A few years ago, I stumbled across a blog dedicated to all the things and people in the Star Wars universe: theforce.net.

One of the things that struck me was the amount of respect and adoration given to Mr. George Lucas. Not fawning and servile: just genuine appreciation for the man and the universe he'd created for appreciative fans.

This was long before The Face Value Blues was even a gleam in my eye. But I immediately thought, "I want that. Someday, I want to have a fandom of my very own."

When The Face Value Blues became something that wouldn't leave my thoughts, even for a moment, I came up with a list of vows and affirmations declaring why I would be successful with this novel, but I forgot to include my desire for a fan base as one of them.

Now that I've finished the novel, I realize, yeah, I should have included that as part of the motivation for success, because I'm greatly looking forward to having a group of people who want -- who really want -- me to discuss every facet of the book.

I'm looking forward to discussing Neriah (probably the least understood character so far); to dissecting some of the hidden meanings in various passages; to having somebody catalog the many nods and references to other works; and, let's face it, to hearing many, many voices cry out for more stories about Mr. Pramanth and his breath-taking lack of good sense.