Saturday, May 05, 2007

The Unquiet signing

Went to a John Connolly signing last night.John read an extract from his novel in progress The Reapers then did a very funny Q&A with the audience before moving on to signing books.

Turns out he has an excellent memory for faces because he remembered me from our brief chat at last year's FantasyCon. "Wow," I thought. "Nothing could make me happier than this." That is until he said he'd read the copy of Mask I gave him and he really enjoyed it and was pleased it won the British Fantasy Award. "Okay," I thought. "Nothing can make me happier than this." And then he invited me along for a drink with a group of his friends and fans. "My God," I thought. "Nothing can possibly make me happier than this ... Unless Jessica Alba suddenly shows up offering to have sex with me."

At this point my luck ran out so I had to settle for drinks with John and his pals.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Geat to hear that Stu. I often miss out on events because I live in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to go to a Conrad Williams signing in Manchester but it would have been difficult getting home.
Ally

Stuart Young said...

Ally, I have absolutely no sympathy for you seeing as I had to miss out on Alt-Fiction in Derby due to work. :-P

Anonymous said...

Stu,

Great story, mate! Sounds like a good time.

Anonymous said...

Yes but did you hear about the hotel John and I stayed in? I think bodies were disposed of in the bedroom that was inbetween mine and John's.
Ally

Stuart Young said...

Michael, glad you enjoyed the report.

Ally, I take it you're talking about the hotel you and John Travis stayed at for Alt-Fiction, not some secret tryst you had with Mr Connolly?

Anonymous said...

I keep forgetting people cannot read my mind :>) yes it was JT not JC.
Ally

Chris said...

So, how did the hard-drinking Irish author keep up with you in the pub then Stu? ;-)

(But, more importantly, can I use, "'Really enjoyed it, pleased it won the BFS Award,' John Connolly" on the website?)

Stuart Young said...

Ally, I'm going to read your mind now ... uh huh, uh huh, okay I've just stolen the plot for your latest story :-)

Chris, well, it was still near the beginning of his signing tour so he was pacing himself :-)

As for using the quote it was a comment made in casual conversation so I don't think it would really be appropriate to use it on the website. The same with a comment he made about Mask on his message board a while back -- it's just a passing remark, not a quote, so it's not really eligible. (I'm not really cut-throat enough for this marketing lark am I?)

Anonymous said...

You can put that idea back right now!
Contact John Connolly and ask him for a quote. I'm sure he won't mind Stu, in fact he would probably be enthusiastic.
Ally.