Star Struck

I don't get starstruck by "celebrities" -- I once saw Kristi Yamaguchi in an elevator and got her autograph (I was a figure skater as a kid) but was totally cool, and I saw somebody famous at Metro once and didn't even care enough to remember who it was, and I saw that guy from American Pie at a Baha Fresh in Cali. But I mean, they're just people, right? So no need to go all ga-ga for them. I am fully confident that if I met Brad Pitt, I'd ask how Angelina and the kids are and we'd have a nice little chat.

But AUTHORS? I mean, that's a whole different story. Because "celebrities," well, I can kindof do that. I mean, I act okay and with lots of money for coaching and primping and clothes and trainers and plastic surgery, I feel like I'd be comparable at LEAST to Jennifer Love Hewitt. And musicians? I mean, seriously, with sound editing you could make me sound like Brittney Spears or Barry White.

But AUTHORS? I know they have editors, and agents, and publishers, and book jacket designers (bring it Chip Kidd) but even with all of those it still amazes me what they can do... that they can create these whole worlds into which we enter... that they can turn words into a character we want to befriend (or behead)... that they can make our heart race or make us cry. It's amazing. I rarely cry at movies (damn you, Up) but books, even books I've read 10 times, will bring me to tears. From the moment Percy steps through the portrait hole in Book Seven, I vary in stages from weeping to sobbing (damn you, Fred).

So when amazing bf set up amazing trip to Ann Arbor Book Festival, I was uber star struck as I met T.A. Barron. I waited until everyone else had talked to him because I didn't want to talk to him in front of other people, and even then, I swear Andrew had to say something along the lines of, "Sir, my friend would like to meet you," as he pushed me up to Mr. Barron and I sheepishly extended my AABF poster for him to sign. I mean, the guy's an icon! A pillar of YA fantasy! And I TOTALLY met him. I might have touched him... not inappropriately or anything, but I'm sure our hands brushed when he signed my poster, or something... And now, in his honor, I'm reading The Great Tree of Avalon: The Child of the Dark Prophecy. I'm almost done, so review to come (sneak preview, it's good).

I have always loved books, but I've never wanted to write one. So it is with utter amazement and respect that I read them. And it's with that same amazement and respect that I look upon authors. If I ever meet J.K. Rowling you can fully expect I will be unable to function. I might even pee a little, but for a signed copy of HP 7, well, that's a risk I'm willing to take.