Doctor Who episodes)
"It was enormously fun."

--"Why are there so many Hempstocks in your books?"
When Neil was 8 years old, there was a farm down the lane that his mother told him was mentioned in the Doomsday Book (written around the time of William the Conqueror). In his head, he imagined that the same people had lived there for 1,000 years and in his teens he began referring to them as the Hempstocks. Women with the name Hempstock are also mentioned in his novels, Stardust and The Graveyard Book.

--"Why o angels keep showing up in your books?"
"I don't know, they're like cockroaches. As soon as I think I am done with them, another one comes scurrying in."

--"Will there be any more stories set in the Neverwhere universe or with those characters?"
Neil mentioned that he had just written a short story called How the Marquis Got His Coat Back, which features characters from Neverwhere and will appear in a new anthology called Rogues edited by George RR Martin.

--"What inspired the character of the TARDIS in the Doctor Who episode, The Doctor's Wife?"
The character was actually an accident; he did not sit down to write an episode about the TARDIS in human form. Instead, he had thought it would be cool if there was something weird and dangerous inside the TARDIS, and in order to get it in there, maybe something had pulled out the TARDIS' soul...and then the soul had to go somewhere. The Doctor always referred to the TARDIS as a girl, so he decided to stick the soul in a nice lady.

--"What's your advice to someone who wants to make a living as an author?"
"Sell some of your writing."

--"Where is your favorite place to write?"
"Somewhere without wireless internet." Neil told us that he prefers to write by hand with a fountain pen....but has written pretty much anywhere. The only really impossible place to write is in the bath.

--"What have you been afraid to write?"
There was one scene in The Oceans at the End of the Lane he knew would be difficult and knew it was coming 1-2 weeks ahead of time. "It was hovering on the horizon like a distant storm cloud" but didn't want to face it. Still, it got done!

--"What happened to the movie based on Anasi Boys?"
There were problems with the studio's interpretation. They straight up told Neil that you couldn't have black actors in a fantasy movie since black people don't go see fantasy movies and white people didn't go see fantasy movies with black characters. The audience at the Lisner scoffed very loudly at this claim, and Neil agreed--and mentioned that was why the movie didn't happen. Though there had been some promising progress on this front lately...

--Do you purposefully choose your audience for a particular story (i.e. adult novel vs. children's book)?
Yes, usually before he begins writing.

After answering the questions, Neil then read another small portion of the new book, this time a very funny snippet set in the Hempstock's kitchen. He told us he would sign books for us "until my hand drops off." Luckily for us, that wasn't a problem. Each ticket was numbered and would determine the order of the book signing--and my group had numbers 41-47. We were in the first signing group and only had to wait about 10 minutes. It was pure luck of the draw on our part, but also a huge relief. I have no doubt people were waiting around for hours to get their books signed.

So that's it! I encourage you all to check out the new novel, it's beautiful, funny, scary, and will grab you from the very beginning. Just another typical journey into Neil Gaiman's world....

 Can you imagine having to sign 1,000 books? I think my hand really would fall off.