Inheritance

So, I met Christopher Paolini the other night.

For those of you who have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, here's a brief synopsis: 

Mr. Paolini is the New York Times Bestselling author of the the famed Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the four novels Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. On November 8th, 2011, Inheritance was released, finally ending a four year wait for the final book in the series. The next day, Nieriel and I trekked into Philadelphia, as we do, to get our beloved novels signed by the writer himself, Christopher Paolini. 

This is him. Ain't he cute? 

Unlike our last book singing adventure, we were able to get seats in the auditorium of the library, ones that were very close to the stage, actually. *epic squee*

And this time, we heard stories. Not just ANY stories, dear readers, but stories that proved how hard it is to write a novel. Allow me to demonstrate. 

After a brief introduction, Mr. Paolini told us the story of how Eragon came to pass. For those who don't know, Eragon was first written and published when Paolini was 15 years old, right after he graduated from High School. According to the story, it began with a Viking Mead Hall. 

Christopher Paolini: "After I graduated, the only thing on my mind was how great it was to be out of school. That lasted for about two weeks. Then... I got bored. Really, really, really, really, really, really bored. How bored was I? Well, I'll tell you. I was so bored... that I dug a hole. And it wasn't just any hole, this hole was 8 feet deep and 8 feet wide, and I insulated it with hay bales, chopped down some dead trees from the river near my house, lined them along the inside, and covered the thing with an old satellite dish. How did I get into the hole, you ask? I dug a tunnel. And it became a Viking Mead Hall."

(Quite honestly, given the chance, I would have done the same thing. Except, y'know... I would have made it a gaming sanctuary of sorts. With snacks.)

He also mentioned the original name of our hero, Eragon.

CP: "Eragon was not originally named Eragon. I've actually never told anybody this, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but... Eragon's name was originally Kevin. *cringes*
And he met a unicorn." 

Needless to say, the audience kind of... well, spontaneously combusted with laughter. 

(Yes, it's possible. Someone ran out of the theatre on fire, and it was funny as hell. This is my story, so shut up.)

A brief Q&A followed, and I actually got to ask a question! :D  

Being a huge fan of Tolkien and his linguistics, I took it upon myself (while trying not to projectile vomit out of nervousness) to ask Paolini about his own language, The Ancient Language, and how he created it.


Me: "After reading your books, and really taking a look at the Ancient Language, I've noticed that it's really similar to Sindarin and Quenya, which are Tolkien's languages. Is language a passion of yours, like it was for Tolkien? You seem to feel very strongly about it."
CP: "My Ancient Language is based mostly on Old Norse, and Tolkien's, I believe, were based mostly on Finnish. There really isn't much of a difference between the two [Old Norse & Finnish], actually. *laughs* But, I wouldn't say language is a passion of mine, seeing as Tolkien dedicated his entire life to his work. I'd like to do something else with my writing. *laughs* I did enjoy creating the Ancient Language and using Dwarvish in my books, though. It was fun."

After the Q&A, we all migrated back upstairs to get our books signed.

What we so hopelessly forgot was that EVERY FUCKING PERSON IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA decided to attend this event, and the line to get stuff signed stretched all the out into the alley behind the library.
Thankfully, Nieriel's mom saved us a place in line, but we still had hour wait. (It actually didn't seem that long, though...)
(And I know you're probably reading this, Mrs. Mulreany, so thank you for your awesome spot-saving powers. *virtual hug*)


I'll skip to the exciting part, where I got my copy of Inheritance signed.

(He's actually signing Brisingr here, but IT STILL WORKS.)


It was almost as if it happened in slow-motion. I remember standing in line, and a woman taking my books and placing them on the table to be signed. My heart raced, like I was preparing myself to jump off a cliff. My hands started to almost tremble as the people in front of me moved on. I was repressing nervous giggles and excited squeals as I tapped my fingers against my thigh. 
He then called my name, a huge smile on his face as he said it. I made eye contact, briefly, but immediately looked away, almost as if I'd be turned to stone if my gaze lingered.
As he signed my book, our 'conversation' was as follows:

CP: "So, have you started the book so far?"
Me: "Oh, yes, I'm about ten chapters in, and so far, it's absolutely brilliant!"
CP: *laughs*  "Well, thank you, very much. Thanks for coming!"
Me: "Oh, it's no trouble...!"

Wow. I sounded like an idiot. *facepalm*

You have no idea how fucking excited I was when this was taken.
And, in case you care, it says Mein Teil on my hand. It mean's 'my part' in German, and it's also a song by Rammstein. Just in case you give a shit.

You probably don't.