Chris Colfer
Jun. 24th, 2012 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bitter_suiteI saw Chris Colfer (Kurt on Glee) speak at ALA yesterday. I have photos, but they'll be posted later. I didn't bring the cord to transfer photos from my camera to my computer, so I won't be able to post photos until I'm back in PA. However I want to write about Chris Colfer's talk while it's still fresh in my mind. I was a very good talk, both interesting and funny. I got in line early, so I had a seat in the front row.
Chris Colfer opened by saying, "I'm going to talk about my book in moment, but first I want to say that Disneyland is right here. It's within walking distance. There are, what, 1000 of us here? We could stage a coup and take it over. They're not going to arrest 1000 librarians and Chris Colfer from Glee. It would be terrible publicity. Like clubbing baby seals." After some laughing and clapping from the audience he moved onto talking about his book The Land of Stories. The plot involves two kids to get a magic book that pulls them into the fairy tale world. He really likes fairy tales, and apparently he's had this story idea in his head since he was 10. He showed us a scanned picture of cover art he drew when he was 10. Obviously it changed a little for the book, but it wasn't bad! He also created a map for the world in MS Paint when he was in high school. Since the story had been in his head for so long Chris Colfer had definite ideas about what he wanted the pictures in his book to look like. He corrected the artist on the drawing of Rapunzel's tower, a crown, and a sword. He also said of the title on the cover, "Can the "of" in "The Land of Stories" be 3 millimeters smaller then the rest of the print so the title looks straight and not arched?" He then said he proceeded to get out a ruler and measure it! He's pretty sure the artist hates him or was at least really frustrated. He talked about how his first editor was his grandmother. He'd show her a chapter, and if it was good she'd tell him. If it was bad she'd throw it in the trash and say, "You can do better than this." Chris Colfer said he enjoyed the whole writing process, although he did sometimes think his book would never be published. At those times he just kept pushing forward. When asked about who would play what parts should the book ever be made into a movie he said he'd prefer it just to remain a book. There was clapping and cheering from the audience at that. There will also be a sequel to the book since he was given a two book deal.
Apparently he's also gotten some strange questions from reporters about this book. Some examples:
Reporter: So, is there singing and dancing in your book?
Chris: No, it's not like a hallmark card where you open it and music plays.
Reporter: Where did you get the idea?
Chris: Actually it's been in my head since I was 10.
Reporter: Wow, so you've been thinking about this for 5 years?
Chris: ...12 years.
Reporter: Is the book about a gay teen struggling for acceptance?
Chris: No.
Reporter: So what is is about?
Chris: It's about two kids who get a magical book that pulls them into a fairy tale world.
Reporter: Is it autobiographical?
Chris: Um, no... A, I'm one person, not two. And B, I've never gotten a magical book that pulled me into a fairy tale land.
Some other tidbits gleaned from his talk:
-The publishers originally wanted a memoir, but Chris Colfer refused. "I don't want to be that 22 year old guy writing about his life experience."
-He has a cat named Brian who tries to sit on his lap and/or keyboard when he types. He gets out a laser pointer to distract the cat when this happens.
-He likes fantasy and biographies best for reading.
-He once wrote a play called "Shirley Todd", a parody of "Sweeney Todd". He would love to see it produced on Broadway.
-He thinks we shouldn't use the term "bullying", and use "harassing" instead. "Bullying" implies the schoolyard, and something that may not be taken too seriously. "Harassing" sounds much more serious.
Chris Colfer opened by saying, "I'm going to talk about my book in moment, but first I want to say that Disneyland is right here. It's within walking distance. There are, what, 1000 of us here? We could stage a coup and take it over. They're not going to arrest 1000 librarians and Chris Colfer from Glee. It would be terrible publicity. Like clubbing baby seals." After some laughing and clapping from the audience he moved onto talking about his book The Land of Stories. The plot involves two kids to get a magic book that pulls them into the fairy tale world. He really likes fairy tales, and apparently he's had this story idea in his head since he was 10. He showed us a scanned picture of cover art he drew when he was 10. Obviously it changed a little for the book, but it wasn't bad! He also created a map for the world in MS Paint when he was in high school. Since the story had been in his head for so long Chris Colfer had definite ideas about what he wanted the pictures in his book to look like. He corrected the artist on the drawing of Rapunzel's tower, a crown, and a sword. He also said of the title on the cover, "Can the "of" in "The Land of Stories" be 3 millimeters smaller then the rest of the print so the title looks straight and not arched?" He then said he proceeded to get out a ruler and measure it! He's pretty sure the artist hates him or was at least really frustrated. He talked about how his first editor was his grandmother. He'd show her a chapter, and if it was good she'd tell him. If it was bad she'd throw it in the trash and say, "You can do better than this." Chris Colfer said he enjoyed the whole writing process, although he did sometimes think his book would never be published. At those times he just kept pushing forward. When asked about who would play what parts should the book ever be made into a movie he said he'd prefer it just to remain a book. There was clapping and cheering from the audience at that. There will also be a sequel to the book since he was given a two book deal.
Apparently he's also gotten some strange questions from reporters about this book. Some examples:
Reporter: So, is there singing and dancing in your book?
Chris: No, it's not like a hallmark card where you open it and music plays.
Reporter: Where did you get the idea?
Chris: Actually it's been in my head since I was 10.
Reporter: Wow, so you've been thinking about this for 5 years?
Chris: ...12 years.
Reporter: Is the book about a gay teen struggling for acceptance?
Chris: No.
Reporter: So what is is about?
Chris: It's about two kids who get a magical book that pulls them into a fairy tale world.
Reporter: Is it autobiographical?
Chris: Um, no... A, I'm one person, not two. And B, I've never gotten a magical book that pulled me into a fairy tale land.
Some other tidbits gleaned from his talk:
-The publishers originally wanted a memoir, but Chris Colfer refused. "I don't want to be that 22 year old guy writing about his life experience."
-He has a cat named Brian who tries to sit on his lap and/or keyboard when he types. He gets out a laser pointer to distract the cat when this happens.
-He likes fantasy and biographies best for reading.
-He once wrote a play called "Shirley Todd", a parody of "Sweeney Todd". He would love to see it produced on Broadway.
-He thinks we shouldn't use the term "bullying", and use "harassing" instead. "Bullying" implies the schoolyard, and something that may not be taken too seriously. "Harassing" sounds much more serious.
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no subject
Date: 2012-06-25 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-25 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-26 03:45 am (UTC)I suspect it was actually full of librarians, mostly middle aged women. Anyway, it was probably a rather different crowd than Colfer is used to seeing when he makes promotional appearances for Glee.
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Date: 2012-06-26 04:29 am (UTC)And yeah, I'm sure it was a different crowd then he was used to for Glee, but then again he was talking about his book, not his show.
I get home June 30th, and I hope to have pictures posted soon after. Of course he was standing at a podium speaking, so there aren't really any action shots, but I tried to get different facial expressions and some were zoomed in and others weren't. Hopefully they turned out well.