I just got my promotional comp copy of Wil Wheaton's Just A Geek direct from O'Reilly. I had been told that my name was mentioned in the book. That was an understatement.
In the first narrative of the book (abridged from a shorter version I've already read on WWDN), I see as the first paragraph:
In July of 2003, I was invited to Portland, Oregon, by my friend and fellow O'Reilly Author, Randal Schwartz, to attend the release party for his newest book, Learning Perl Objects, References & Modules. [footnote: This book is also called "The Alpaca", which is the animal on its cover. Randal also co-wrote "The Llama" (Learning Perl). I guess this book will be called "The Geek".] While I was there, I also attended O'Reilly's Open Source Convention and did a signing of my own, at Powell's Technical Books in downtown Portland.And the story ends with:
I packed up my bag, and said good bye to Randal. He pointed at the little laminated "Meet Wil Wheaton, author of Dancing Barefoot" sign."You should take that, Wil. It's from your first signing. You're going to want that someday," he said.
I picked it up off the table, and when I held it in my hands, I knew that he was right. I didn't ever want to forget this very significant moment in my life. Signing my first book, in a book store, and selling it out... it's better than the first time I got to sit at the helm of the Enterprise...
... because it was real.
I'm honored to be mentioned in this book, and especially as a friend of Wil. Thank you, Wil.
