September 11th
It's hard to believe it happened two years ago already because that morning is so clear in my mind. I wish the determination I had back then to live every moment because it was all so fleeting and fragile had stuck, but unfortunately middle-aged human nature took over again and I started worrying about bullshit almost immediately. Anyway, everyone has their own memories of that morning two years ago so I'm going to move on.


Neil Gaiman--he's cute, smart, funny, seemingly down to earth, and hasn't yet said anything to crush this wonderful image for me. Although people think they don't like horror or fantasy, I wish everyone would try at least one of his books, even if it's one of the kids's books, and see if he changes your mind. Good Omens that he wrote with Terry Pratchett is one of the funniest things I've ever read, and American Gods was definitely not a let-down. Neverwhere is very cool. His site is www.neilgaiman.com and it's fun to look around even if you're not a fan. I'm going to copy what he said about the Bookcrossing thing in response to that other woman's nastier comments. I really, really love him.

***
"It's like the woman who mounted the campaign against second-hand bookstores some eyars ago, claiming they were depriving authors of income. (I googled to find out who she was, but couldn't find it, although I remember reading articles in USA Today and People and several other places at the time.) The Enemy (as it were) is not Bookcrossing.com, or second-hand bookshops. The enemy is the fact that most people don't buy books. Most people don't read for pleasure. It's like the teachers who proudly stop kids reading R.L. Stine or Enid Blyton or comics or whatever, proud that they've stopped them reading the Wrong Things, without noticing that they've also stopped them reading for pleasure... People lend each other books. That's a good thing. They recommend books to each other. That's how most people find authors they like, after all. Looking over at bookcrossing I can see at least 500 of my books floating around out there, some of them being posted all over the world, some of them being set free in interesting places. At some point, someone bought each and every one of those books. From here on out, the books are wandering around letting people know whether or not they like what I write..."