What began on 26 Sept came full circle yesterday Nov 1 2009. This is all of us in the queue that hot Saturday morning, a friendship started by a common goal - Neil Gaiman tickets!

picture by Janice Tay

My Gaiman queue kakis had sent a string of emails planning lunch before the Gaiman event on Sunday. I missed that because I did not check my emails in the days prior to Sunday. I am usually check my email daily but the days in the lead-up to the signing were busy with several birthdays, visits to the hospitals, to the maid agency, running last-minute errands for the Japan trip and so on. Hence I missed the whole arrangement about meeting for lunch and sitting together in the VIC.

On Sunday afternoon after my own quick lunch with Isaac and the family at Marina Square, KH dropped me at the VIC. We were not late, but not early enough to grab good seats either. So we ended up towards the last one-third of the VIC. I was busy messaging Xuemei trying to find them. Finally saw Eldred - right in the front row!! Waved frantically. Wanida messaged me immediately to tell me she's got two seats right up front. So with seconds to spare, as Neil Gaiman walked on stage, Isaac and I hotfooted it over to the front. Prime seats - second row! Well within ogling distance! Plus I got to sit with my queue kakis too!

Gaiman was funny, self-deprecating, charming. He spoke about a project he was doing in China - Journey to the West! Can't wait to see what he would do with that mythological favourite. He also spoke at length about my favourite Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, bee-keeping, blogging, Coraline the movie, his new 8-minute silent movie with Bill Nighy, how his nick ' Scary Trousers' came about, his partner-in-crime for children's books and graphic novels, Dave McKean and there was even his encounter with a birth educator! I felt like I got a special shout-out when he talked about how he felt when the birth educator, while demo-ing the baby's passage through the pelvis (complete with baby doll and pelvis - so familiar!), accidentally yanked the baby's head OFF - I can tell you this is every birth educator's worse nightmare and one that I pray would never happen when I teach! Mr Gaiman, famous for his graphic and sometimes gory descriptions in his books, actually turned greenly squeamish when that happened.

The hour-long dialogue with Gaiman went by too fast, went everywhere (from movies to books, to his personal life) and I think we all wish it could have lasted longer. But no, there was another queue to be formed and autographs to sign. So even before the man finished his last sentence, we were already tense in our chairs, ready to spring out the nearest exit. In our case, being in prime front row seats, the exit nearest the Arts House was right next to us. Yay yay yay!!!

Then Gaiman got up to leave and so did we. We didn't even wait for the man to get off stage, just sprinted out the door, down and helter-skelter over the green lawn to skid to a halt where (impossibly so!) a queue had already formed. Still we were the lucky ones and got in where the queue was just beginning. Later, we saw that the queue had stretched all the way to the Singapore River! Had Wanida not saved us those prime seats, God knows how long Isaac and I would have had to queue.

Spent a lovely couple of minutes deciding WHICH book to let the man sign. We were initially told to bring only two items. But on that day, due to the sheer crowd size, signing was limited to ticket-holders only and then, only ONE item. The Graveyard Book was clearly one of them. My other favourite, Smoke and Mirrors had gone missing, to my frustration. I could not find it and figured I must have lent it to someone - mum or Gayle perhaps? After some deliberation, we decided on Neverwhere being the other book for the man to sign.

All too soon, my queue kakis and I reached the table where the man was seated. Wanida brought a cutting of Janice's column in ST. The longer version of the article can be found here in Janice's blog. My queue kakis and I had honorable mentions in it. So Wanida had brought it along and gotten Janice to sign. Mr Gaiman also signed on it - a huge signature. And gave Janice a hug - lucky woman!

picture by Kymberly Huang

A picture of all my queue kakis. I am not in the picture. This is because Mr Gaiman is looking at ME and signing my book. Yes, I am the unseen one right in front of him. Haha!

Here he is, signing me books!!! For the record, he drew two tombstones with our names on it and a moon on The Graveyard Book and on Neverwhere, he wrote "Mind The Gap!"

Having a very brief chat with Gaiman while he signs away. I asked if we would ever find out what happens to Bod after he left the cemetery. Gaiman smiled and said it is very likely that we would. It would not be a Graveyard Book part 2 but one where we will learn more about Silas and the underworld and so on. I said we would look forward to that! Can't wait to get hold of that when it comes out.

And finally, here we all are with Gaiman still busy signing in the background (except Xuemei who is still a little further behind in the queue) clutching our signed books and graphic novels and newspaper article. The line that we started on 26 Sept has come full circle. This is what I like about life - surprises, coincidences, serendipity, synchronicity, fate... whatever you choose to call it. Who knew what a queue could bring? I know this for sure, the next time Gaiman is in town, my queue buddies and I will reunite. And in the meantime, there is always email, facebook and visits (to Kyoto perhaps?) to keep the Gaiman link going.