puppetmaker | A Few Thoughts about Sudden Fame

Susan Boyle has become the darling of the media circus right now. And I congratulate her on having the gumption to stand up in front of all of us and make us listen to her. I just hope that she doesn’t end up upset that she did this at all. 15 minutes is what Warhol said we all had and her star is shining now.

I think the thing that concerns me the most was an off-handed comment she made about people who had always ignored her or been mean to her are talking to her now. She has been rather isolated and I hope that she finds good people who can help her with her new found fame or they find her and help her rather than what I have seen happen to others who find themselves in that blinding spotlight. I don’t want to see her get hurt. She has had a pretty tough life already if you ask me.

I guess I see those people in the light of what happened to me after Peter and I got together. I was a known quantity in Atlanta Fandom and in comic book fandom. All these people knew me and had pigeon-holed me based on years of me being in fandom. I had my close friends, my convention friends, acquaintances, and people who wouldn’t give me the time of day even though we ran in the same circles.

Once it got around Atlanta fandom that I was dating Peter David, I noticed that people’s reactions and interactions with me were a bit different. People who won’t give me the time of day were all of the sudden rather chatty with me. I had all these people I have known for years that wanted to be my buddy, especially if I was with Peter. I was polite to each and every one of them but I kept my distance.

Once it got around Atlanta that I was working for Del Rey books and was now a professional in the industry, I was amazed at how many people used the fact that they knew me to try to help further their ends. Yeah, those things do get back to me eventually. When asked I was honest about what I knew and who I knew but I found it odd that people who had written me off as nothing special were now saying that I was the greatest thing since sliced bread and they had been good friends with me for years. Again I have always been polite but in private I shake my head and wonder about how they view the world and our mutual past.

So I hope that Susan Boyle finds some people she can really trust to have her back and I hope that they do have her back. I know I have my friends and that they have mine as I have theirs.

I am grateful for the people who have had my back.