Dateline: the depths of the pacific ocean
The clock is about to strike midnight and we have just boarded the Looking Glass submarine off the coast of San Diego and set our compass directive to ‘north’ after an exhilarating and edifying 5 days in booth 1717 at the comic con. Hopefully some of you reading this were able to visit our booth where Hatter M Institute members Col. Barlow, Boris Liebman and Colin J. MacLeod along with interstellar author Liz Cavalier and the renowned Mr. Beddor enjoyed the company of readers, true believers and those occasional lost souls simply in search of ‘something free’. As usual, madness and greed mixed with enlightenment and adventure as attendees swarmed the facility each searching according to their individual level of awareness. Searching could certainly be the theme of this event. There were those searching for free items to stuff into their voluminous empty bags which caused me to ponder the relationship between empty souls and empty bags. Does the biggest bag represent the souls most void of magic and wonder? Hmmmm. There were many discussions among the creators and artists who had come to San Diego to meet friends and fans and share their dreams as to what people were searching for. It seemed a critical mass was fast approaching where the scale of those who had brought their own creativity to share was tilting towards those who had now come only to consume. To all those reading this humble blog I would like to stress the importance of bringing your dreams and creativity to these events in the form of costumes, art and informed discussion because this is the true value of exchange and not merely the paper stamped with ink that is passed in damp, crumpled piles. But enough of my pontificating! As readers may recall Mr. Beddor went missing in April and we were unable to locate him until his subterranean map led us to booth 1717. It seems on the day he disappeared he had found himself face to face with the greatest riddle yet of the Looking Glass Wars series. The riddle of the Caterpillars! Requiring absolute privacy and peace in which to decipher the cache of silk strands sent to him from an anonymous source he had fled to a location in the Mojave Desert with nothing but his nearly finished manuscript for Book 3, a slide ruler and the mysterious silk strands. As to his success in solving the riddle I can only say that he was in magnificent spirits and full of good cheer for all who asked, “When is Book 3 coming out?” The answer: Fall 2009
Searchingly yours,
The LGW Librarian