So Marissa Lingen gave me a book.
And lots of people have given me books before, and sometimes books I really really wanted, like the time my aunt gave me The Silmarillion when I was fourteen, and I had wanted it so much it hurt for the whole month before.
But this is a book I didn’t know I wanted, because I didn’t know it existed. Indeed, it didn’t exist, and maybe it doesn’t now — it’s really not a book, I suppose it’s a very special kind of birthday card.
It’s a theme anthology, specially for me, on the subject of “Things Jo Walton Likes”, with stories specially written by some of my friends. Mrissa had the idea and organized it, and here it is, with stories by her and Ada and Alec and Lila and Jon Singer and Jon Evans and Tim Cooper, and oh that came out a funny mix of LJ names and real names but there we are, it’s late, and I’m fifty now, I can do that if I want to.
So it’s an anthology of stories about things I like, written by people I like and who like me, and especially for me. And that’s — I mean, wow. Not only is this the best birthday present ever, I think it’s probably the best birthday present possible. I mean Z gave me a mug with an octopus on that disappears as your tea cools, and that’s pretty cool, but it can’t even compete, and Rysmiel gave me my traditional every-zero-year birthday pin up of a naked man (this time Voltaire to go with Samuel Delany) but even that pales by comparison.
I’m just overwhelmed. And I haven’t even read it yet.
