When I received the incredible opportunity to meet Stephen King, I pondered for days beforehand about what to tell him, what I wanted to share with this man who had shared so much with me through his words.

And then I knew.

But If I were to get the words out in the moment, it had to be a just-us.

My husband went first. Then I stepped forward and King's eyes smiled into mine and held them. I leaned forward, the distance balanced between no one can overhear/this is special and I'm a crazy stalker who is going to bite off your nose. His eyes told me he understood. And then I told him.

I told him that "The Body", the novella that became Stand by Me, helped me, with every reread, with my delayed and complicated grief from my little brother's death. In the obvious ways at first, but, finally, as I aged--

through Chris, as he cried about wanting to go somewhere where no one knew him and start over (unable to shoulder my identity as the Older Bereaved Sister, wanting to drop it)

and as Chris, in the quoted scene below, tells Gordie that he is stuck in his grief, stuck thinking the wrong brother died, stuck in his anger, and that he has some writing to do.

King had looked down while I was explaining, to carefully sign my first edition of The Shining. When I got to that last specific bit, he finished, dropped the pen, and met my eyes again. His eyes were damp.

"I am so very glad," he said, "and so, so very grateful you were able to tell me."

We looked silently at each other for another moment. He slid me my book, and said, "What was his name?"

"Eric."

He nodded as a man does when he mentally puts something in his pocket. "Eric."

--

The movie came out when I was in high school, still in the middle of it, still trying to figure out the answer to the question about how many siblings I had. The truth--one but he died? Way to bum everyone out, Morticia. None? Betrayal. Just being tasked with that (tasking myself with it) ramped up the grief-anger. Perfect timing. This movie owns a piece of my heart, and I don't want it back.

Gordie: Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid waste of time.
Chris: That's your dad talking.
Gordie: Bullshit.
Chris: Bull true. I know how your dad feels about you. He doesn't give a shit about you. Denny was the one he cared about and don't try to tell me different. You're just a kid, Gordie.
Gordie: Oh, gee! Thanks, Dad.
Chris: Wish the hell I was your dad. You wouldn't be goin' around talkin' about takin' these stupid shop courses if I was. It's like God gave you something, man, all those stories you can make up. And He said, "This is what we got for ya, kid. Try not to lose it." Kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them. And if your parents are too fucked up to do it, then maybe I should.

--

Thank you, sweet, loving Naomi King, for sharing so much of your father with the rest of us weird motley fools and discontents. Please accept this story as a token of gratitude from one Constant Reader, who is a better and healthier person for it.

Impetus: http://wilwheaton.net/2011/03/though-i-hadnt-seen-him-in-over-twenty-years-i-knew-id-miss-him-forever/

Just got the hardcover of this one in anticipation of getting Stan Lee to autograph at this weekend's Fandomfest (http://fandomfest.com/).

Holy shit is it ever a gorgeous book.

And funny.  And interesting.  And, well just as Amazing Fantastic Incredible: as the title suggests.

This is one for the re-read where you'll just keep discovering more and more even though read it before.

The Stan Lee Experience page at Fandomfest website:  http://fandomfest.com/stan-lee-experience-2/ 

Well, in addition to celebrity ones like Stan Lee these authors are coming to Fandomfest (Louisville, KY) this weekend so sampling. See http://fandomfest.com/authors/  for details.

E.D.E. Bell's page on booklikes is http://booklikes.com/e-d-e-bell/author,4074224 .  "… a genre-bending fantasy saga that follows the adventures of Cor, a woman caught in a dying world that does not accept her, and Atesh, a dragon scientist who's been asked to violate his own ethics or put the lives of his family at risk. Follow their trials as they deal with a shattered world, mired in political upheaval, while they try to rediscover a lost magic. The Banished Craft begins the Shkode trilogy: a quirky and modern take on dragons and wizards, exploring themes of identity, prejudice, violence, compassion, and the ways we are all connected. "

Geoffrey Mandagora at http://booklikes.com/geoffrey-mandragora/author,3139523.  ""What you will be working on is underhanded, unfair, and damned un-English." 1887 The British Empire is in danger of collapse and teeters on the brink of war with the Kaiser Reich. Spies and saboteurs play at deadly games in the British shipyards as each side seeks naval superiority. Ian Rollins is collateral damage in their shadow war. The "accident" and his grievous injuries are about to bring his naval career to an ignominious end. But with the aid of a former Pinkerton detective, a clandestine agent for the Admiralty, a brace of Serbian savants, and one, mostly sober valet, he might survive. If he can master the skills necessary to command the world's first fully operational combat submarine, the HMS Holland Ram, and protect the secrets of the Thunderbolt. Historical Note. The Fenian Ram, fictionalized for this novel, does exist and is currently on display at the Paterson Museum in Paterson, NJ. "

J. Sherwood Weber at http://booklikes.com/j-sherwood-weber/author,635445.  "...a political intrigue that spirals into an action and adventure series as the final events unfold.  8,994 P.E. — The elven city of Elvorium has become corrupted to the core by politics. With his father dead and the Royal Schism at his back, Prince Hairem ascends the throne as king of the elven world on Sevrigel. Young and bold, Hairem is determined to undo the council’s power, but the brutal murders by an assassin loosed within the city threaten to undermine the king’s ambitions.  As corruption and death threaten to tear Elvorium apart from within, the warlord Saebellus threatens the city from without, laying siege to Sevrigel’s eastern capital. With the elven world crumbling around him, Hairem finds himself in a dangerous political balance between peace and all out war."

Stephen Zimmer at http://booklikes.com/stephen-zimmer/author,662886.  "The Exodus Gate, by Stephen Zimmer, is a modern fantasy novel that is the first release in the Rising Dawn Saga. The story unfolds around Benedict Darwin, host of a popular late night radio show that deals with the paranormal. Benedict comes into possession of a virtual reality simulator that turns out to be something far greater and more powerful than he ever expected. Meanwhile, supernatural powers from the depths of the Abyss and their human allies are working tirelessly to bring about a One World Government. They are also laboring to bridge the boundaries between time and space to bring back the Nephilim, the monstrous offspring of Fallen Avatars and humans that were destroyed in a Great Flood that occurred long ages ago. An epic tale of courage, hope, and adventure, with fantastical realms and exotic creatures."

Amy McCorkle at http://booklikes.com/amy-mccorkle/author,2382993 .  "Gemini Michaels doesn't believe in fairytales. Not the Disney kind anyway. More like Grimm's fairytales. Her father Jacob Michaels is a powerful man whose reach goes as high in government as his ambition allows. He got there by peddling in darkest of vices. Sexual slavery and prostitution…"

Ronald R. Van Stockum, Jr. at http://booklikes.com/ronald-r-van-stockum-jr/author,4993260 .  "…Set in Louisville, Kentucky in 1976, the writer recounts what-ifs with spectacular scenes in a rail yard, through hidden tunnels, and in old abandoned buildings. From the beginning when a visitor from another world pops up in a downtown Louisville ad agency, until the spectacular finale, Van Stockum gives us another unique and interesting journey in to the world of "What if?" …"

5. A book that makes me happy.

My personal copy of A Wrinkle in Time, because Madeleine L’Engle signed it for me.

I was about nine years old, and she came to speak at a local church. I met her afterwards, and she spent so much time with me as I held her hand and gushed and told her how her writing made me want to write, and how much I was like Meg, with a peculiar little brother…

She just smiled, and continued to hold my hand, and made me feel as if she’d come all that way just to meet me.

We each were instructed to leave one book to be signed simply with her name. I left A Wrinkle in Time, and my mom returned for it the next day. When she gave the church’s events coordinator my name, she recognized it, for it was strange, I was the only person to receive a special message.

My book is inscribed, "For Carla, tesser well. Love, Madeleine.”

30-day book challenge