Metaoneiroblogging
v
- The act of writing a weblog post about a dream about a weblog post.
- Any act of blogging or dreaming more recursive than the situation described above.
We all know how much I like making up words. This one is among my favorites so far.
Last night, the Abigail dreamed that the famous and brilliant Diane Duane read yesterday's post about pets in fantastic fiction (which mentioned a character from one of her books) and posted to her livejournal about it. The best part is that the Abigail's dream is just barely plausible, since Diane Duane has been known to comment here, which implies that she has read me at least once.
Of course... Diane Duane might not still be reading me, since technically her comment was to chastise me for talking about one of her books without finishing it. This was one of the events that lead to my pledge to never again talk critically about books without reading them and the beginning of the Burning Humility Experience.
Is it wrong that despite being a grown up who has never met the woman in person, it would still thrill me beyond all belief for the Abigail's dream to come true? I remember reading the Young Wizards series when I was nine or ten (I think). I found the first book when the local library was renovating and thus temporarily moved to a basement storage room. The children's section was in a little side room with tiny windows high on the walls, where they were level with people's feet on the sidewalk outside. So You Want to be a Wizard had a green border and an image of the young wizards themselves dealing with a dragon.
I don't recall exactly how reading So You Want to be A Wizard impacted my life and creativity, or my desire to write and tell stories, but I can tell you this: the image of the lions outside the Central Library coming to life to fight evil remained with me for years. It still sends chills up my spine.
I'm honestly surprised at how intensely I want this author I've never met to think well of me. Here's to the power of fiction and the malleability of young minds, I suppose.
3 comments:
I also read So You Want to be a Wizard quite a few years ago as well. I was unaware there was an entire series that stemmed from the first book. That idea fills me with horror, the first book was bad enough.
So You Want to be a Wizard is good. It's fun and interesting, and the wizardry is more complex than the sort of thing you see in the Potterverse (I'm not knocking Harry Potter; I love those books too).
But as the series progresses, it moves from just fun, interesting, and complex to fascinating, powerful, and moving. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about some of the stuff that happens. There's emotional complexity and Big Decisions even early in the series, such as when...how do I not spoil this...Nita has to make her big decision regarding her role in the Song (there, that's vague). But later in the series? Oh, man. Good stuff.
And, going off on a slight tangent, it totally went *whoooosh!* over my head when I read the first few books in my early teens that Tom and Carl are a couple. I re-started the series a few years ago, beginning with re-reading the books I'd read to refresh my memory, and I was very amused. It's amazing what young readers don't even notice if they're not old enough or ready enough to get it.
@ AnonymousBlasphemy!
@ jeepersteepersI came for the sweet magical story of young magic stone lions. I stayed for the brilliant complexity.
I also love Tom and Carl. The Abigail and I have spent a long time together marvelling at the subtlety of it, and how kids miss it. And yet, it's there, and it helps. Social change through character development.
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