Heroes and Peers, the Blurry Line
Jun. 11th, 2011 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kayqyToday I met James A. Owen, author of Here There Be Dragons, when he spoke at our local library. This wasn't the first time I'd heard him speak— I also saw him at Phoenix Comicon last summer. But that just made today even more exciting, for multiple reasons.
For one thing, even though he gave essentially the same inspiring life story speech, it was still uplifting to hear. (He has apparently now made this speech into a book/pdf, which you can find a link to on his website.) There were details I'd forgotten, a few things he added, and even the stuff I remembered was better the second time round, if only because I could think about it in more depth. Also, the small group made it so much more personable; the kid in the front row that lamented not winning the raffle for a signed copy and made grabby hands at the art Owen showed us was treated with the same interest as people with "real" questions, and went home with the posterboard dragon that Owen sketched as a reward for his persistence, rather than getting lost in the crowd.
Another exciting thing (always a winner): when I first heard his speech in Phoenix, I was stunned to hear him name a semi-obscure book on my bookshelf at home as a key turning point in his life. It's just mindboggling to think of a book I picked up at a thrift store on a whim as being the same book that changed someone's life. So after the panel at Phoenix, I went up and talked to him about it, and today I brought that book for him to sign for me. And as we talked, I mentioned Phoenix, and he remembered me. :D
And finally, to top the whole shebang off, in his speech he talked about how Wendy and Richard Pini of Elfquest fame inspired him as a teen to self-publish his own comics; he went to a convention to talk to them, and told them that he would be back next year as their peer. So when it was time for me to take my signed books and go, I said, "I better go work on my novel so I can come back as one of your peers." And he smiled and shook my hand, and I made it to the parking lot before I started bouncing: half-delighted that I had the nerve to say it, half-about to throw up thinking that now I have to follow through.
I'm telling ya, if this doesn't motivate me to get done, I'll......
......keep going until I find something that does.
Positive power, yeah. o/
For one thing, even though he gave essentially the same inspiring life story speech, it was still uplifting to hear. (He has apparently now made this speech into a book/pdf, which you can find a link to on his website.) There were details I'd forgotten, a few things he added, and even the stuff I remembered was better the second time round, if only because I could think about it in more depth. Also, the small group made it so much more personable; the kid in the front row that lamented not winning the raffle for a signed copy and made grabby hands at the art Owen showed us was treated with the same interest as people with "real" questions, and went home with the posterboard dragon that Owen sketched as a reward for his persistence, rather than getting lost in the crowd.
Another exciting thing (always a winner): when I first heard his speech in Phoenix, I was stunned to hear him name a semi-obscure book on my bookshelf at home as a key turning point in his life. It's just mindboggling to think of a book I picked up at a thrift store on a whim as being the same book that changed someone's life. So after the panel at Phoenix, I went up and talked to him about it, and today I brought that book for him to sign for me. And as we talked, I mentioned Phoenix, and he remembered me. :D
And finally, to top the whole shebang off, in his speech he talked about how Wendy and Richard Pini of Elfquest fame inspired him as a teen to self-publish his own comics; he went to a convention to talk to them, and told them that he would be back next year as their peer. So when it was time for me to take my signed books and go, I said, "I better go work on my novel so I can come back as one of your peers." And he smiled and shook my hand, and I made it to the parking lot before I started bouncing: half-delighted that I had the nerve to say it, half-about to throw up thinking that now I have to follow through.
I'm telling ya, if this doesn't motivate me to get done, I'll......
......keep going until I find something that does.
Positive power, yeah. o/
Ignore the icon! I have nothing else loaded.
Date: 2011-06-12 04:22 am (UTC)He really struck me as a great guy and an awesome person to look up to at Comic-Con. So glad to see that's true! And ZOMG--inspired by WENDY AND RICHARD PINI!!!!
Re: Ignore the icon! I have nothing else loaded.
Date: 2011-06-12 05:12 am (UTC)XD *bounces some more*