So.....THIS HAPPENED.
I went to a Neil Gaiman signing!!! I saw Neil Gaiman in real life! I'm PRETTY sure he's human! And that his hair is real! It was awesome and crazy and totally surreal! WOO!
The signing was this past Friday in Washington, D.C. It was CRAZY crowded, like at LEAST 1500 people there. I met up with my friend Jessica and we got there early to make sure we got good seats. I was number 567 in the signing line, which took almost three hours! IT WAS CRAY. But worth it.
SO. Neil. I've read several of his books and The Graveyard Book is one of my all-time favorites!! He just had a new book come out called The Ocean at the End of the Lane. He came out, talked about his new book, read a chapter, answered some audience questions, read a little more and then the signing started. He's a pretty cool dude. His new book came from a very personal place and he said that he wrote it by accident. It started off as a short story, then it turned into a novelette, then a novella and before he knew it he was calling up his editor to tell her he accidentally just wrote a book. ALSO, according to Mr. Neil Gaiman angels are like cockroaches...haha.
My purchase of the ticket included his new book, and then I took my copy of The Graveyard Book to have signed. Because of time constraints and the MASSIVE amount of people we couldn't pose for pictures but I sneak attacked him from the side.
I am an insanely shy person and I can be very timid around people I don't know. I am especially bad in social situations. I'm not the kind of person who will meet an author and ask questions or make chit chat or try and make them laugh. I have nightmares about having to make small talk. After FOREVER it was finally my turn at the signing table. The helper lady passed my books to Mr. Neil Gaiman to sign, then we totally had a moment where he looked up, we looked at each other in the eyeballs, I said "Thank You" and he said........ "You're welcome". It's like we looked into each others souls. It was pure magic.
Funny story about the below picture. When I first looked at what Mr. Neil Gaiman signed in The Graveyard Book, I was thinking to myself, huh. He drew me a square root, kinda weird. Doesn't make much sense, but maybe he likes math. My friend Jessica looked at it and was like "he drew you a tombstone!". I was like ooohhh. Yeah that makes more sense. Graveyard, gravestone. I'm a quick one. AND apparently I have a thing for math.
Overall the signing was great. HOWEVER the trip to and from D.C. made for the LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I HATE driving in the D.C. area! It's about a 2 hour trip. As soon as I got on 95 it was steady traffic the whole way. The closer you get to the heart of D.C. the worse it gets. Parking sucks ass in the city and I literally drove around for AN HOUR looking for the stupid parking deck. Meanwhile I'm dodging all the walking people and trying not to run any of the lights or turn down a one way street. Did I mention I don't do well in traffic. Yeaaaah.
The trip home: I dropped my friend off at her house and turned down her generous offer of staying the night. I was like no thanks, I"ll go home tonight when there will be less traffic. I got back on the interstate and literally drove 3 miles and came to a COMPLETE stop. FOR OVER AN HOUR. NOT MOVING AN INCH. Not a quarter of an inch. People were getting out of their cars and I was thinking to myself OH MY GOD IT'S THE APOCALYPSE! Where are the zombies! It's the end of the world! I'm about to be in my very own dystopian society!
Well there ended up not being an apocalypse just some sucky road construction. I got home around 3:30 AM. (I got up for work the morning before at 6 AM.) I was SO TEMPTED to pull over to the side of the road for a little napsky. So that was fantastic.
But I'm glad I went! Mr. Neil Gaiman seems like a book character himself. Love his accent! He's pretty funny. It's always more fun to go to things like this with a buddy! Everyone should read at least one book by Mr. Neil Gaiman!!
The end.
My purchase of the ticket included his new book, and then I took my copy of The Graveyard Book to have signed. Because of time constraints and the MASSIVE amount of people we couldn't pose for pictures but I sneak attacked him from the side.
It's official. I'm going to a Neil Gaiman signing!! I'm so stoked! I never would have even known about the signing if not for my book buddy Jessica (who I went to Yallfest with last year). In case you're interested, the signing is in Washington D.C on June 21st. Click here for the site link. Neil Gaiman is a master of words. His stories all have some kind of creepy, weird, unusual feel to them. (Let's face it, Neil looks a little creepy himself). I've read several of his works, but my favorite by far is The Graveyard Book. One of my all-time favorites actually. For this particular signing, he is promoting his new book The Ocean at the End of the Lane. You do have to purchase a ticket for this one, which includes a copy of the book, and this event will most likely get sold out. THIS very well may be Neil's LAST signing in the U.S. for a veryvery long time from what I've been told, so it should NOT BE MISSED. 
