Prince Caspian

Just got back from visiting my relatives over in Narnia. It was a wonderful trip. Per usual, we did have some difficulty reaching Narnia. We were going to use those magic rings, but the cat ate them (again) so we had to enter via Eustace's boat painting and I get seasick so that wasn't pleasant. But once there, we had a delicious Thanksgiving feast of Talking Turkey and faun-sausage stuffing...

Okay, I'm just kidding. I'd never eat a faun.

Here's a photo of me and my cousin Prince Caspian:


I love that photo. It is so supremely dorky. That's not Prince Caspian, of course. Or even the actor who plays Prince Caspian in the movie. That's just some guy in Disney World dressed up like the actor who dresses up to look like my cousin Caspian.

I was in Disney World last week and I simply had to meet him -- though I didn't see the movie, I did have an essay in the Teen Libris anthology Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. So I wanted the photo to send to my editor at BenBella, and the whole meet-and-greet amused me so much that I had to share it with all of you too.

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend filled with family and fauns too!

Disney World

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to blog more often.

Yeah, broke that already. (Sorry!) But I have a very good excuse. I have been without Internet access for a week because...

Me at the Happiest Place on Earth

I've been in Disney World!!!

I love Disney World. I really, really love it. I think it's my favorite place in the entire world. I know not everyone agrees. I do recognize that Disney chose the most passive version of Cinderella that exists, that Minnie Mouse is an appallingly non-feminist role model (for pity's sake, get yourself a hobby that doesn't involve Mickey!), and that Snow White's voice could curdle milk. I know that sneering at Disney is fashionable and that loving Disney probably renders me ineligible to join the cultural intelligensia. But I absolutely love every inch of the place.

Why do I love Disney? Three words: princesses on leashes.

Princesses on leashes!!!

Seriously, tell me that's not awesome. It's awesome. Also awesome: the new Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. Little girls can be transformed into princesses, complete with a dress, tiara, and lots and lots of sparkles all over their cute little scalps. There were princesses (on and off leashes) everywhere you looked. I felt underdressed. And jealous. I totally want a princess dress. And tiara. And wings. Oh, and a unicorn. Or possibly a manatee. Manatees, while perhaps less elegant than unicorns, are the teddy bears of the sea. I want one.

I love the little (and not-so-little) details at Disney World. I love that the trash cans are designed to match whatever area of the park they're in. I love that the giant Big Wheels sculpture outside our hotel had a recommended child weight limit of 877 lbs.

Big Wheels recommended child weight limit: 877 lbs

I love how every time you turn around you're encouraged to dream, to imagine, to make wishes. In the acknowledgements for Into the Wild, I say that this book is my wish in the wishing well. Disney reminds me of my wishes.

I make a lot of wishes.

I made some wishes for my next book, Out of the Wild, while I was there. I even chatted with some of its characters...

Me and Sleeping Beauty

Me and the Prince

And shopped in its namesake gift shop...

Out of the Wild!!!

But the best part of the whole trip was spending every second with my family. Here's a photo of my family on Dumbo:

My family on Dumbo... wait, that didn't work...

My family on... okay, one more time...

Oh, never mind.

Hope you all are having a magical start to 2008 and that all your wishes come true!