Meeting other QT fans....

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Have you ever met other QT fans in real life, without knowing them first through the group?

As I've talked about here before, several years ago I got license plates that say ATTOLIA. At the time, I was working in public safety and no one ever recognized what my plates were from, so after a few more years I said, "Well, screw this." I swapped careers, and a year and a half ago I started working in a public library.

After a couple weeks at my library job, one of my new coworkers said, "Is that your car with the Attolia license plate?" I said yes, and she said, "My son noticed it in the parking lot and got really excited. Both of my sons love those books!" I threw my arms wide and cried, "FINALLY!!! Nerdy validation after all these years!" I may have done some embarrassing dance moves.

Since then, I've relayed some nerdy tidbits through my coworker to her sons (like tipping them off that they could pre-order the new book from a certain bookstore and get it signed by MWT). However, it wasn't until today that I finally met these young Attolians!

The library hosts "Nerf Turf" several times a year, wherein the library gets locked up for the evening, and then about 20 teenagers get to run around, yelling and screaming, in the semi dark, through the library as they shoot each other with Nerf guns. I volunteered to chaperone today's Turf, and finally met my coworker's two teen boys!

We played it cool during the game, but then as things were winding down and they were waiting for their ride I said, "So....how long did it take you to read Thick as Thieves?" Then we geeked out for several minutes about which books were our favorites and why, and how crazy it is that they're not more known (after I told them how psyched I was that they'd recognized my license plates because no one else had yet, to my knowledge). I told them about my recent discovery with the Oxford comma and the wooden cannons, and we made mind-blowing motions with our hands for a bit. Much dramatic gestures all around.

Overall, it was very fun and very satisfying to finally meet more people in real life who've read and love these books. I'm a 32 year old woman, they're two teenage boys, and we're all wildly excited for the same books. How awesome is that?

*happy grin*

Comments

[celebrilomiel.livejournal.com]

Ahh, that's fantastic!

Finding fans amid the ruins

[2b3g1gs3gd.livejournal.com]

My daughter missed the book release because she was digging in Petra. But she discovered that three other young women on the dig were also waiting breathlessly. One downloaded the audiobook to her phone, but the others wanted to wait for a chance to read a physical book.

Re: Finding fans amid the ruins

[frosted-feather.livejournal.com]

That is SO COOL!

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

That sounds so fun! I'm glad you got to finally meet and geek out with them! I don't think I've ever gotten around to commenting on it when you've mentioned it before, but I LOVE that you have that license plate, and I would probably resort to honking, high-speed chases, and/or leaving my number on the windshield if I ever unexpectedly saw a qt plate.

About 4 years ago, in the college spirit of late-night socializing with people you slightly know, I left a rather boring party with some acquaintances and went to the campus cafe. It has an upstairs area where you can look down at the tables below and up at some lovely rafters (https://apps.carleton.edu/reason_package/reason_4.0/www/images/735422.jpg), and something about it always made me think of that atrium in KoA - the one Gen takes a shortcut through after the rooftop scene - even if the details and rafter placement don't quite match up.

So, when I mumbled something about the ceiling reminding me of a bit from a book, one of the acquaintances asked which one .... and then she turned out to be a huge fan as well! It was so exciting and unexpected. We had a great conversation that night, and I emailed her when we learned about Thick as Thieves last year, but sadly we never became proper friends. I'm pretty sure she isn't/wasn't on Sounis, but, who knows, maybe we'll reconnect someday.

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most of the other fans I know are people I've introduced the series to. Poor guys...I basically introduce the series all casual, like, "Here, this is pretty good." and then as soon as they finish it I go full-on dork mode: "It's it AMAZING???!!!! Let's discuss every detail!"

This post makes me SO happy.

[11rod88staff11.livejournal.com]

That is so amazing. xoxo

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I've met one other Sounisian in person, at a book signing, and that was super fun (especially as we were both a little shy and offered each other encouragement to get our pictures taken with MWT). :)

Most of the other QT fans I know are people I recommended the books to (yay converts!), and I've noticed a really satisfying ripple effect over the years, as I've met friends-of-friends(-of-friends) who had the books recommended to them in turn. Recently, I've seen a younger generation of readers inducted too. A younger sibling of one of my friends just texted me out of the blue the other day to talk about TaT (she'd read it before the rest of her family and was dying to discuss it with someone), and that made me SO happy. I remember wanting someone to get excited about books with me when I was younger, and it dawned on me that I get to be that person to the younger people in my life now.

These books. *feelz*

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Hooray, by the way, for swapping careers and finding your tribe! :)

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Slight follow-up: I've now gotten two newish friends (a couple who moved in next door) to read the books (well, he read all of them and agreed they're brilliant, and she's on KoA). Two of my library coworkers are also reading The Thief now. One is reading SO SLOW it's driving me bananas. The other coworker said she has having a hard time getting into The Thief, but then she got to the end and said, "Oh, there IS a point". After I finished screaming in frustration, I handed her QoA and told her to get reading.

[mylittlecthulhu.livejournal.com]

That's so cool, both about your license plate (I would be SO EXCITED to see a car with that license plate!) and meeting other fans! I know a few people who love the Queen's Thief books, but only one other Sounisian - who is also why I'm here on LJ right now, because she reminded me of this group's existence a couple of weeks ago (I've been off LJ for awhile). The funny thing is neither of us knew the other was a Sounisian until A Conspiracy of Kings came out, and we started talking about it...

I had an ARC for TaT, and she borrowed it to read, sending me text messages every few minutes about her thoughts on the book while reading - which was great, because I felt like I was reading it for the first time again, and could finally geek out about all the details with someone!