I think I really like Tokyo, and the next time I come back here it will be for longer. (Maybe for Worldcon 2007 -- although that's in Yokahama. But Yoshitaka Amano is the artist guest of honour...)
When I mentioned I'd be stopping over here lots of nice people wrote to offer hospitality, and last week I forwarded them all to my assistant Lorraine and told her to pick someone, so she did, and yesterday afternoon I got to wander the streets of Tokyo with Ms. Terri MacMillan (I don't know if there was something in particular about her letter that Lorraine liked or if it was just that she was the first to offer) because I really needed to walk and look at people after all that time on the plane, and we saw the COSplayers (among other things) and ate nice sushi and I was back in my hotel to sleep by around 8.30 pm...
I was going to work but instead I slept.
Terri mentioned that it was a pity that this blog wasn't up in Japanese, and while it took me a little by surprise that anyone would want to read it in any other languages but English, I gave it a ponder, and eventually concluded "Well, I know I'm currently translated into about 30 different languages, and it's quite possible that some of the people around the world would like to read about authors cleaning up cat vomit at 3 in the morning," but I wasn't sure how it could happen.
And then I thought, well, there are probably people out there who might want to give it a try, if only to exercise their language skills.
So if you feel like translating this blog, or selections from it, into any other language than English, then feel free. The only condition is that you translate as best you can and don't stick your own opinions etc in, or add exciting adventures for me where I don't have any in the original (and if you need to add stuff to make sense, then make it clear what's yours), and that, like the original, it's non-commercial, so you can't make people pay to read it.
I don't know how interesting it'll be, or whether anyone will want to keep it up for long -- but if you have any urge to translate this blog or its archives into Japanese, Mandarin, French, Greek, Israeli, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Tagalog, Estonian or any other language, then go for it. (Yes, the copyright in the blog remains mine.)
I'll have our new webmistress, Kelly Jones (who has replaced the wonderful Julia Bannon) put a webpage up at Neilgaiman.com with links to foreign language versions of the blog, if anyone decides to try it. Oh, and you have to speak both English and the language you're changing it into, and not try and do it with babelfish or google translator. Using google translator back and forth, incidentally, the last sentence of the cat vomit post came out: I have something immaculateness, which retards from the carpet of the night, which, I must begin back.
Admiral Jack Womack of Harper Collins sends more information on two of the signings (Chicago and one of the Bay Area ones) from the ANANSI BOYS tour:
Friday, September 30 7:00 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO & BAY AREA
Cody�s
At the First Congregational Church of Berkeley
2345 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA
510-559-9500
CHICAGO AREA
Anderson's Bookshop Presents
Neil Gaiman
Thursday, September 22, 7:00 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College
310 E. Benton Avenue, Naperville, IL 60540
Tickets are required (and FREE)*
The best thing about doing the offsite readings/Q&As and signings is that people can sit down instead of standing for several hours...
Okay. Breakfast, then airport.