The Time Traveler’s Scribe
This past Thursday night, Eddie and I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Audrey Niffenegger, visual artist and author of the best-selling novel The Time Traveler’s Wife. Ms. Niffenegger gave a reading from her new book, Her Fearful Symmetry, opened the floor to questions and answers from the audience of about 100, and followed the lecture with a book signing for those in attendance.
We settled into our seats with five minutes to spare, excited to hear what such a celebrated author has to say about her life and work, and to have the chance to meet her in person. We were not disappointed.
Audrey Niffenegger took the stage quietly and immediately thanked us all for attending, relating her “standard-issue anxiety” of showing up to a lecture and finding that no one has chosen to attend. This drew a chuckle from the crowd of devotees, and broke the ice nicely before she treated all to a chapter of Symmetry titled “The History of her Ghost,” in which Elspeth Noblin becomes accustomed to her non-corporeal form as she involuntarily haunts her former London flat after a death from cancer at age 44. I found it an interesting juxtaposition of theme that in Time Traveler, Niffenegger’s main character is forever disappearing involuntarily, where in Symmetry, Elspeth is held fast to her familiar surroundings by unknown spiritual barriers.
The question and answer session proved to be interesting not just for the answers Ms. Niffenegger provided, but the content of the questions themselves. The very first question actually had nothing to do with writing. A gentleman in the front row asked, “Do you lucid dream?” Ms. Niffenegger confessed that she had never experienced lucid dreaming, but felt that it was an interesting phenomenon. This warmed up the rest of the crowd of course, and hands started appearing from the audience. Throughout the Q&A, the author was a gracious host, drawing out the more tentative hands raised in the audience, devoting and genuine attention to each question and questioner, and candidly talking about her writing process. “How do you structure the time you write?” asked one participant, earning a self-deprecating giggle from Niffenegger. “Well, there are people who do it properly, like a job,” She said, “I am not one of them.” “I’m a bit of a chaos kitty.” the author admitted, saying she has no set time to write, and sometimes finds it hard to get started, but (much like other authors who have admitted similar habits) says “Once I’m in my chair I’m okay.” She did say one helpful structure for productivity was having a writing partner. They meet in a café once a week to write and eat until they physically can’t eat any more.
Given the very recent release of the movie adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife, a common subject of interest was the author’s views on the outcome of the adaptation. I had read before the lecture that Audrey Niffenegger refrained from seeing the completed film version, from a desire to “let go” of the experience of seeing her work interpreted by others, in a different medium. As she explained, while writing a novel is in some ways “writing instructions” for the story, she had a different version in her head than any filmmaker could ever produce. Many echoed their approval of this sentiment. Henry and Clare are different for everyone, based on the theatre of one’s mind.
What fascinated me most about the evening was how incredibly normal Audrey Niffenegger was. A gracious host, funny and candid, making sure that any raised hand got a chance at the microphone, so to speak. I got the same feeling from my recent lecture with Dr. Drew Pinskey, but remember Dr. Drew has made a career and name for himself listening to people ask increasingly bizarre questions. Niffenegger was an artist and teacher long before she ever became a national name. Seemingly, she is unchanged and largely unaffected by this massive shift in her fan base.
After the show, the author took the time to sign a few copies of her recently released Her Fearful Symmetry, and again I was struck by the fact that she took a few minutes to get to know each person who came through the line, genuinely delighted to meet this group of strangers who have followed her rise so closely. Picking up on a trick I learned at Dr. Drew, I had my name on a slip of paper bookmarking the page. This makes it easy to get from one person to the next.
“Oh, I like your name!” she commented. “I’ve developed an eye for unusual spellings. That’s unique… very elegant.” I joked that it was my blessing and my curse, because while I get a lot of compliments on it, no one can ever spell it. I was a little starstruck, and forgot to tell her she could borrow it the next time she was looking for a placeholder. You never know, my obscure spelling might yet make it into a future New York Times Best Seller (hell, even if I don’t make it on the list as an author, finding it somewhere between a binding would be equally as gratifying.)
Ed made the gutsier move of bringing his Kindle to be signed. “I don’t know how you feel about these things, but would you sign my Kindle?” Ms. Niffenegger got such a kick out of this! “Hmm… Now how is this going to work? She pondered, looking at her ball-point pen. Ed was ready with a Sharpie “I came prepared!” He laughed. She was thrilled to be the inaugural ink on the device. “I’m the first! I’ll sign it right under the Amazon.” And there you have it. Audrey Niffenegger endorses the use of electronic media. Her assistant seemed equally amused by the unusual signing. I can’t really say how the Barnes and Noble rep felt about it, he stayed out of the way. I’m sure he felt better that husband and wife had at least one dead tree between them. I panicked at the last moment and bought it in hardcover, remembering the failing wi-fi service of Ed’s Kindle. To hell with sending a device loaded with signatures back to Amazon for replacement, never to be seen again. We have a back-up in paper and ink!
The whole evening was really nice, and it was fascinating as always to see how a writer so advanced in their career discusses the art form, as well as handles the influx of adoration. I hope that if fortune knocks on my door some day, I’ll be as thoroughly cool about it as Audrey Niffenegger.
My Signed Copy of "Her Fearful Symmetry"
One Response to “The Time Traveler’s Scribe”
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Hello Belynda – I’m a British author and a fellow member of Bookblogs, and I wanted to invite you (and your readers) to participate in my Blogsplash – there’s more information at http://www.fionarobyn.com/thawblogsplash.htm. Thanks for listening!