I Have A Name To Drop, And I'm Going To Drop It

I read somewhere recently that Suzanne Collins is somewhat reclusive. That made me recall that I've actually met her. Suzanne Collins doesn't do a lot of media events, but I've met her! And I don't mean that I just sat in the audience while she was speaking at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair back in 2005 about her first series, about Gregor the Overlander. I bought a book, and she signed it for me, and we talked about my favorite character, which is, of course, the anti-hero, Ripred. At that time, Collins had little rubber stamps for some of her animal characters. This was a very nice marketing touch. One she sure doesn't have to worry about now.

Some Serious Fan Fiction Talk

The Boy Who Lived Forever in Time. I wish I'd known about Bible fan fiction back when I was teaching Sunday school.

Thanks to A Chair, a Fireplace & A Tea Cozy for the link.

Fanfiction And Literary Mash-ups

Liz Burns from A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy is the co-author (with Carlie Weber) of When Harry Met Bella, in this month's School Library Journal. They discuss writing fanfiction and using it with student writers.

At one point, they talk about the difference between fanfiction and works like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Wouldn't you know it, just yesterday I read an interesting post at Storytellersunplugged called Pride and Prejudice and Bitching and Moaning on those types of books, too. The author, Richard Dansky, says such works, which he calls "literary mash-ups," have received some of the same criticism Liz and Carlie write about when describing fanfiction.

Training Report: Well, today I went to one of those strange, crowded pharmacies that sell equipment rather than drugs to purchase a cam walker boot for a family member. Sure hope I can use that in a book because otherwise today was pretty much a bust workwise.

I might be able to use the pharmacy.

Like San Francisco In The Sixties But...Ah...Different?

Yesterday I went to a wedding. Who cares, you might ask? Well, at the reception I sat next to a fascinating woman who entertained us with stories about her past, which was spent racing sports cars, dating Hell's Angels, reading Faulkner, and attending a rock concert at which someone was killed. She totally missed the killing because she was off doing something with a hot air balloon. Somewhere along the line, she squeezed in some time in San Francisco.

I thought of her this morning while reading Potterpalooza at Salon. One young woman attending a Harry Potter Convention in New Orleans is quoted as saying, "Being alive as the story is being delivered to us is magic," Anelli concluded. "I like that I will always look back on this and be able to say, 'I was there. And you know what? It rocked.'"

Forty years from now, will people be sitting at wedding receptions talking about how they were in New Orleans for Phoenix Rising in '07? Or Lumos 2006?