I have to say that signings are a lot of fun.

The staff at Pandemonium Books could not have been more helpful or courteous than they were last weekend, and I thank Dan's LJ friends anomie666 and delahk for attending. Of course it's always fun to spend time with Dan and Alaina. It was gratifying to see that the store had sold out the copies of "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula" it had stocked so recently. I left behind a healthy stack of autographed copies, so for those who had planned on coming but decided to spend the day enjoying the sunshine and warm weather instead, your copy is waiting.

Actually, the most pleasant surprise to come from the experience was finding out that my book is in the Harvard library. God knows, I'll never get into Harvard any other way.

After the signing, we spent the rest of the day bumming around Somerville and drinking beer at a restaurant called Orleans. This proved to be fortuitous; a small incident demonstrated how random and interesting creativity can be. Dan and I are planning on making a film in the next year or so (details when I have something solid to report), and while we were talking about it with my wife, a waitress passed behind her and bobbled the tray she was carrying, dropping a quarter on the floor. A dozen heads looked at it, but nobody wanted to publicly display how petty they were by actually picking the quarter up. Then a customer walked by and kicked the quarter a little closer to our table.

We got to talking about how a small incident like this could be used as an indicator of a character's personality, and that led to a discussion of a certain scene, and by the time we were done I was scribbling notes for other scenes in the screenplay. I've spent the last couple of days working on the script, and now I think it's much better. (Dan finally picked the quarter up and gave it to the waitress.)

After that, we went to the Somerville Theatre and saw the animated "Persepolis," which I greatly enjoyed and wish I had seen before the Oscars; certainly it is more deserving than "Ratatouille," which I loved. "Persepolis" is actually about something: it's the story of an Iranian woman who had to survive the Shah's regime, then the Ayatollah's, and now the current dictatorship. I'm oversimplifying things considerably here, but the film does a pretty good shorthand job of telling us what it's like to grow up in a culture like that, and does so with a fair amount of wit. I can't imagine anything that insightful or honest coming out of Hollywood.

Now we're home, I'm rested, and back at the keyboard. Thanks again, Pandemonium. Let's do it again sometime.

Tags: pandemonium books, sherlock holmes
Current Location: The usual
Current Mood: creative
Current Music: John Barry, "King Kong"

Quick update: I am negotiating with Pandemonium Books and Games in Harvard Square to do a signing sometime in April or May.

The store has been in some trouble lately, as is all too true of bookstores these days. Even as I write this, Dan is directing a documentary on the place to help raise awareness and bring out the fans, so if you're a science fiction aficionado or a gamer in the Boston area, by all means drop by.

You can keep current by visiting their Web site:

http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/

I will, of course, keep you posted as well.

Tags: pandemonium books, sherlock holmes
Current Location: The usual
Current Mood: good
Current Music: John Barry, "The Whyte House"