Rifling through Charles de Lint's stuff

Authors, it turns out, are people too. Of course, I knew this on some fundamental level, but whenever I picture my favourite authors, they are magical and whimsical. They live in houses that suit their style of writing (i.e. Neil Gaiman would live in a house of gothic proportions, while Isaac Asimov’s house would have been a modern monolith, a futuristic house with the latest gadgets emitting the faintest humming noise that could be heard from the streets). But alas, my fantasies were shattered when I visited the house of Charles de Lint, author of many wonderful flights of what has been referred to as urban fantasy.

Now, before you get the wrong idea, no I have no taken to stalking my favourite authors. Not yet, anyways. I was at that house to avail myself of Mr. de Lint’s annual yard sale, a culling of books that he has collected over the years. I pulled up to a quiet, non-descript house in a quiet, non-descript area of Ottawa and walked up the short driveway to find rows upon rows of books stacked up on folding tables. The house I imagined would have resembled those of his books, perhaps tall and expansive, or old and full of the crackling magical energy that permeate his books. I think a part of me even expected some sign that an Important Man lives here (to some people, important people consist of politicians and policy makers, to other actors and musicians. To me, the Most Important People are authors and imagination encouragers). Of course, there was no such sign, but there were plenty of books to go through: fantasy, comic books, science fiction, all genres, in fact. What fascinated me most were the advanced copies of books that had already gone to print. These are unique editions, with errors intact and with space for authors to give their comments and opinions. These editions are not something that can be found in every corner store, they are one of a kind items that give someone like me, interested in the process of publication, an intimate look at an important step of how a book gets from an author’s imagination to the reader’s hands.

Having found some treasures, I went up to pay and who should greet me but Charles de Lint himself. Now, I should probably mention that he is a very approachable individual. But for me, this was akin to a normal person meeting someone popular, like, I don’t know, George Clooney or Susan Boyle (or whoever YOU deem to be an Important Person). I have only met two authors previous to this, and, since they were both also popular wrestlers (the likable Mick Foley and the great, yet troubled Bret Hart), I had a total of perhaps two minutes with each of them. I was unsure if this would be a similar experience.

I paid him for the books and most likely proceeded to make a fool of myself (I’ll be honest, I tend to sound eloquent in my head or on a page, but when I open my mouth, mush comes out). I gushed about his books and thanked him for inspiring me to come to Ottawa in the first place (his book, Moonheart, takes place in Ottawa, and I read that prior to choosing which university to apply to. When I noticed Carleton University in Ottawa had a journalism program, I put two and two together and decided to apply. It was Charles de Lint’s book which made it a little less scary to leave home and try to build a life in a different city). He grinned broadly and said that he hoped that it all worked out for me (let’s see: loving wife, good education, good job, nice house, excellent comic collection, I’d say that it worked out just fine).

It occurred to me afterwards that I didn’t even introduce myself to him, but I’m hoping that this is just the first time of many that my paths will cross with this wonderful wordsmith. Although it may be a paltry thing to some people, I am happy that I was able to express my appreciation to a man whose books changed my life. I can only hope that one day someone will pick up a book with my name on the cover and have a similar experience. For why do we write if not to try to make the world a little bit better, through poignancy, enlightenment, laughter, or just plan entertainment. We writers do all this as we do everything: one word at a time.