I had dinner with George R.R. Martin on Tuesday — he’d just arrived in Chicago for a Chicago Public Library event where he was guest of honor. Delightful evening; it was nice to have a chance to talk with just George and his assistant Sid for a few hours. We talked Wild Cards a bit, of course, but mostly talked about how hard it is for both he and I to resist all the interesting ideas and neat projects that come our way, and how much work it is to *not* work constantly, but simply rest and take time to think through our own writing (and lives).
We had dinner in Greektown, and I have to give props to the staff at Athena restaurant, who clearly recognized him, and just as clearly behaved completely professionally, letting him have a relaxed dinner. Chicago is more chill than some other places — in both New York and London, Sid says they get seriously harassed by paparazzi and selfie-seekers, with people physically shoving her out of the way, trying to get to George. Not cool, folks.
Many funny moments, but one of the most amusing was when he was trying to count up how many people work for him at this point. Even leaving aside the entire staff of the movie theatre he owns, I think he’s up to 7 full-time assistants now. I am feeling slightly more justified in my part-time and contractor people. (see next post).
Be like George? Not a bad career model in a lot of ways.
I may not start killing off my characters at quite the same rate, though!