cblj_backup | (no subject)

Holy wow, you guys.

cassie_lee dropped me a comment yesterday to inform me that her house burned down but, and this is why she told me, her copy of Nameless survived.

I was focusing more on "Your HOUSE BURNED DOWN?" but she seems to be taking it with as good a humour as one can muster about these things. Everyone got out okay, and she has family nearby who are helping them out. She shared the news video with me, which is horrific and so sad, and then this morning sent me photos. (Having trouble direct-linking to that -- search "house fire" and choose the second story that comes up.)

This is her after having pulled Nameless from the wreckage.

This is Nameless, with a bit of fire blistering on the spine but otherwise whole.

My book is magic. I mean, I know theoretically what happens: books that are tightly packed together don't burn because there's no air between the pages to feed the fire. It's still stunning to see.

Not to make her house burning down ALL ABOUT ME or anything, but I had a very odd reaction to it, aside from the concern for her. My book is a story but it's out there spawning more stories, like people taking it on airplanes and meeting other people who've read it, and people reading it on breaks from their jobs or reading it to each other, and more than one person has written to tell me about their own experiences with suicide and how I treated it in the book. But this really whacked me between the eyes with a sense of "so this is part of what being published is": this person is standing in the wreckage of their home and holding up my book for me to see, because something I made survived a fire and she's happy about it.

That's amazing. I'm blown away.

Traditional publishing is a huge empire and that's grand and I'm glad it's there, but I think this is a powerful argument for access to self-publishing and someone to offer the tools for talented writers to use it. I made this, which I couldn't have done without a press like lulu.com, and it's got a life of its own now.

cassie_lee, if you need anything, you let us know. You want a new copy of Nameless, drop me a line, it's on the house. I'm going to print out those photos and put them on my wall.

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As did we, but I don't think that's what they were going for :p

Thought you'd be interested in this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v99/Cassie_Lee/2009/La_Maison_Bleu/P7292428.jpg). It's my bookshelf after we'd started pulling stuff off it. Down the bottom there is all my childhood books which more or less came out ok (if not stinky), as the fire was in the roof mostly.

The top shelf was done for. As was most of the second, which was where all my favourite series were of course. Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings all had to be on the same shelf. Third shelf was where Nameless was. They were almost as bad as the second shelf, but on the left there was where I pried out Nameless and my 80th anniversary edition of Winnie the Pooh. Both of which made me very happy :)

Edit because I don't have children, I have childhood books, d'oh.

Edited 2009-07-30 01:41 (UTC)

Oh my GOD. D:

Girl, I got a spare set of Narnia here with your name on it. Just give me an address and I can send it back to you.

Hey, to some of us, our books are our children. I know I treat mine with as much love and care. ;)

See, that nearly made me cry. People keep offering me furniture and clothes, and all I can think is "I want my books back!"

I mean it. Which edition was it?

I'm not sure, to be perfectly honest I bought the ones I had for two reasons. 1) I was in Oxford, 2) They were really pretty. After a quick google search I can tell you they looked like this: http://www.bookrags.com/The_Horse_and_His_Boy

I just loved reading them when I was younger.

I am certain I have a complete set of those, with those covers, that I have NEVER READ.

I like my older set better. Let me chuck my shoes on and look in my garage - BRB.

SUCCESS!

They're all yours, BB. As I said, I've never read them, because I prefer my other set, so I've just been carting them around for ten years. Never read, and apart from a ding to one corner of the slipcase, perfect condition.

oh my god, that's them! And looking a lot better than mine. My Magician's Nephew fell in half somehow....

Are you serious? I don't know what to say... and that's not normal for me, lol.

Totally serious. I bought them when I was nineteen, intending to read them to preserve my older copies, but every time I've reread them since, I've always read the older copies anyway. I have a house full of books, and four huge crates of books in my garage. If I'd got off my arse, I would have put them on BookMooch years ago. The only thing that put me off was the weight of it would cost too much to justify.

If and when you work out what books you're missing from your collection, get Sam to post the list to the Cafe. I'm sure that between us, we can restock your shelves.

One slightly warped/water-damaged paperback copy of Chamber of Secrets, too, if you want it. I bought it from Vinnies, intending to Mooch it to someone.

Also, Mandragora and See How They Run by David McRobbie, and After the First Death and I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier, if you're interested.

Oh, I've also got extra copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages.

Thank you so much, I absolutely love those covers, that's why I bought them. :) :)

Looks like your fellow countrywoman beat me to the draw. ;) Those are really pretty covers. I have a set from Harper Collins '94 and one from Scholastic '84, but they're not as pretty as yours were/will be.

I was in the third grade when my teacher read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to our class, and I was hooked on fantasy for LIFE. She made Turkish delight for us, too!

Ah, memories.

Thank you heaps anyway!

Yes, I think Narnia was the real beginning of my love for fantasy as well :)

You know, if you made a post with the books that you lost, I bet you could get people to send you extra copies just like

bluebombardier. My books are also my babies, and I'm sure that's the same with many who are here.

Holy crow, again. You can tell where the books were and all, my god.

I'm a little LOL at the Cafe's offers -- even having said you're ok, you got people :D I hope you're not overwhelmed.

Uh, that being said...Lulu.com has a PR agent who is asking if she can do some media outreach with those photos. It's your face and your story, is that okay? I wanted to check with you before I gave the go-ahead.

It is a little overwhelming, but also amazing and so...nice lol.

Lol, I have no idea what media outreach even means, but go for it, lol.

I think it means "writing a pr piece and putting it on a webpage" :D

Doesn't sound as fancy that way :p Also I realise I said lol far too many times in that last reply. Pretty sure I didn't actually lol that much.

Jeeeeeeez.

I may have to go hug all my bookcases when I get home.

Glad to hear you're OK!