The Wake
(NEIL GAIMAN IN MANILA, July 9 2005)

Wow, it’s finally over! Just days before I was anxious to participate in my first ever book signing event - and with NEIL GAIMAN no less! To those not familiar with Neil, he wrote several comic book stories and had quite a few paperback novels. His most popular comic book work was the SANDMAN series, which was about an entity called Morpheus who is the king of all dreams. His most popular novels are AMERICAN GODS and STARDUST.

Here's my attempt to recount the NEIL GAIMAN event last July 9, 2005.

I woke up at 7AM that day. I texted my friend Shiela if she would like to share a cab going to Rockwell and she agreed. As I'm nearer to our destination, she'll pick me up at around 8AM.

My group THE COMIC BROOK was scheduled to meet at Starbucks Rockwell by 9 to 9:30AM but I moved it to 8:30AM because nearly all of Neil's books have sold out already (I visited two Bibliarch branches the day before) so the chances of a huge crowd just exponentially increased.

Shiela and I arrived at Rockwell by 8:30AM. We saw the huge white tent, where the event took place, from a distance and I sighed in relief that we'll be at least indoors and most probably be cooler. We saw no one we know at Starbucks so we decided to check out the tent. From afar, we saw that a line had already formed so I called some people to tell them to hurry their butts already!

One of the people I called was Raffy. He was supposed to be there by then, as he was one of those who protested that 9AM is too late a time to meet already; lo and behold, he had just woken up - and he lives in Alabang! He flipped-flopped between going and not going before finally hauling his butt off the bed to go.

We saw Jabe near the middle of the line and we chatted for a while. When Rey and Arnel arrived at 8:45AM, we queued up quickly. Lex arrived a few minutes later and we managed to squeeze him in. I saw in line a few familiar faces from the yahoo group Pinoyslayers, like Thor, his sister Faye, Yayie and Jan.

The line was divided into two so we essentially got separated - Shiela and Arnel was in one line while Rey, Lex and I were in another. Nyek and his girlfriend arrived around 9:15AM so they were several people away from us.

Neil Gaiman arrived around 9:30AM and he was greeted with cheers and shouts of welcome. He was in sunglasses and dressed in black (as expected). He waved at the crowd and disappeared in the tent, where he supposedly assessed and judged the entries for the art competition.

By 9:45AM, we got our green-colored numbered stubs. Now these numbered stubs is just to organize how people will queue up for the book signing later that day. Shiela got 99, Arnel was 101, I got number 130, Rey got 132, Lex got 134. Jabe I believe got 66 while Nyek got 155 or something.

Giddy and relieved, we then went to Starbucks to relax as the mall was still closed. Raffy arrived a few minutes later and he was number 292. Rey and I played two games of VS before we all went in the mall and strolled around. We went to Fully Booked, where a lot of people were making their last-minute book purchases. Amongst us, only Rey bought anything - a SMOKE AND MIRRORS paperback.

I wanted to watch FANTASTIC FOUR but we paused for lunch first at MONGKOK; this was around 10:30AM. Sandman (Marc, not the Morpheus) and Dicky arrived at almost the same time - their numbers were 400+ and 500+ respectively. Igee, who had been texting me an hour ago asking questions about the event, finally arrived - and he's number 682!

We eventually spent about 2 hours in MONGKOK, just chatting and catching up on each other's lives. By then I knew we won't be able to watch FANTASTIC FOUR anymore so we transferred to Starbucks again to pass the time - the GATHERING event was 3PM.

Christian, Ben and Shiela's friend, Richie arrived when we were at Starbucks. Christian and Ben didn't get any numbers anymore while Richie got a red-colored stub (162) which was for the next day's signing already. The last number for the day was 700! Geez louise!

By 2:30PM, we found out that there was a looooong queue by the tent's entrance. Rey and I fell in line (later to be joined by Shiela and Richie) while the others waited by the door to wait till everyone has entered. Turns out they got in ahead of us by "squeezing" their way in!

There wasn't a lot of people - well, there was but I was expecting more. I had room to turn around in my place in the crowd so go figure! Anyway, by 3PM, a band called THE LATE ISABEL started performing and wouldn't stop until about 8 to 9 songs later! It wasn't that they're not good - they actually are - but people were expecting Neil to show up already! They didn't come here to listen to a concert - they wanted to see Neil Gaiman!

By 3:45PM, Neil finally arrived! Gabe Mercado, the host, announced a few winners to some raffles first before introducing Mr. Gaiman - and the crowd went absolutely wild! Shouts, cheers and just plain pandemonium greeted Neil in what his livejournal says "a wall of sound"! Hands were raised in fists, like they were worshipping a political leader in a protest rally, along with camcorders and cameras and tape recorders! It was truly a loud, loud crowd!

Given that, imagine then how louder the cheers got when he took off his leather jacket :P

Meanwhile...my stomach decided to join the fray and started acting up itself! I drank a frappucino an hour ago and now I'm paying the price (milk and me don't mix)! I was nauseous and positively miserable, coughing like I was gonna throw up and practically sweaty!

On stage, Neil was talking, telling how we were noisier than the Brazillians and that it was illegal to buy chewing gum in Singapore. He also told how his printer acted up in the hotel - hence his delay in appearing earlier - as it printed out 20 pages of paper with just one line of text on each page! He was going to do a reading of his latest novel (called ANANSI BOYS, out in September) with those printed pages but because of the problem, he read via his laptop.

It wasn't a huge laptop so he was able to carry it in one hand. He began reading and it was the story of a guy named FAT CHARLEY, who was being prodded by his fiance to call his dad and invite him to the wedding. It seems FAT CHARLEY and his dad are not in good speaking terms. Fortunately, FAT CHARLEY doesn't know his dad's number or address. Unfortunately, he blurted out that a family friend might know.

Caving in to his fiance's insistence, he called the family friend (who was an old widow). That's where he found out that his father died. FAT CHARLEY was in shock as he told his fiance the news, but not because his father had died was he in such a state but rather it was the way his father died.

I'm not gonna tell how his father died but let me say that from what Neil read, it seems the humor and the situations are not entirely original. Amusing but I've heard or seen them somewhere else before. However, knowing Neil, he'll spin those situations around a wonderful tale so it wouldn't matter whether he was using unoriginal plot devices.

After reading, Neil answered three questions, of which only two do I recall. The first question was what did Neil sacrifice to become a great writer. Neil's answer was long (or rather, long-winded) and he ended it by saying "nothing". The second question was why his most memorable characters are women, and he said because there weren't any women characters back then, just "men with melons". This part of the event was the shortest, lasting only about 15 minutes or so.

By 5PM, the book signing started. People generally dispersed - some went out to leave because they weren't going to have any book signed, some went out for a breather (or a snack), and a lot (like us) sat down the dirty floor to wait our turn. Numbers 1 to 30 were called to queue up while Neil prepared his pens and signing table. Gabe also said that Neil will only put a dedication on one book, the rest he will just sign. This was understandable as it would take Neil probably days if he was gonna put a personalized dedication on every book! Gabe asked people to put their names on the numbered stubs so Neil won't misspell them.

The signing was rather slow as the first 30 people took about an hour to finish! I was making fun of Igee's number - 682 - as by the rate things were going, he won't be able to have his books signed that day. His salvation came when Raffy, who had to watch FANTASTIC FOUR by 9:30PM with his girlfriend Magee, made a deal with him - have three of his books signed and Igee can have his 292 number and Neil's dedication. Raffy got Igee's 682 number and left.

While waiting for our numbers to be called, an exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from Dave McKean's upcoming film MIRRORMASK was shown. It was an interesting piece, showcasing the creative process behind the creation of the movie, as well as a couple of interviews with Neil and Dave.

By 7:30PM, my batch was finally called to line-up. I brought my ENDLESS NIGHTS hardcover and decided on the second right there on the spot - my BRIEF LIVES trade paperback won over SEASON OF MISTS because of personal taste. Halfway through the line, I found out that you can specify what dedication you want Neil to write.

I panicked a bit - what should I have him write? Should it be a verse from a favorite song? A line from a favorite book or story he wrote? A dirty limerick? What what? I eventually ended up with a quote I've been using as a joke for days prior to the event - I told my friends in jest that maybe I should have Neil sign "THE COMIC BROOK RULES" so I could tell people that he gave his "official stamp of approval" to my yahoo group!

30 minutes later, I was in front of Neil having my books signed. Now before you hand your books over to Neil, you hand over your camera to a Fully Booked personnel so he/she can take your picture. I recognized the girl who took my camera - she was one of the moderators of the Pinoyslayers yahoo group - but I forgot her name. I blurted out another name and she corrected me - it was Tanya.

Anyway, I don't know if she took it against me or anything (but I don't think she did) but she took my picture when I wasn't looking! I was the only one amongst my friends who was not looking at the camera when his/her picture was taken! :(

And yes, Neil wrote "RUEL, THE COMIC BROOK RULES".

It was already 8:30PM by the time Rey, Lex and I finished and, to our surprise, Doc Robert had arrived! He had work in a clinic the whole day and was only able to join us at that time. We all decided to have dinner and Igee hesitantly joined us when we told him he'll still be considered even if batch was already called. We ate at Dulcinea, where Doc was pissed at the poor service of the head waitress (an order of his never arrived). The food was okay though. Igee, in his enormous generosity, paid for everyone's bill!

When we returned, around 9:30PM, Igee's batch had just been called to queue up so he quickly fell in line. By 10:30PM, he was finished and we all went home. The batch that was queueing when we left was 331 to 360. Dicky stayed behind, hopeful that his number (500+) will still be called.

I arrived at around 11PM, exhausted yet happy. It was my first book signing and it was fun, especially in the company of my friends. I'll definitely do this kind of event again (yes, even with a bad stomach) and here's hoping Neil could come back someday.

To end this rather long recount of the day, here's another instance that showcased Neil's professionalism and good nature:

Around 12:45AM, I got a text message from Raffy - Neil was still signing books! And he just had his books signed using Igee's 682 number! It seems that Neil finished at 1:30AM, finishing the 700 number plus signing for a few people who didn't have the stubs plus signing the shirts of a few Fully Booked staffers! What a guy!