The movie Hombre is one of my favourite Westerns. It was recommended to me by a tutor on my scriptwriting degree course (as inspiration for the Western I was writing as part of my finale project).
The movie is based upon a novel by the late and lauded Elmore Leonard.
The other day, randomly, I picked up my copy of Hombre and read the first chapter. This got me wondering what stories were included in the chunky hardback, The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard, which I'd purchased last year.
The book flopped open to a title page I hadn't seen before... revealing that it was signed by Leonard himself.
The movie is based upon a novel by the late and lauded Elmore Leonard.
The other day, randomly, I picked up my copy of Hombre and read the first chapter. This got me wondering what stories were included in the chunky hardback, The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard, which I'd purchased last year.
The book flopped open to a title page I hadn't seen before... revealing that it was signed by Leonard himself.
This made me grin like a loon, as I'm a sucker for such dedications in books. Remember my excitement when I found the signed book in a sale at our local second hand book store.
Being a homebody generally, it's very unlikely that I'll get to pose for selfies with my favourite authors, actors etc
So I prefer "signed items" instead. I have a collection of signed Philip Reeve books (my favourite author) and head shots of stars of Classic era Doctor Who - from Carole Ann Ford and William Russell to Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy. These latter pictures are proudly framed and displayed on the office wall, while my Philip Reeve library has its own shelf in one of the lounge cupboards.
Back in February, I acquired from an online store (not Amazon) a limited edition (#365 of 750), first edition (with red page edges) of Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone (which was signed by the author).
I was most delighted by this, and then when I shared it on BlueSky, Gail herself replied, hoping I'd enjoy the book.
I was most delighted by this, and then when I shared it on BlueSky, Gail herself replied, hoping I'd enjoy the book.
The other week, a postcard winged its way across The Atlantic, signed by Dungeons & Dragons YouTube "influencer" Ginny Di.
This was a reward for supporting her Patreon (which I've been a member of since 2020).
It wasn't just Ginny's signature - and the details of an enchanted weapon to be used in a RPG - that made this magical though. It was the fact that a postcard had managed to find its way over here to the UK without getting mangled or lost.
A signature is a sign of caring (I know many things get signed in a production line-like setting, but the fact is the creator is still doing it).
I may spend 90 per cent of my life within the four walls of our house, but receiving a signed item from someone whose work I admire (even it's purely by chance, such as the Elmore Leonard book) is a connection.
At one end of the process, the artist has signed their work and at the other end I get to hold it in my hands and appreciate the time spent both creating their art and signing my book, picture, postcard etc
