Book Signings and Events

Who doesn’t love dinosaurs?

Like I mentioned last week, and oh yes, YESTERDAY, it was déjà vu as we found ourselves back at Dark Del for yet another great signing. But this time, we were in for a real treat as artist William (Bil) Stout not only signed our books, but did drawings in them.

Uh, all you have to do is take a glimpse of our home page, and Bill’s logo, to see that my husband is penguin obsessed. So when Bil Stout offered to draw Bill a prehistoric penguin in his book, I thought he was going to scream and faint like a teenage Beatles fan. He didn’t, but that’s all he talked about for days. “I got a penguin. A PREHISTORIC penguin.” Bil did a great job too. His drawings come to life on the paper. I almost expect to hear a little roar when I open the books we just got signed.

We arrived at Dark Del a little early, so we had a chance to take a long look around the spooky, dark bookstore. Dark Delicacies is unique even as specialized independent bookstores go. I mentioned before, even the shelves are black, but did I mention one of the bookcases is coffin shaped? Every inch of the store is decorated to create a mood. I could just sit in there for hours and read scary books. Of course Bill bought more books and I bought, well, socks. Hey, now just listen. It’s really hard to find real knee socks, which is what I like, and even harder to find them with like skulls and cool stuff on them. But Del and Sue maintain a nice stock, as well as tees, tanks, handbags, wallets, figurines, stuffies, DVD’s, jewelry… you just have to visit Burbank and check them out. Just look at the dark angel hanging from the ceiling!

Bil Stout took his time and drew a little dinosaur in each and every one of Bill’s books, as well as signed his poster and the cover of his Genii magazine, for which, of course, he did the artwork. Remember, Bill is a magician, so of course he has a Genii magazine collection.

We were pretty worn out from the long weekend, so we climbed into the green pathfinder and eventually found our way home near the Pacific Coast.

Until our next adventure…
P~

We’ll Always Have Paris…

Ray Bradbury ventured out to sunny but windy Westwood last Sunday to sign copies of his latest book, “We’ll Always Have Paris” (well, among other things!). The Mystery Bookstore was all ready with many Bradbury books for sale.

John arrived early and was chatting with Bill and J&N, so I went to take a photo. He backed away quickly and said, no, he’s already in enough photos (on our site I think!), that he tries to get out of the way of Ray’s photos, etc. But then he gave up and went back to chatting. Yes, I’m a royal pain. Bill and J&N seemed to get a kick out of it!

Ray arrived and the energy in the store immediately picked up as he waved hello to everyone. John announced his play Falling Upward at the historic El Portal Theatre. Then Bobby, Mystery Bookstore’s manager, asked Ray a few questions before the signing got underway.

Ray talked about how he discovered typewriters for rent for 10 cents a half hour in the basement of the Powell Library at UCLA years ago. He went to the bank, got a bag of dimes, and wrote Fahrenheit 451 in about 9 days (so, ruffly $9.80 worth of dimes). Bobby asked about the medal Ray wears around his neck, and he said his is a commandeur of France’s Order of Arts and Letters, and he commands us all to love him and love his books. Oh like any of his adoring fans wouldn’t, even if the French government had not bestowed him this honor. But, that’s quite an honor. Ray is an amazing human being.

While at Condor a few weeks ago, Bill picked up a few “on to Mars” buttons from the Mars Society fan table and gave one of the buttons to Ray. He seemed to like it! Ray signed our books, writing ONWARD! in Bill’s Martian Chronicles and LOVE in my book. What a fun loving man!

Since we were in Westwood Village, it was off to Red Mango for some frozen yogurt before heading over to Dark Delicacies for the William Stout signing. Nothing like back to back signings to keep us running!

Onward!
P~

Déjà vu…

Didn’t we, like, just do this? Not only were we at Dark Del LAST weekend, but we just saw Amber Benson at Condor. Eh, whatever. When it comes to books and dark stuff, we like to party down. And if you remember, Condor was Bill’s and my mini-vacation (sort of) and we didn’t bring all our Amber stuff. It was so fun to see her again. Not only beautiful and talented, Amber is SUCH a sweetheart. And yes, she still really wants to come to the Magic Castle!

But this time, we were more prepared. Not only did Bill buy more Amber books from Del and Sue, but we brought our Buffy DVD box sets and “Once More with Feeling” posters. Amber signed everything. She even made sure her signature didn’t smudge!

Amber and SG Browne drew quite a crowd and the book store filled up fast with eager fans. Bill noticed as we left that the line was just as long as when it first started, so I’m sure it took a while for Amber and SG to get through everyone. But before we slipped away, Amber pointed at Bill and told SG Browne, “this is the man to talk to if you want to go to the Magic Castle!” So Bill stopped and gave him a card and showed him a quick magic trick. Such a fun afternoon!

Thing is, we knew we’d be back at Dark Del the next day for artist William Stout, so in 24 hours it will be Déjà vu all over again!

Until tomorrow!
P~

Dark Delicacies…

AKA Dark Del, this is TRULY a unique book store. Even the book shelves are black. Check out some of the creepy cool stuff they have for sale, not just in these photos of weird stuffies and handbags, T’s, wallets, but throughout the signing photos (peek at the background – tasty dark collectibles & gifts. A Goth Babe’s nightmare come true).

We arrived early to purchase our books and get our line numbers… 20 & 21, not bad at all. Then we gave up our kick ass parking spot (oh well) and drove the short distance to the Illiad Bookshop for a bit since, you know, since we had time. When we got back an hour later, a whole bunch of fans had shown up to see Richard Matheson and his son RC Matheson. Also in the signing line were Mick Garris and Whitley Strieber.

Dark Del owners, Del and Sue, were busy getting things set up and running on time. But at last the signing began. Bill had not seen Richard Matheson for at least 5 years, so it was a lot of fun for him to say hello and have his books signed. RC was energetic and having a good old time. We said our hellos to Mick and Whitley and made a quick exit since the store was so packed.

But before we jumped into the Pathfinder for other adventures on that sunny California Sunday, I did some hand shaking of mine own with the Frankenstein monster.

Until our next dark adventure…
P~

No, not the vulture, but a good old fashioned con… er, convention. Bill and I had a fun, relaxing weekend at Condor XVI this year. But to do this convention justice, you’ll have to peruse their website and Chaz Baden’s photo gallery. Because Bill and I, well, we slept late in our hotel room, hung out by the pool and con suite (which opened out to the pool patio) with our friends, and basically did nothing resembling work all weekend.

Okay, not totally true. In spite of Bill’s quiet demeanor, when it comes to books he’s a type A personality. Friday, Amber Benson visited Condor and she and Bill exchanged a quick hello before she signed his books. They go back a ways only in that she really wants to go to the Magic Castle someday and never can find the right time. As soon as she laid eyes on Bill she said, “Ah! Hi! I still really want to go to the Castle!” Bill gave the standard answer when people tell him that, “yeah, yeah.” Amber is SO MAJOR cute and a talented young woman. My high opinion of her has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a big Buffy fan… ☺ And she’s starting to write more and more books, so you should find them and read them.

Amber putting Bill’s business card in her bag

Todd McCaffery was there too and signing for people, but I was yaking with my friends, purchasing jewelry and a voo-doo doll in the dealer’s room from Liz, and failed to snap a good photo of his signing. But trust me, he was here and busy with his fans! Hey, I’m on vacation. Sort of. Okay, here’s me Saturday morning, typing blog stuff by the pool. But I’m at least wearing said jewelry around my neck. I can do both. Being married to Bill, I have to squeeze my relaxing time in wherever I can.

Bill surprised me by suggesting we go to one of my favorite places for dinner – Joe’s Crab Shack. Oh yeah. Not only do I consume bottom feeders with a disgusting shell sucking passion, but they have this drink…. ☺ It’s called a shark bite. Words do not do it justice – just observe….

Shark bite begins
Shark bite blood
Shark bite blood drip
Shark bite blood flow
Shark bite last drops
Shark bite Peggy drinks bloody drink
Shark bite every last drop

The next morning we hung by the pool with Mitch and Ken, but since we’d slept late it was soon off to meet Bill’s mom Ayako Wu for lunch at the sushi buffet Onami. Bill hates sushi. But my new mother-in-law and I love sushi, so we win and he fills up on teriyaki chicken and California rolls. Bill acts like a kid who grew up in the suburbs of San Diego – like no global diversity at all. Oh, wait, I guess that IS what happened. Ayako, who was born and lived in Japan until her late 20’s, and goes back to visit family frequently, is actually surprised Bill can even operate chop sticks. Bill frowns and pouts at his mom and says of course I can, she’ll wink at me, and that’s basically how our little family lunches go. Quite the pair, those two. Here we are as we’re leaving Onami. It’s she pretty? We just love her.

The day was young so we said goodbye to Mom and made the short drive back to Condor, hung around more, settling again by the pool (except now it was getting chilly). Bill and Ken played around with magic tricks. We just got this new camera and Bill keeps snapping “candid” shots of me. Yes, ha ha, you caught me on my laptop again. I’m a week behind, alright? I can work and relax at the same time… really.

Saturday evening there was the traditional masquerade, which we missed while out grabbing dinner, and the room parties were just getting started by the time we wandered back. We swung by both Chaz’s party where he served home made lemon cupcakes (baked in a toaster oven 12 at a time) and the LosCon party which had yummy meatballs. But Bill and I partied out early and retired to our room. We can’t tell if we’re just getting too old to par-tay all night or if it’s a newly wed thing. Maybe both.

Sunday morning we packed up, checked out, and yep, went back to hang out by the pool and con suite some more. Bill snuck a few more pix of me typing by the pool without me knowing. Ha ha, very funny… he was INSIDE the hotel so I didn’t see him. The cool and sunny San Diego weather could not have been more perfect and we were reluctant say good-bye to friends we hardly ever see and make the several hour drive back up to Los Angeles. But at last, we climbed into our green Pathfinder and headed north, only stopping at one book store on the way home. I guess we were a little tired out from all that relaxing.

Until our next relaxing adventure…
P~

Horror. That’s like scary stuff, right? EEEEEEE-vil, terrifying, creepy, BOO kinda thing. So, meeting a horror author, you never know what to expect, but I certainly did not expect a sweet, almost self-effacing man as Dan Simmons. The first thing he did was notice that more people were crowding into the upstairs room at Vromans to hear him speak than there were chairs. So he grabbed an armful of folding chairs and helped the gals set up more back rows. Hello.

Mr. Simmons, who used to be an elementary school teacher, is a cheerful man with white/gray hair and a kind smile. When he finally quit with the manual labor thing, he stood at the mic and began to tell us one exciting story after another. Okay, not QUITE after another… He starts to tell one tale, gets excited about something in that tale, digresses, then may or may not get back to the original story. It’s pretty cute, he totally knows he does it and constantly points it out. We were all laughing and enjoying every minute of it. No one really minded where he wanted to go as long as he just kept talking. Fun speaker!

No spoilers for his latest horror novel, but Drood is about the real life of Charles Dickens. Dan read part of one scene about an absolutely horrible train crash… body parts strewn in every direction, one train car swinging precariously over a drop by a broken coupling while… whoa, that’s it. Read the scary book! Dan didn’t used to like Charles Dickens… his high school English teacher forced “Great Expectations” down his throat. Later, he began to understand how “out of his time” Dickens was and how “truly alive’ his characters are, and developed a profound appreciation for him. Oh, and Drood is soon to be a film too!! No one is more surprised than Dan that one of his novels will be on the big screen. HOO-rah.

While snapping photos, I notice a wide diversity in age and ethnicity in the signing line. Yeah, okay, this is Los Angeles area, major melting pot on the planet, but… Who knew for this crowd? Mixed with us older book folks and other horror fans were a bunch of young kids, many Asian, clamoring to meet Dan and take photos with him. What is this, a Twilight signing? Manga? Harry Potter? Nope. Dan Simmons. Kinda boundary less, eh? Humm, maybe Dan is closer to achieving immortality than he thinks. Knowing the humble and unassuming Mr. Simmons, he would never, ever, think that. ☺

Signing line front
Signing line middle
Signing line end
Bill with Dan Simmons

We helped Mark, the Ogre, get some of his books signed, said hi to Rob and Rob (Robert & Robin), then disappeared into Vromans many shelves (way cool independent bookstore) for a widdle-bit-o shopping. What? All work and no play makes Jack a homicidal manic. We know this.

Until our next adventure…
P~

Once again Bill and I found ourselves in Glendale, California at a Book Fellows/Mystery and Imagination signing. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle signed their latest novel Escape from Hell, a sequel to a novel they wrote 33 years ago. Living in the Los Angeles area, we see Larry Niven quite often (he’s an avid hiker, so I see him even more when our group hits a trail head) but Mr. Pournelle has been out of circulation for the past couple years. Why? Because Jerry just kicked cancer square in the pants. Beat it. Atta boy, Jerry. His brain tumor is GONE and he is cancer free, and therefore out running around with his buddy Larry again, causing double trouble and delighting hard core fans.

After a little Q&A, the audience leaped up to join the line and meet these classic science fiction writing heroes. Bill and I already had all our “dynamic duo” books signed by Larry, so we just had him sign the new books we’d just purchased, then bunched in front of Jerry for his signatures on the others. We told him we are so happy he’s out and about again. Of course, I see Jerry all the time too, but not at signing tables. Like me, he is a life member of the LASFS and typically attends the weekly meetings. Come to think of it, Mr. Niven and his sweet wife “Fuzzy Pink” Niven are often there too. So if you ever come to a LASFS meeting just to ogle at Larry and Jerry, that works for us Lasfs-ians. Join us…! (Come play with us, Danny, forever and ever and ever.) Just teasing… Sort of. Do come join us at a LASFS meeting.

During the Q&A, Larry and Jerry shared how they accomplish their collaborations, which is always a bit of a mystery to us fans. I mean, how do authors do this? Do they write together, like, at the same time? With one typing and both talking and reading? Or, do they take turns, like each writing every other paragraph, or sentence? Or do they switch off chapters? Do they do this while together in the same room? Do they edit each others writing while they are together or later? Obviously, in this day and age, you can email stuff back and forth lickety split, but these bad boys have been collaborating since the dark ages… you know, before vmail, email, IPods, IPhones, texting, blogging, IM, internet, webmail, Facebook, cellphones, laptops… so, like how do Larry & Jerry collaborate? And has it changed with the times?

Larry put it succinctly (how very Larry): we divide our writing according to our skill sets. Makes sense. In other words, they take turns writing “scenes”. They take on sections of their stories according to their strengths. And it works. Well. These two have written 12 successful novels together over the past 30 plus years. And if you ever meet them in person, clearly, they do have very different strengths, and personalities, yet they have deep respect and affection for each other. And has it changed? Of course it has, at least the mechanics of it. Their first few novels were handwritten, and then hired out to a professional typist to create manuscripts. Now of course, everything is on computer, and far more efficient.

The afternoon event wrapped up so Bill and I jumped into Pathfinder in search of another adventure, this one involving food. Without a word, we made a beeline for Little Hong Kong Café near home. But as we drove away, I mused how Bill and I have known each other just over 3 years. I hope we can look back after 30 plus years and say we have accomplished half as much as have Larry and Jerry with that level of mutual respect. They’ve set a good example for us in partnership.

Until next time…
P~