I had a blog all set to go about the new show Ghost Whisperer, but then Sunday happened and I realized that I had to write about that instead. I'll get to Ms. Love Hewitt, her spectre sub-vocalizations, and her amazing... attributes ere long. But for now I need to tell you about how I met Neil Gaiman. Neil, for those who don't know, is the writer/creator of the "Sandman" series for the Vertigo division of DC Comics. Issue #19 of that series won the World Fantasy Award for best short story. This was the first time a comic book ever (ever) won a literary award. Neil also has written several amazing novels, short stories which you can lose yourself in, a few movie scripts (one of which is about to be produced called Mirrormask), works tirelessly for causes such as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and has probably cured cancer in his spare time, but he hasn't bothered telling anyone about it yet. Neil Gaiman is the rock star of literature. I found out some time ago that he would be signing copies of his newest book, Anansi Boys, at a nearby Border's. The event was yesterday (Sunday, 9/25) and began with a reading from the book and a Q&A session which was utterly charming. The first thing he read from the book was the dedication. I usually don't care much about dedications, but I always read them. His dedication to this book, it turns out, was the one I was waiting for... [quote="Neil"]YOU KNOW HOW IT IS. YOU PICK UP A BOOK, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated a book to someone else, and not to you. Not this time. Because we haven't yet met/have only a glancing aquaintance/are just crazy about each other/haven't seen each other in much too long/are in some way related/will never meet, but will, I trust, despite that, always think fondly of each other.... This one's for you. With you know what, and you probably know why.

Neil proceeded to tell us all that he was thinking specifically about us as he wrote the book, so if anyone challenges us when we claim that it was dedicated to us, we can tell them that Neil told us it was. The signing itself was too short, but I amazed myself by not stumbling over my words or making a complete idiot of myself. I made a reference to a Tori song, he caught it (Neil and Tori Amos are good friends) and he even threw it back. Brief banter ensued and then he was done signing my books so I moved out of the way for the next person. Usually when I meet celebrities I feel that I am trying to force myself to say something cool and interesting (which inevitably winds up being, "I'm a big fan!") but Neil has a way of making one feel that anything one says is cool and/or interesting. I was totally at ease, and felt like he was someone I'd just run into at a party and who I'd love to spend some time talking to if only we both weren't so busy with other things. Polite, charming, and funny are probably the words I'd choose to describe the encounter. Overall, I was even further wowed by Neil than I had been before. If you have not read any Neil Gaiman work, do so. You will love yourself for picking it up. If you're a comics fan, try Sandman. If you prefer fantasy, pick up Neverwhere (but I recommend seeing the BBC series on DVD first because it came first, and the novel will spoil you for it because the novel is better). If you're a comedy fan, read Good Omens (co-authored with Terry Pratchett). But really, any of his work is excellent. Whether you have read his work or not, the new book is out and looks to be amazing. And how can you pass up that dedication? :) Finally, on an unrelated note, I picked up the novelization of Serenity while I was at the bookstore. Now I'll have to force myself not to read it (or the behind the scenes magazine I picked up a few days ago) before the movie opens on Friday. Wish me luck. ;)