So where was I? Oh yeah – I bought tickets to Wizard World in Chicago and was planning to meet the stars of The X-Files. And I was really excited about it. Let’s just start there.

[Part 1 can be found here]

X-Files, Here I Come

Leading up to the time of the convention, I started seeing other people post about it. Of course, the fact that I was in several X-Files groups on Facebook kind of helped with that. It seemed that I wasn’t alone. There were others just as excited about this convention as me, and also coming from other states and even countries to Chicago, even as far away as Australia (Hi, Alicia!). There were even people that had gone to see Gillian’s play in New York and then gone to Philadelphia for the Wizard World there that David, Mitch Pileggi (Skinner), and William B. Davis (the Cigarette-Smoking Man) were all at. And because all of them were going to be in Chicago WITH Gillian, these people were heading there to see them all again, together.

It Begins

To really tell the story of this trip, I have to go back a bit of a long time. Something like 20 years, probably even a few more than that. When I was in high school, my best friend was a girl who was a bit quirky, but in a lovable way. While we don’t live near each other anymore, and drifted apart a bit after high school, we reconnected via Facebook and now do chat a bit on occasion or even try to get together when I visit Indy. She is still one of the most fun people I’ve ever met, and I love her. Thanks go to her for my love of the TV show The X-Files. She is the one who first introduced me to it, and there it began.

Disclaimer

For those of you that have been reading my blog for quite a while, you may very well be a bit sick of hearing about Neil Gaiman. Well, it’s been a while since I talked about him, so just shut up. That’s all. Oh, and this was sparked in part because I’m reading his The View from the Cheap Seats right now and am loving the chance to hear his thoughts on a variety of subject matter. I highly recommend it, especially if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman. Or of reading in general.

Dear Mr. Gaiman,

I’m not sure when or where I first heard about you. I know at some point, I ended up buying a copy of American Gods and reading it, but I never finished it. In all honesty, I still haven’t. I do, however, know when I started paying attention. In 2013, you released a book called The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I think it was your first new novel in a while. You did a book signing tour for it, claiming it would be your last book signing tour ever. I kind of hope that’s not true, just because at that point I didn’t really know much about you, and when you were signing my books I was just a bit too starstruck to even know what to say to you.