The First Book Signing!!! Nearly Dead...

Hey folks, Harry here... My first book signing just ended. My friends, this was truly one of the most fascinating experiences that I have ever lived through.

I decided to get to the Borders on Oxford Street about an hour and a half early... that way I'd suprise the early comers and get some extra chat time with em. I got there and there was a spackling of teens, a fellow of impeccable taste on his 22nd Birthday and an absolute lovely vision that had been waiting there for 4 and a half hours. And a few other folks... I didn't want to sit out in the open I wanted to sit behind the table of books and just relax and chat... For about 45 minutes I got to, till I had to tape some Radio programme and then return for the event in earnest.

This was so fun, somebody suggested that I read Quentin Tarantino's opening in my Quentin Tarantino voice... of which I do do an eerie impersonation of. I would stop from time to time in the intro to give my side of the events that Quentin spilled in the intro, and then went on to finish that up. Next I did about 2 hours of questions and answers. Everything from "Who are the top 3 finest filmmakers working today in your estimation?" to questions about Peter Jackson's KING KONG, the dream of Skywalker Ranch, and on and on and on... It was a great time.

Then the signing went on for a couple of hours (no break) but frankly it was just a blast.... The audience was beyond capacity and we unloaded a ton of books, which was just amazingly gratifying to see go away. One fellow told me that he had been saving up for years, that he quit his job and is setting about to shoot a proper British Zombie flick and wanted me to wish him luck.... Another is finishing a book on the life and films of Tim Burton.... Another lovely lady wanted to speak with me about the magic of Pixar and Miyazaki... I should have probably proposed to that one come to think about it.

There folks from all sorts of backgrounds... from here in London to Wales to Scotland to MANCHESTER (RENI YOU RULE) to Pakistan to India to Pittsburgh and Detroit. I took photos, shook hands, listened to stories and met a wonderful selection of the London AICN audience. You know.... enough to fill a damn good auditorium and show some damn fine geek cinema sometime.... I'll have to do something like that in London some day. This was fun!

Everybody had really good accents, not fakey and all and they hardly every dropped it. Hehehe...

Afterwards, a hardcore selection of the group, all but one completely unknown to me before, went and picked up a ton of pints of about 2 dozen different brands of good deep dark black beer from the belly of the earth. Then they trailed me back to my Hotel, where they have only just now left. I showed them some secret stuff, which they can't talk about.... except to trusted mates... and they left here.... and the group of us drained 54 Pints of Beer.

Wasn't glitzy or glamy in that Club party sort of way... but it was just honest to goodness film fans arguing till 3am London time (I'd woke up about 21 hours before to go do the BIG BREAKFAST. Folks... People... Go make something... a movie, art, a song, a book, a poem... something. Deliver it to a public and take them home with you. It's just about the greatest feeling you'll ever know. This rules... I want to do this again... wherever you are.... What a blast!

Cheers mates...

Harry