Head and Shoulders to the Rescue!

So, I am absolutely loving the Influenster programs I've been selected for! My favorite so far has been the Head & Shoulders box, which arrived with full-sized shampoos just like these:

Now, I've had scalp problems for years. The last time (almost a decade ago) that I tried using Head & Shoulders, the shampoo didn't stop the flaking and the conditioner made my hair all greasy. Instead I went to the dermatologist, who recommended an expensive, medicated products... that didn't stop the flaking and made my hair all greasy.

Fast forward to 2012, and I receive the NEW Head & Shoulders "damage rescue"shampoo and conditioner to try. Figuring I've got nothing to lose, I give them a whirl... and I am completely impressed!

The Head & Shoulders Damage Rescue system was developed specifically to nurture scalp and dry/damaged hair with intensive care, leaving hair up to 10X Stronger in Just Four Washes. Because of the carefully balanced combination of ingredients in the formula, Damage Rescue delivers both, intensive hair and scalp care with the proven anti-dandruff efficacy of Head & Shoulders.

Gone is the weird smell I associated with Head & Shoulders, replaced by a rather pleasant fragrance. My hair looked shinier and nicer than it has in ages; I got a bunch of complements that afternoon and the next day! Most importantly, it works!

I've been able to toss away the medicated formula - which I never liked because it contains steroids and isn't covered by my insurance - and I can just use this set every couple of days. Head & Shoulders Damage Rescue gets two thumbs up from me!

For a Happy Face

I love, love, love getting free samples! I judge companies based on the presentation (please don't just send me a sample in a cheap envelope; that looks unprofessional) and the content (you know what's cool? Including a coupon) of the freebies they send out to their current/potential customers.

A packet of samples arrived from Mario Badescu today, and I have to say that they passed with flying colors! I had filled out the MB questionnaire - not even that long ago! - on my skin type and issues, and the company sent me a bunch of recommended products for my skin type. The set even came with a list of every item and detailed instructions for use.

At first glance, the samples seemed awfully tiny. I remember thinking, "how is there even enough here for me to try everything once??" Now that I've used them, though, I see that there's actually enough for me to try each sample for about a week! How cool is that?

Roommate S and I decided to do our skin care routine together tonight so we could sit around and sip wine in our face masks. Here is my Mario Badsecu routine:

The Enzyme Cleaning Gel, which was nice and light and made my skin feel very clean.

The Cucumber Cleansing Lotion, which didn't sting like I expect most astringents to.

Followed by a 20-minute wine break for the Drying Mask to set. The mask smelled really strange, but my skin looked amazing when I rinsed it off!

Finally, I wrapped up by applying the Hyaluronic Eye Cream, which I was pleased to note you need very little of for one application.

Result: I like these products! My skin feels great, and my only real complains is the smell of the Drying Mask. I can't wait to do the morning routine they recommend tomorrow!

Adventures in Clean

I've been watching the London Olympics with the roommates all evening while I work, and we just saw an intriguing commercial for a new Disney movie called The Odd Life of Timothy Green. The movie, about a mother who takes off on "the ultimate adventure in clean," looks very cute, and Jennifer Garner (who I love) plays the mom!

The commercial reminded me about the Frigidaire campaign currently in progress, to help promote the movie - and help out Save the Children! If you visit the Frigidaire Facebook page you can learn more about how the Frigidaire Affinity front-load washer can help you spend more time with your family than in the laundry room, how to remove common summertime stains, and how to give a free $1 donation to Save the Children. 

Plus, the Adventures in Clean app lets you turn your own uploaded photo into a personalized movie posted, which I think is really cool. As a bonus, all participants are entered to win a new Frigidaire Affinity washer and dryer set!

I don't have kids, but even I would be pleased to upgrade our washer so I can spend mess time messing with it and more time enjoying the company of my roommates.

Frigidaire has the following information on their page:

Parents know that some of life's greatest moments start in the dirt. Fortunately, the new Frigidaire Affinity^© Front Load Washer delivers a better clean, so you can get the most out of life with your kids … and then get it out of their clothes.
Show us your favorite memory in the dirt to enter for a chance to win a signed movie poster of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” and a new laundry pair¹, every time you do Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children's US programs.

A Very Fancy Morning

Look at the cute little package that came in today!

Fancy Feast was running a promotion on their Facebook page a few weeks ago, and the freebie just came in this morning. One the one hand, it's a neat idea: a breakfast-themed snack for the cat, and a package of instant coffee for the human. On the other...well, it's a small step from being a crazy cat lady gift. I don't really know where I come down on this one, but the box is a great stroke of marketing, and I'm sure the coffee will come in handy when school starts next month!

50 Shades of Aaargh

I try so very hard not to judge a book without at least attempting to read it - which is why I've never trash-talked Twilight, although I will happily mock the movies I have seen, and this kind of bit me in the behind with 50 Shades of Grey. 

I'd been hearing a lot about it, from both ends of the spectrum: people (hilariously) trashing the novel online, and people declaring it the best piece of erotic fiction ever. Although I had an instinctive dislike of 50 Shades of Grey, I reserved judgment...until I saw a librarian writing about how nice it was that any book was getting his teenagers to spend more time reading. 

At that point, I couldn't resist the urge to examine 50 Shades more closely, so I ponied up for an ereader copy. The housemates fortunately joined me in what turned out to be an incredibly painful experience, and we spent the next five nights taking turns reading out loud and doing voices for all the characters.

Result: I have many, many problems with 50 Shades of Grey. The most superficial complaint is that the writing is shoddy. This book could have benefited greatly from a few good editors, particularly ones willing to point out that no one cares very much about the main character's "inner goddess." 

My other complains are much more bothersome, at least to me personally:

1. The relationship between Anastasia and Christian Grey is borderline abusive, yet never really identified as such.
2. People who choose to practice BDSM, either as a lifestyle or just in the bedroom, are portrayed as suffering from deep-seated personal issues.
3. I'm completely certain this writer has never, ever, done any of the sexual things mentioned in the book. There just isn't very much "erotic" in this fiction.

Of course, I feel that I should also give some space to people who don't hate the book quite as much as I do (which still making great points), such as the Bitch Magazine article Thinking Kink: Safewords:

Whatever else 50 Shades of Grey may have got wrong—and I know many of you feel that it got A LOT wrong!—the book does at least acknowledge the existence of safewords. Unlike other media representations of kink that I've already discussed here, 50 Shades reminds readers that in BDSM, “the Dominant may make demands of the Submissive that cannot be met without...harm” and therefore “the Submissive may make use of a Safeword.” The infamous contract that Christian Grey presents to Anastasia Steele also helpfully details the difference between "yellow" and "red" as safewords (the former tells the dominant the sub is close to their limits, the latter is a call for the dom to stop everything 

Upcoming Giveaway from Tropical Traditions!

I am so excited - I received a nice package from Tropical Traditions the other day! It contained a jar of cocoanut oil for myself and the roommates to experiment with, and a letter informing me that I've been approved to run a giveaway so another reader can try it out, too.

I am of course going to use the oil myself, so I can review it when I host the giveaway, but I'm completely jazzed to be able to put up my first giveaway soon :)

Two of my friends (Gamer and The Cowboy) have told me cocoanut oil is great for popping popcorn. Considering that we're about to introduce one of the roomies to the Indiana Jones series, I'll have an occasion to try that out very soon...

SneakPeeq Necklace (not sponsored!)

After seeing it mentioned on a bunch of freebie sites, I signed up for Sneakpeeq just a few weeks ago. I'll admit that a large part of the draw was the chance to get a necklace for "free" (in actuality, there was a $1.00 shipping fee tacked on, which I don't see as a huge problem), but I actually had a lot of fun looking at the new items every day. A lot of them are, frankly, not my style - like the "sex canvases" that went on sale the other day, but many of the other products made me wish I had more free spending money!

The fact that you have to "peeq" to see a price, and can only check 20 prices per day, makes the site just a little more exciting. It's kind of nice to check and get a new badge, too. You'll randomly get free shipping, or $$ off, or any one of a bunch of other badges. My collection's sparse so far, but I'm working on it:

Anyway, I'm posting today because my $1 necklace finally arrived!

It's actually very nice. The ribbon looked slightly off when I put it on, but one of my roommates tied it into a tiny bow and that completely fixed the problem. Sneakpeeq sends you a random color and I was seriously hoping for the green pictured above, but instead I got the purple heart:

And, you know what? I'm not even disappointed. It's a lovely color and it probably would have been my second choice. I also thought it was cute of the company to send a little extra with my package - I got a white-stone costume jewelry ring as an added bonus!

I'll try and get a photo of my necklace with the bow up soon :)

Magic Mike?

So, has anyone out there seen Magic Mike yet? I didn't even know this movie existed until last week. I invited a friend out for karaoke (which. was. amazing.), and she made some comment about compromising her self-respect to go see Magic Mike. I wasn't sure if she was joking, so of course, I went to look it up.

On the one hand, the IMDB description doesn't really grab me:

A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money.

On the other, this article has a few interesting comments to make, that alleviate some of my fears:

It isn't a romance. Promos for this film make it seem like a rom-com with some butt action, but at its heartMagic Mike is about students and teachers. The primary relationship in the film is between Mike and his protege "The Kid" (Alex Pettyfer), and I'd argue that the secondary relationship is between Mike and Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). Romantic relationships come in at a distant third, or maybe even fourth after the camaraderie among the Xquisite male strippers. Overall, the centrality of the mentor/mentee dynamic makes this more of aKarate Kid or a Training Day than a gender-swapped version of Pretty Woman. Who knew?

So, has anyone seen it so they can let me know what they think?

Rain, Rain

I love the rain, but driving home from class is *not* supposed to be a near-death experience. 

Thankfully I'm all home and warm now, and only have to go as far as the Italian restaurant up the street tomorrow afternoon.

I also restarted The Science of Sherlock Holmes this evening. It's a fascinating book!

Blessing and a Curse

I have a hard time with suspense - it's one of the reasons (among others) that I prefer comedies to dramas.

With books, because I tend towards mysteries, it means that I'll try my very hardest to finish a novel within a few days. Which is great news in regards to the gigantic stack of books I brought home from Bouchercon and really want to get into.

The problem is that I finished TKO so early in the day, I felt the need to pick up another book this evening. I went with the "Kilborn" novel because the two authors were on a panel together...

...yeah, bad idea. I read the humorous novel in full sunshine on a crowded plane, and now that I'm halfway through the terrifying horror story it's almost midnight and everyone else has gone to bed.

Fantastic plan.

A Risky Venture

Good: playing Risk 2210 with friends you haven't seen in a while.

Better: playing Risk 2210 with friends you haven't seen in a while, for three hours.

Best: Wiping out the two male players and then, just to tick them off, declaring a truce with the other female player instead of fighting it out to the bitter end.

This completely makes up for the last time I played regular Risk with just the boys, and the game dragged on forever. After three hours I was craving a glass of wine, my female roommates, and maybe a surprise gust of wind to knock the table over.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Last night E and I went to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams at a new theatre in Austin. 

If you haven't heard about the film yet, here's the rundown: Werner Herzog was given permission to film in the Chauvet Cave, which was (re)discovered in 1994 and contains cave paintings which are mind-boggilingly old. (You canexplore the cave online here.) Herzog combined this footage with interviews and some truly stunning aerial footage of the area to create the movie. The Cave of Forgotten Dreams trailer gives you a bit of a feel for what to expect.

Inevitably while watching the movie, I found myself making a pros/cons list. I think one of my first reactions after leaving the theatre was, "that film didn't need Herzog as director." But, on reflection, maybe it did - France is very selective about who gets to enter the cave, so it is possible that a director with a less impressive resume would have been rejected. On the other hand, Cave of Forgotten Dreams sees Herzog being especially... Herzog-y.

Elements I Liked

1. The cave paintings. This is the oldest recording of human art modern humans have been able to find, and they've been preserved so well precisely because they're in a particularly inaccessible location. Most of us will probably never be able to visit, so I was pleased with how much screen time is given to the paintings.
2. The interviews. There are a lot of absolute characters associated with the cave, from a circus performer-turned-archaeologist and an "experimental archaeologist" who is a riot, to a master perfumer. Someone needs to make a film about these people, honestly.*

Elements I Disliked

1. Herzog being self-indulgent. The crowd in the theatre had paid $11 apiece to see a movie about cave paintings; I'm assuming that all of us were genuinely interested in the material. That still wasn't enough for there not to be giggles here and there when Herzog waxed poetic about the doppelgangers of albino alligators or tried to lead the interviews down his own paths.
2. The score. Oh, God, the score. For the most part it was just annoying, but in one or two places the reverb was physically painful. I will only every watch this film again if the soundtrack is redone.

All in all, worth the ticket price, absolutely. And, I have no idea why only one theatre in the city is playing this in 3D; this movie is exactly what 3D was invented for.

*yes, my movie critic friend and I talked this weekend about how Herzog invents characters sometimes... and at the moment apparently it's unclear which of the interviewees are "real". Personally, the master perfumer is really the only one that strikes me as probably not an actual person.

What I'll Tell Future Children

I got a text today:

Was it you or me that used to freelance writing horoscopes?

Which brought back so many memories. You see, for a while as an undergrad I was reduced to taking freelance writing assignments off a vaguely-disreputable website. I'm talking, like, people bidding to accept the least amount of money for the most amount of work - it was not a pretty part of the internet.

One of the bids I actually got from this site was:

To write horoscopes.

To write six months' worth of horoscopes for all the Zodiac signs.

To write six months' worth of horoscopes for all the Zodiac signs, in five days.

To write six months' worth of horoscopes for all the Zodiac signs, in five days, for something like 40 measly dollars.

I started on day two of five by carefully researching the strengths, weaknesses, and personality types of each sign and crafting horoscopes that spoke to these characteristics. It was all very slowly and painstakingly done. By the home stretch, it was 5am and I was alternating a few hours' sleep with a few hours' writing as my then-boyfriend helped during my breaks.

It was nerve-wracking doing so much work on such a tight deadline. 30 days x 6 months x 12 signs = 2160 unique horoscopes x a minute or two to write each = 36 hours or so. I just did the math now because at the time I couldn't bear to. And I would like to never do it again.

On the up side, in the short term I learned a lot about freelancing; in the long term, it makes a really funny story to tell at parties.

"In my day we wrote horoscopes SIXITY months ahead of time, we had to say SIXITY cause George Bush had taken away all our civil liberties and the number six"

Happiness

Today's challenge over at https://challenge.meyouhealth.com/ is to list three things that made you happy as a child. I chose the first three that came to mind:

1. Family game night, particularly when everyone would agree to play Huggermugger - which they dislike and I enjoy. 
2. Weekend television, like Wishbone, M*A*S*H, and Hogan's Heroes. 
3. Those make-a-wax-animal-model machines they used to have at zoos.

American Gods - Twitter Q&A

(reposting an oldie from a friend's blog):

American Gods - Twitter Q&A

One of the (many) things I enjoy about Twitter is the way in which it occasionally removes the barriers between the author and the audience. Case in point, Neil Gaiman spent an hour today answering questions about his novelAmerican Gods on the @SFXmagazine Twitter account.

I missed most of the fun while out getting new glasses, so here is my attempt to read just the questions that got answered. And rebut (or support?) all my family members who think Twitter is a silly waste of time.

In reverse chronological order, and I paired questions + answers:

@neilhimself Thanks, Neil! A truly valiant effort. Much bravery under tweet-fire!

Damn it, Gaiman managed to wriggle out of the leg manacles. I knew we should have fixed them tighter.

And this is @neilhimself signing out. Thank you @sfxmagazine for the platform. Thank you Headline Books for setting it up. Hail & Farewell. 

That's all I have time for. What a fine deluge of questions. Sorry if yours wasn't answered. It was like grabbing snowflakes in a blizzard. 

@SFXmagazine @neilhimself #americangods What is going to happen to all of the questions you did not get to?@sprunka I think they will float around the universe, and be answered by time, or never. #americangods

@sfxmagazine Does the Morrigan roam the America of #AmericanGods? Can a god hitch-hike on superstition or is active belief required? Thanks!@cathyby If someone once believed, that's enough. One person's superstition is another person's worship, after all. #AmericanGods 

@SFXMagazine Would Shadow and Fat Charlie get along? #americangods@antonomasia09 I think Fat Charlie would be scared of Shadow. What Shadow would think of Fat Charlie only Shadow knows. #americangods

Outline? or just pull from the aether once you have gathered the experiences and info that open you to the story? #americangods@PolytropicProds Every now and again I'd write an outline for what I had to do next, but it was like walking through fog #americangods

@SFXmagazine being an indian I can say that #americangods is v well researched. But were youu nervous about gettin things wrong?@Hardigirl The things I'd get most wrong were things that people would tell me about places that they had misremembered #americangods@Hardigirl I was terrified about getting things wrong, yes. And I did get a few things very wrong, when research failed. #americangods

@SFXmagazine So how's the latest incarnation of the Technological Kid holding up? I imagine he's matured a bit. #americangods@justplainrii I think he has. But he's still looking over his shoulder.#americangods
@SFXmagazine Of course, I mean nicely organized questions and answers. would like to be able to reread and ponder at leisure. #americangods@whooshing I hope someone can organise all the questions and answers -- it's a bit of a flurry... #americangods 

@SFXmagazine How much of Shadow is you and how much of you is Shadow?#americangods@halcyonhalcyoff "He's me, but I am not him." But then, that's true of everyone in the book, good & bad, male & female. #americangods

#americangods what was working with terry pratchett like when writing good omens?@admiralross2400 That is absolutely not an #americangods question.#deceptivehashtagfail 

@SFXmagazine #AmericanGods I'd love to see Shadow meet The Endless. Any possibility, or have you left them in the past?@pdav21 For copyright reasons, I do not believe that could ever happen. But I suppose it's possible (Superman met Spider-Man) #AmericanGods 

@sfxmagazine #americangods how much did Julian of Norwich's visions influence your writing?@dpknowles I don't know. But she was definitely in the mix. #americangods

Eight Minutes to go! MUST TYPE FASTER 

#americangods Are you ever embarrassed about what you did to(for) The House on the Rock? :)@Aluhdeen It makes the House on the Rock people happy, and it brings people who love the place there, so no. Not even a bit. #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Did you actually visit the attractions you talk about in the book, or did you learn about them through research? #americangods@czeagler I visited them. Some I knew before I wrote the book, some I bumped into while writing it. #americangods

@SFXmagazine If you were choosing a band or musician to create a soundtrack for the book, who would you choose? #americangods@wonderwoman1100 I wrote it to a soundtrack of Greg Brown, & The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs #americangods 

Hi, Neil, dear. @SFXmagazine Curious what's your favorite Art inspired by#AmericanGods (song, statue, painting)? @GodTheMother Dear Godthemother, the HOUSE ON THE ROCK costume contest put a smile on my face that still hasn't faded yet. #AmericanGods 

Where do you the see the deities of the major, modern faiths fitting into the world of #americangods? @neilhimself@AdamLanceGarcia In much the same way that important politicians & movie stars fit into a story about poor grifters #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Dear Mr Gaiman, when you wrote #americangods WHAT WERE YOU DRINKING?! Fantastic book, but I felt a little dazed upon finishing.@TheIdleLaureate For the first third of #americangods, I was drinking Tori Amos's fine red wine. After that I had to drive home from writing 

@SFXmagazine Why do you think people either really hate or really love#americangods with few ho-hummers in-between?@TehGoob And I am fascinated that people who hate #americangods are often very clear on how they would want that story told differently. 
@TehGoob I don't know. It took me by surprise. I do not know why#americangods is so divisive, although it may be a good thing.

@SFXmagazine did you ever have plans to flesh out Shadow's character further before writing Anansi Boys? #americangods@StrangeBum My vague plan was to write another 2 or 3 Shadow stories like MONARCH OF THE GLEN & then the next #americangods novel. We'll see

@SFXmagazine Who was your favourite person/god/other to write in the book? #americangods@ClaireyMil my LEAST favourite person to write was Shadow, as he doesn't let you inside his head, which is hard for an author. #americangods

@SFXmagazine Who was your favourite person/god/other to write in the book? #americangods@ClaireyMil I loved writing Sam. Loved all the Zorya - they felt like relatives. Mr Ibis, Bast, Easter, Whisky Jack. #americangods

Why can't we find #americangods in brazil anymore? :(@MariaLuiza_M I think #americangods has been out of print in Brazil for a while now, but that should change very soon. 

@sfxmagazine did you travel the us while writing #americangods? including chattanooga (i'm from there)@madasahattress I did. I bought a 2nd hand Camry and I drove, and what I saw went into the book. #americangods 

@SFXmagazine why did you decide to make it a novel rather than a comic book? #americangods@idesignwhatails I think an #americangods comic would be thousands of pages long. Writing a book it took 2 years of my life, not 10.

@SFXmagazine just read Anansi Boys in about three days and loved it, but which story was the first you thought of, it or #Americangods ?@CircesIsland Anansi Boys came first, although it was written later. I borrowed Mr Nancy from it for #Americangods 

@SFXmagazine If the present Neil Gaiman had to write the novel, do you think he could do it? #americangods@Hardigirl The present Neil Gaiman would write a different novel, about a different time. But that's always true. #americangods

@SFXmagazine #americangods was the book difficult to sell to editors/agents?@mshamah No. The only trouble was it was too long originally, so I cut it a bit. Now the cut stuff has been restored. #americangods 

@SFXmagazine #americangods Were Norse gods always central, or did you contemplate centering it on other characters/mythoses (sp?)?@dxferris Norse Gods seemed central as there's something so dark & fatalistic about them. Other pantheons get happy endings. #americangods

@SFXmagazine who would win in a bar fight, Mad Sweeney or Czernobog?#americangods@DanSoloLives If Shadow could beat Mad Sweeney in a bar brawl then Czernobog could take him with ease. #americangods

@SFXmagazine What genre would you say the book belongs to?#americangods@Hardigirl What genre is #americangods? Hmm. Is "Big Strange Book About America With Cons, Magic Tricks, Sex & Gods in" actually a genre? 

@SFXmagazine How much time did you put into researching the different gods/mythologies? And who is your favorite/why? #americangods@ekuntzsch I put about 40 years into researching #americangods, although I could only read for about 35 of them. 

@SFXmagazine So can look forward to a new American Gods Book? & Will there be a follow up of Graveyard book linking in to it? #AmericanGods@Booky_Lillz I don't think so. The Graveyard Book Universe has its own agenda. #AmericanGods

@SFXmagazine What was the most surprising thing, that you discovered writing Shadow's journey #americangods@Enting That I needed to trust the book and not try and impose my own ideas of what ought to happen in it #americangods 

@SFXmagazine is there any character from any of your other works that you feel would feel right at home in the world of #americangods?@Snarglepip I think all of my books join up around the back. Perhaps they share a communal parking space. #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Do you pick up hitchhikers? If so, have you met any interesting characters? #americangods@MaryGaughan I always used to. I've not seen a hitchhiker in the US for about 10 years now. Still in the UK sometimes #americangods 

#americangods did you intend the book to read like a road trip?@gramophone23 Yes, very much so. #americangods is a Road Novel. partly because the endless road is something we don't have in the UK.

@SFXmagazine what part of you is contained in the character Shadow?#americangods"""@Sevywevy I'm in everybody there. But probably my distinct lack of amazement at strange things. #americangods 

I wish the #americangods hashtag had been shorter. I miss the extra characters. Oh well. Too late now. (Keeps typing like a mad thing.)

@SFXmagazine As an Englishman writing about America, did you ever feel like#americangods was something you weren't permitted to write?@gathcreator Very much so, yes. But nobody else was going to write it, if I didn't, so I buckled down and wrote. #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Why in the United States rather than England?#AmericanGods@merlintriss Because UK Gods is a very different book. MONARCH OF THE GLEN in Fragile Things gives a flavour of it. #AmericanGods

@SFXmagazine #americangods As a 1-time instructor of World Myth, I'd like to know if you'll ever publish a studyguide/key to the book's gods@DJStinky Possibly. I've been asked to write a Big Book Of Myth, and it may well happen. #americangods 

@neilhimself @SFXmagazine Are there any new #americangods since you wrote the book?@ianholmes I think Smartphones are rising through the ranks rapidly, as the god of telephone fades #americangods 

@SFXmagazine would you ever be tempted to write another Wednesday book?#americangods@idesignwhatails Yes #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Why is the choice in songs played in the diner where Shadow and Wednesday eat dinner together? Iko Iko etc. #americangods@justplainrii Pretty important, actually. All the song lyrics reflect on what's happening, especially if you spell sun SON #americangods

#americangods at what point in the creation & dissemination process did you realize American Gods was going to be as widely lauded as it is?@_PBJ_ Don't know.I wasn't surprised when it was nominated for awards, was amazed it won them, am still amazed it's in print #americangods

@SFXmagazine in your books, gods are real bc ppl believe in them. If that was true, you'd still be making up stories abt them? #americangods@AtmaSinnan No, I don't understand this one. #americangods 

what scenes from the book do you think would completely ruin a film adaption of #americangods if they were removed?@Maximumguido I think the most important thing is to try & keep the races of all the characters correct. #americangods

@SFXmagazine #americangods was the working title. Why did you decide to keep it as the final book title?@gathcreator Everybody liked it and I never came up with anything better. It's what normally happens with my book titles. #americangods 

@neilhimself Jesus doesn't appear in #americangods (he's considered aloof by other gods) but if he did, would there be multiple versions?@ianholmes Maybe, or maybe a consensus version with satellite versions...#americangods 

Did #AmericanGods narrative structure used sleight of hand because of Shadow's hobby or because it's effective to keep readers guessing?@thefoodgeek Both of those, and because it was what the book was all about. Now you see it, oops, look over there... #AmericanGods 

@SFXmagazine When can we expect the #americangods author's preferred text to come out?@MaggieMimsy June 21 in the US and around there for the UK anniversary ed. - although the UK has had the text for 5 years... #americangods 

@SFXmagazine #americangods What were Greek and Roman gods doing during the events of American Gods?@Amarien I couldn't justify putting them in. But since then I learned about this stash of Roman coins http://bit.ly/ddAcnv #americangods 

@SFXmagazine Was Mr.World really fully aware of Wednsday's plan or just another sacrificial god? Was the trickster tricked? #americangods@StrawberreField It was a two man con, and Mr World was half of it#americangods 

@SFXmagazine Were there any gods you wanted to use but couldn't find the space for in the novel? #americangods@kevinchiat Yes, many. I had a whole section in a Japanese Internment Camp in Kansas that never made it in. #americangods 

#americangods questions are flooding in (this is @Neilhimself) & I'm answering them as @replies so as not to clog everyone's twitter feed.

The one we won't get an answer to: Who is the Forgotten God? #Americangods
@Aulayan: I think I'll answer it in another American Gods book. But no, not here. Also, I think I've forgotten your question. #AmericanGods

Would you consider making American gods into a movie or TV serial?#americangods
@Jear1106 It's in the works right now. I should say no more at this time, but I do not think anyone will be disappointed. #americangods

@SFXmagazine Were there any gods you wanted to use but couldn't find the space for in the novel? #americangods
@kevinchiat Yes, many. I had a whole section in a Japanese Internment Camp in Kansas that never made it in. #americangods

*whew*