Right now the local radar weather map is covered with pin-sized thunderstorms -- I didn't realise quite how small these were until I looked up and realised that from where I'm sitting and typing this (the kitchen table) I can see it pouring with heavy rain through the windows facing west, while being perfectly clear and dry out of the windows to the south.
Anyway, I just got off the phone with Lena St George from the British Council in Singapore.
She's not quite sure what to expect during the Singapore signings -- she's realised that lots of people want to come out to see me, and it's going to be rather more people than normally come out to get stuff signed and listen to visiting authors burble, and she wants me to point people at
http://www.britishcouncil.org.sg/whatson/event_details.asp?EvID=156
for details of where I'll be when. On Monday the 4th of July, as you can see, they'll be showing a MirrorMask trailer and a scene along with the talk/signing, and we may also show something else as well (because it's costing them to rent the cinema, which they're passing on in ticket form). Lena's e-mail is up at the website and she's encouraging people who are going to turn up to any of the events to let her know, so she has an idea of the numbers she can expect at each of the events.
(If you're not sure which to go to, I'd suggest the Borders Books signing on the 6th, and try to be there when it starts, about 6:00pm. Most of the events can't go late as they have things after them, but that one can go until everyone's done.)
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Lisa Gallagher, the publisher at Morrow, read yesterday's blog entries and dropped me a line to say of the proofs of ANANSI BOYS: Not sure why Elton at Chapter 11 assumes he isn't getting one, as they haven't all been distributed to booksellers yet, but he is misinformed if he's telling people we only made them for media. The reps have been able to request copies for their accounts, and we are sending to booksellers direct.
So US booksellers who want an advance galley of ANANSI BOYS should talk to their Harper Collins reps.
And the first printed commentary I've seen on ANANSI BOYS came from Locus, where editor Charles N. Brown mentions it in his editorial, saying,
I devoured Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman as soon as I got a copy. It may be in the same fantasy universe as American Gods, but it's something completely different, a Wodehousian comedy of manners that's almost letter-perfect. I had to read it in one sitting -- another Hugo-worthy book. It may have trouble because comedies don't fare as well as "serious" books, but underneath, like Connie Willis's so-called comedies, it's got a serious philosophical core. Gaiman is one of our treasures.
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(There are lots of bird-weirdnesses in Anansi Boys, including a flamingo-flock in someone's bedroom -- and just so you know, the plural of flamingo is flamingos in the UK edition and flamingoes in the US -- so it was nice to see from this article that the London bird population is starting to soften the reading public up to the idea that birds can be dangerous.)
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And the Panasonic W4 just arrived from Dynamism, slightly less than 24 hours after I ordered it. Initial impressions are that it's a) lighter than I expected, especially given what it contains, b) more compact than I expected, c) silverier than I expected. I think it's going to be perfect for six months of hauling across the world in carry-on. It's been a while since I used a Japanese keyboard, and I mostly have to remember that the ' key is now above the 7. In December I'll decide whether to keep it as my main notebook, or just to use it for travelling.
And by that point we'll know what's happening in Apple world. (Luckily I have someone in the family to keep me informed.)