Friends, They Are Jewels

I had a helluva birthday this year.

Well, actually, I didn’t do all that much on Friday, my actual birthday. Went to yoga class. Did a 2 mile walk. Worked a little on UK marketing for The Painted Man. Dani gave me a plastic Spider-man web shooter, and the cats chewed up all the webs. Then Dani’s parents took us out for Peking Duck.

It was a nice day, nothing terribly special, but that was fine. I can’t say I was excited to turn 35, but I wasn’t dreading it, either. I have always been the oldest of my friends; the first to get my driver’s license, turn 18 and vote, turn 21 and drink, etc. Those, I was excited about. Once you top 30, though, it’s less of a thrill, as there aren’t many more milestones until you are old enough to collect Social Security. I think you need to be at least 35 to be president, so I have that now, in case the Democrats hand me the nomination like they promised.

Saturday was the day I was looking forward to, because Dani and I usually throw two parties a year: one for my birthday and one for hers. We have a large group of fantastic friends, and it is always great to get them all together. We had set this year’s party for Saturday the 9th, because no one comes to a Friday party in Brooklyn. That’s a lesson we learned long ago.

One of my best friends in the world, Amelia, was bummed this year, because she’s allergic to my cats, and can’t take Claritin or the like because she is pregnant. She suggested having the party at her Fort Greene loft instead of our place, which was a great idea. She has an amazing place, and she and her husband Craig are practically family. She and Dani started plotting the party incessantly, and told me in no uncertain terms to stay out of it. On Saturday, Dani disappeared for like 8 hours, and offered no explanations.

So I walk into the party that night, and all my friends are already there. Can there be a better feeling than to be surrounded by loved ones? I am frequently a wallflower at parties, because I suck at making small talk and meeting people, but put me in a room full of people I know (and love), and it’s a very different story.

Everyone was grinning stupidly at me, though, and I couldn’t figure out why. I looked from face to face, no one saying anything, and knew I was missing something.

“Go put your jacket on the bed,” Amelia says, clearly struggling to contain her excitement.

So I do, and turn back to everyone, and still don’t get the joke. “Is there something I’m not seeing?” I ask, and everyone laughs.

“Look up, dummy,” Amelia says.

So I do.

Allow me to explain:

In The Painted Man and its sequels, I drew little avatars to denote all the major characters. These are placed at the beginning of each chapter, so that when you read the books, you immediately know whose point of view the chapter will focus on. One of the characters, Jardir, has a warded spear as his avatar. Here is my crappy drawing of it:

I also describe the spear in great detail in the books, talking about the magical wards etched into the surface of the head and butt, and along the crosspiece. It’s a central icon in the story.

Unbeknown (unbeknownst?) to me, my friend Myke, had the idea to have a full-sized, battle-ready replica of the spear made by an armorer after the books sold. Myke has been reading my writing since college, and he and I discussed the spear at length when I was designing it in my head. Myke was an avid SCA member in college, and made his own armor. He spent a summer working in the Royal Armouries in the UK. He knew the huge size of the undertaking to make the weapon properly, but he also had the connections and and knowledge to make it happen. He contacted Ollin Sword Design and sent them my sketch and descriptions, as well as the wards designed by Lauren Cannon for my site.

Over the next few months, they went back and forth with design proofs and pricing. I don’t know how much it cost, but I know this sort of custom work ain’t cheap. Myke solicited Dani and Amelia and Matt for financial assistance, and they all went above and beyond the call of duty. Seriously. This is the best present I’ve ever gotten in my life. None of them ever needs to give me a present again so long as they live.

But enough of my yapping. Check out the detail pix of the wards and shit!

Now, if that was all they did for the party, it would have been amazing, but it didn’t stop there. Myke drove up from DC in secret after telling me he couldn’t make the party, and he Dani, and Amelia spent all day decorating. All of them did such a good job of lying to me that I would be worried if I wasn’t so pleased with the results. They made huge construction paper cut-outs of the wards and put them on the walls, and hand-drew wards onto dozens of paper lanterns to hang over the party area. It must have been a COLOSSAL amount of work, and I am totally flabbergasted by it and don’t know what I ever did to inspire such love an loyalty. Whatever it is, I should clearly keep doing it.

Here’s a picture of my agent, Joshua, under the spear and ward lanterns. His mother makes him wear that reflective jacket when he goes out at night:

Here’s me getting drunk with Liz, my editor from Del Rey. Next to her is Carrie. The guy who thinks he is Vanilla Ice is Steve, Joshua’s assistant and an agent in his own right, followed by Myke.

Here’s a pic of Dani and I late in the night. Amelia is dozing off behind us. It’s understandable. She worked her ass off for the party, and she’s like 26 weeks pregnant. I can’t wait to get her kid hooked on comic books!

Thanks, as well to everyone else who came to the party and helped make it so very special. This was the best birthday ever, and a great kickoff to all the amazing things that are coming this year!

Posted on February 12, 2008 at 11:19 am by PeatB
Filed under Craft, Events, Interviews, Life, Sales, World Traveler, Writing
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