People in the World of Science Fiction and Fantasy and the Weird Reason I Want to Meet Them

Sorry, Y'all. My Brain is Leaking Again.

Something occurred to me this morning and now my brain won’t stop yelling at me. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily an unusual thing. The inside of my head is a scary place. This is known. Seriously, despite what many woman will tell you, my mind is not a thing to be played with. I might lose it. Some say I already have. It really just depends on who you talk to. I don’t really have an opinion on the matter. I think that’s for the best. Unless it’s not.

Anyway…

It occurred to me this morning that most people want to meet a famous person or two because they’re a fan or whatever. There’s nothing wrong with that. Conventions are filled with people who came to meet someone and be like “Hey there Mr. Author or Ms. Actor, I love your work! Can you sign this for me?” I’ve done it myself. It’s always a good time when you get to meet that person that you’ve admire for basically ever. This is a good thing.

But, let’s face it, even when you’re a fan of a given individual it’s not always just about gushing about how awesome they are. There are people out there that you want to meet because reasons, and no it’s not like that. I’m not implying anything sexual. Nor am I stating anything sexual. Just though I’d clear that up because I don’t want any of you playing pedant card. I know my readers too well.

But seriously, I’ve had the desire to meet and talk to certain people for awhile now, and it’s frequently because of reasons that aren’t the standard ones. I’ll give you an example:

I want to meet author Tom Knighton. Yes, he’s a great author and I love his work, but that’s not the point. I need to buy a drink for a Navy Corpsman because reasons and he’s a former Navy Corpsman. I don’t even know that the man drinks, but that’s largely irrelevant as long as he let’s me pay for it. If and when I get the chance to buy the man a drink I’ll tell him why.

Another person I’d like to meet is author Harry Turtledove. I’m currently working through a novel written in first person. I have a whole folder saved on Google docs with notes about stuff so I can keep it straight. Turtledove writes world-spanning epics with a Dramatis Personae at the end that frequently exceeds four trillion pages at the end (I may be exaggerating slightly, but they feel that long.) I just want to look the dude in his face like “HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT ALL STRAIGHT?!?!?!??!?!?!? I mean, he’s got to be a freaking genius or have his own personal version of the Dewey Decimal system to keep all of that straight, right?

Or sumfin’ anyway. I bet that guy has a better filing system than then library of Congress. I wanna know how it works. Not only that, but he published his first novel in 1979. I bet he took notes on paper. How did that work? Index cards in a Rolodex?

I want to meet actor Wil Wheaton because I want to ask him if he catches as much crap in real life as he takes online. I loved the Wesley character, but sometimes I think I’m the only one who did. I need to move that post over from the old site at some point, but I’m a fan. I just want to know if people are really as jerky in meatspace as they are when they’re tapping away on their phone or seated at their keyboard. I guess I could do that in an interview but I’m guessing that Jimbo’s is a bit small to attract a dude with that much star power. I mean, not only was he in ST:TNG, he was in The Guild and The Big Bang Theory as well. Dude has stronger geek credentials than I do. Oh well, a nerd can dream, right?

I want to meet author Sarah Hoyt just to see if I can get her to say “Moose and Squirrel.” She’ll probably kill me but at least I’ll die knowing that I tried.

I’d like to meet Levar Burton so I can thank him. When I was a wee little Jimbo, there were two men who read to me; my old man and Levar Burton on Reading Rainbow. A large part of why I do what I do. I love to read and I love to talk about reading. That all started with two dudes forty plus years ago. I feel a strong urge to shake Mr. Burton’s had at some point and tell him how he influenced my life. Oh, and his work as Geordi La Forge was pretty cool too.

Speaking of people who changed my life, I’d love a chance to meet Margaret Weis and/or Tracy Hickman. I’d like to tell them that it wasn’t until I read the Dragonlance Chronicles that I even realized that there was such a thing as a fantasy genre. I’d like to tell them how I’ve always wanted to write a character as fascinating as Raistlin Majere, a friend as true as Flint Fireforge and a goofball as big as Tasslehoff Burrfoot. I’d like a chance to thank one/both of them for their influence over me as both a reader and a writer. The fact that I’m posting a fantasy novel as my current Work in Progress and not Space Opera/Military Science Fiction or a mystery novel is because reading their work totally changed my focus. And if you’re a fantasy author whose work I have reviewed thank them. Without their influence, it probably wouldn’t have happened no matter how good your work was. They added the Fantasy to Jimbo’s Awesome Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews.

And of course, I’d like to meet DT Read at some point. We’ll be collaborating on a book at some point in the not too distant future and it would be cool to get a chance to hash things out in person.

That’s not a complete list but I need to wrap this up at some point. I’d like to hear what you think though. Who would you like to meet and talk to about something other than just being a fan and/or getting an autograph. Let me know in the comments.