A few months ago I saw that @neilhimself (and some friends of mine) was coming to #ReykjavikNoir. I got tickets fully intending to read books by authors attending. Then I bought a new apartment and moved. Constant work for three months now. Today I went to get my armband and felt guilty that I have read nothing.
BTW. Every time I am around tourists in Iceland I have the urge to tell them about my podcast. I could just wear a #StoriesOfIceland shirts all the time but that feels a bit vain.
I once interviewed Neil G without having read anything by him, a full hour in a café in Oslo, really just talking vaguely about How To Become A Great Writer. Cringeworthy, arrogant student -- but he was extremely professional and polite.
Now I have read short stories by him, at least -- but not many. He's a wonderful writer, but I to horrory and supernatural for my taste.
Morale: read as much as possible asap. you never know when it comes in handy.
I asked #NeilGaiman for an interview twenty years ago he was supposed to come to Iceland. I knew his work but I doubt that my interviewing skills would have passed muster. Now I would love to try to interview him for the podcast about how he has been influence by Norse Mythology but the arrogance and bravery of youth have left me.
I do repeat the warning against trying shark again. Hopefully the signing will go smoothly so I can say hi. You signed American Gods for me in Stockholm but I haven't decided which I'll bring to you this time. Not the Absolute Sandman volumes though.
@Jostein@oligneisti I'm sure you were fine. The worst was a German interviewer at the Hamburg book festival who had a lot of opinions about my themes and stories that had nothing to do with anything I'd ever said or thought. After a while I started asking him what he'd actually read that I had written. He blustered. I asked him for plot details, whereupon he admitted he had never read anything I had written.