October 20, 2014

Post TX

So TX Teen Book thing was good. Mostly hung out with the core “team” of music-y YA writers from that previous Anderson’s conference (Len Vlahos, Kevin Emerson, Joelle Charbonneau) but also kind of “bonded” over shared friends and music, past and present, with Gayle Forman, and Led Zeppelin with James Dashner (“mark my words: rock and roll is gonna make a comeback”). Also Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfield, Ransom Riggs, Jason Reynolds, the indefatigable Sarah Petre (a/k/a Posh Deluxe of FYA), and lotsa others too of course.

One thing you can’t complain about concerning the YA world: pretty much everyone you meet is really friendly, nice, pleasant to be around…. I can’t think of another “world” where that is so much the case. Anyway niceness makes everything easier, including lit conferences, even when you know you have to go back to the real world.

Thanks for all the everything folks. I hope all your books sell millions and millions if they haven’t already.

My panel was called “Come on Feel the Noise”, so, with that quick mind I am known for, I decided to play “Cum on Feel the Noize” for my sound check. This did not register or compute, from what I could tell, to nearly 100% of those in the room, which is not super surprising. This is the world we live in, a world where a panel called “Come on Feel the Noise” is presented for people who are completely unaware of “Cum on Feel the Noize.”

But it is also a world where a nine-year-old girl, say, can come up to you and say, in reference to your AC/DC shirt: “I love your shirt. That’s my favorite classic rock band.” This happened several times this weekend.

The moral of the story is, things are good but we need more Slade education in our public schools.

Posted by Dr. Frank at October 20, 2014 06:40 PM