"'Is it always like this?' the staffer sitting at my table inquires. 'Nope. Sometimes it's really weird.'" This is why my wife and I made sure to get your autograph at Dragon*Con. Even if you're not thrilled with how you wrote back then (I'm a composer, and when I hear the music I wrote at 29 versus what I'm writing now at just-shy-of-39), there are those flashes of what will be your fully-developed writing style. Don't stop writing. Ever. WF

Wil: Glad to have met you on Friday. Thanks for signing Just a Geek for me and the missus, and for the "SOLID" salute. If you end up in a bar while here at some point, we'll buy you a beverage. Looking forward to tomorrow morning's panel as well. WF

Happiest of birthdays, Wil! The missus and I are hoping to see you at Dragon*Con! WF

Wil: Listen to the Allegretto movement of Beethoven's 7th. It's haunting. Also, if you really wanna get in Beethoven, lose yourself in one of the later quartets. WF

The author may give them birth, but it's the readers who keep them alive. I like that. And if you really think like that (a good way to think), you'd enjoy the Thursday Next series of books by Jasper Fforde. Trust me on this one. WF

The author may give them birth, but it's the readers who keep them alive. I like that. And if you really think like that (a good way to think), you'd enjoy the Thursday Next series of books by Jasper Fforde. Trust me on this one. WF

I have not yet been to Vega$, but a former colleague once referred to it as "LA without the spiritual depth." Another former colleague headed up a college department at UNLV. When a position in my field came open, he strongly DISCOURAGED me from applying (even though at the time I needed a more secure job) because of the complete wasteland-esque nature of culture there. I still want to see for myself, though. WF

I have not yet been to Vega$, but a former colleague once referred to it as "LA without the spiritual depth." Another former colleague headed up a college department at UNLV. When a position in my field came open, he strongly DISCOURAGED me from applying (even though at the time I needed a more secure job) because of the complete wasteland-esque nature of culture there. I still want to see for myself, though. WF

Ah, something about which I feel comfortable commenting, as a composer/arranger/music teacher/really mediocre jazz trombonist. For big band jazz that allows great improvisers to stretch out (and some of the most interesting and exciting arrangements ever), I like Stan Kenton. Count Basie works for simplicity (Basie could make a convincing piano solo out of three notes, repeated once, over 12 bars). In the bebop and beyond field, Kind of Blue is atop my list, but I do give a second to Stan Getz - particularly Live at the Opera House with J. J. Johnson. If you're feeling adventurous but not quite Coltranian, check out Thelonius Monk. For pure bop, Diz. For more fusion stuff, Joe Zawinul's work with Weather Report isn't to be missed, and you'd probably enjoy The Crusaders as well. Jazz Lit - Part Three, Chapter 10 of On The Road. It's a description of one mad jazz night in Chicago, as only Kerouac could give it. A taste: "The third sax was an alto, eighteen-year-old cool, contemplative young Charlie-Parker-type Negro from high school, with a broadgash mouth, taller than the rest, grave. He raised his horn and blew into it quietly and thoughtfully and elicited birdlike phrases and architectural Miles Davis logics. These were the children of the great bop innovators." Every time I read it, I hear it. It's as much jazz as Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins. WF

Ah, something about which I feel comfortable commenting, as a composer/arranger/music teacher/really mediocre jazz trombonist. For big band jazz that allows great improvisers to stretch out (and some of the most interesting and exciting arrangements ever), I like Stan Kenton. Count Basie works for simplicity (Basie could make a convincing piano solo out of three notes, repeated once, over 12 bars). In the bebop and beyond field, Kind of Blue is atop my list, but I do give a second to Stan Getz - particularly Live at the Opera House with J. J. Johnson. If you're feeling adventurous but not quite Coltranian, check out Thelonius Monk. For pure bop, Diz. For more fusion stuff, Joe Zawinul's work with Weather Report isn't to be missed, and you'd probably enjoy The Crusaders as well. Jazz Lit - Part Three, Chapter 10 of On The Road. It's a description of one mad jazz night in Chicago, as only Kerouac could give it. A taste: "The third sax was an alto, eighteen-year-old cool, contemplative young Charlie-Parker-type Negro from high school, with a broadgash mouth, taller than the rest, grave. He raised his horn and blew into it quietly and thoughtfully and elicited birdlike phrases and architectural Miles Davis logics. These were the children of the great bop innovators." Every time I read it, I hear it. It's as much jazz as Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins. WF

My 8th grade English teacher introduced me to Holy Grail. Later, I found out my aunt and uncle had it too. I can't thank any of them enough. Good on ya, Wil. "Go away or I will taunt you a second time!" WF

My 8th grade English teacher introduced me to Holy Grail. Later, I found out my aunt and uncle had it too. I can't thank any of them enough. Good on ya, Wil. "Go away or I will taunt you a second time!" WF