We arrived at Changing Hands a few minutes before the event was scheduled to start. Joe Hill was in town to read from his new release The Fireman. I’m at the register watching my girlfriend pick up the book when she turns to me with a smile and directs me to turn around. The man hunched over behind me looks like an almost young Stephen King. He’s wrapped up in the local swag, picking out tee shirts, books marks, and all things Changing Hands. He is Joe Hill.
The writer hung out a bit longer, looking around the store and just being a shopper and fan of books and bookstores. Finally he looked up and said to a store employee, “Do I need to go on right now?” A moment later the man walked in front of a crowd to raucous applause.
It was those moments before he ‘went on’ that I found the most inspiring. For Hill, it is still a ride he is on, and he is still full of wonder. That is the part I want to hold on most of all as a writer. I want to stay full of wonder. I want to be about the journey and the fans and the stories that come from my stories and the fun and experiences. I want to love the writing and be surprised at what stories spill forth.
I still want to write.
Some Thoughts:
- There are two realities of work: That of those who don’t take work home with them and that of those who do. I live in the second reality and recognize that those in the first can really separate from work and as such fail to understand why one would be thinking about or God forbid doing work once off the clock.
- Microsoft 10: Skynet Edition
- How do they make soda look so damn appealing on TV? I want a sprite. I hate Sprite.
- Why doesn’t the right to bear arms apply to high explosives and portable nukes?