Soooo...

I went to a reading and Q&A with Audrey Niffenegger earlier this evening. I have yet to read her books (but I did get Her Fearful Symmetry), but was fascinated by her as a person. If you Wiki her (which I'm gonna bet you have at this point of reading my entry), you learn that she's a visual artist. Most of her works are graphic novels. The art is beautiful, especially in The Adventuress (which was being sold at the reading I went to). The stories sound awesome too, like The Night Bookmobile.

She read a chapter from Her Fearful Symmetry and already, I know she's a gripping storyteller.

But, that's not why I wrote this entry. It is what she said when asked about being a writer. She mentioned about not having many writer friends. J.G. Ballard was much like that too (he talks about this in his memoir). Not that I don't cherish the writer friends I have too, but when I stop and consider, I don't have many writer friends either. I do have friends with a wide variety of interests: jewelry-making, cooking, cartooning, reading, and so forth. Niffenegger talks about friends she has, quite a few being artists like herself. Still, even with her fame, she still doesn't have many writer friends. And I'm thinking, she seems to be doing fine. If she can roll with all this, then I can too. Having not as many writing friends doesn't make one less a writer anyway, which is what Niffenegger has helped me realize. I'm just glad to have the friends that I do have.

To them, I guess, I can be that writer friend. And the one who never shuts up about Talking Heads and Silent Hill.

And yes... I did get her autograph. What kind of writer/reader would I be if I didn't?

A sad time for the literary world...

As a budding writer, it only makes sense to take this time to acknowledge a few shining stars that have joined their predecessors in the heavens.

This month has seen the loss of:

J.D. Salinger, writer of The Catcher in the Rye.

Howard Zinn, author of The People's History of the United States.

Robert B. Parker, writer of the Spenser series.

Erich Segal, writer of Love Story.

R.I.P., gentlemen. Thank you for your contributions to the letters.

Stephen King rules

Here is the proof.

That is all.