Just a Geek

Foreword

JUST AN INTRODUCTION

Q: Who is Wil Wheaton?

A: Wil Wheaton is an actor. He is also, as you’ll realize once you’ve read this book, a writer. He was famously in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Rob Reiner film Stand By Me, and much less famously in Roger Avary’s wonderfully peculiar Frankenstein film Mr. Stitch.

Q: Who are you and why are you writing this introduction? Do you know Wil? Were you in Star Trek too?

A: I’m Neil Gaiman. I write stuff, comics—most famously a comic called Sandman—and screenplays and books.

And no, I’ve never met Wil. We were meant to be guests together at a Linux and sci-fi convention called Penguicon in April 2004, but he wound up missing it entirely because he was on call for a part in a movie. He stayed home and waited, and they didn’t need him after all. This phenomenon will seem less surprising to you after you’ve read this book.

As to why I’m writing this foreword, well, Wil asked me (although that doesn’t always work, and that isn’t why I said yes). The nearest I came to being in Star Trek was once writing an episode of Babylon 5, which isn’t really very near. And even though I pointed out that having an introduction by Patrick Stewart would sell more copies, Wil held firm in his belief that he wanted me to introduce his book. This is because Wil is a geek. If you’re a true geek, I’m pretty much as cool as Patrick Stewart.

And I said yes, because...

I completely missed Star Trek: The Next Generation. Maybe I wasn’t watching much TV when it ...