Day 2: Sunday June 1, 2003, 8:04 a.m. HST
Honolulu Hawaii
The convention yesterday was fantastic. It was small — about 300 people — but that seemed to be the perfect number of fans. I brought 20 copies of Dancing Barefoot with me, and sold them all!! Many people came over to me and told me that they read my site, and wanted to get my book. One guy told me that my site was “some of the best writing on the Internet.” 🙂
At most conventions, it’s always such a giant CF, and this was really different. When it was my turn to take the stage, rather than do the typical Q&A thing, I just read some of my stuff: The Trade, from Just A Geek, and a previously unpublished selection from SpongeBob Vegas Pants that’s in Dancing Barefoot. The audience seemed to enjoy themselves, despite the cellphone that kept ringing, and the guy who thought it was really entertaining to constantly shoot at me with the laser gun, complete with loud “zzzaaapp!” sound effects.
After the Con, Anne and I walked on the beach, (there’s a lot of that in Hawaii) and changed for a Bon Voyage Luau that Cruise Trek and Geek Cruises were throwing. I am not a big fan of luaus, but I had a nice time, and gorged myself on sweet potatoes and guava juice.
Thanks to jet lag, Anne I I fell asleep at 9:30 p.m., while the strains of “She Love You” exploded up from beneath our balcony, played by a Beatles cover band. Thankfully, 39 stories between us and Anne’s sleep cocoon (ear plugs and an eye mask) ensured a good night’s sleep.

Day 1: Saturday, May 31, 2003, 6:50AM, HST
Aloha from Honolulu!!
I am writing this from the balcony of my hotel room. When I look up from my iBook’s screen, I can see Waikiki beach. To my left, I can see NAME OF BAY, which currently has about 30 surfers riding the beautiful Hawaiian waves.
Anne and I arrived here in Honolulu yesterday morning at 11AM local time, after a surprisingly comfortable and very pleasant flight from beautiful downtown Burbank. Thank you to everyone who sent me some of that “don’t be such a wuss and just enjoy the flight” mojo. The five hour and 24 minute flight was very smooth, and went by fairly quickly: I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit on my iBook, (I forgot how much I love that movie, and how truly amazing it was when I first saw it), took several naps, and then watched Chicago (hilariously edited for our safety) as the in-flight movie. We also ate some unexpectedly good airplane food: some warm apple crepes, and tasty Hawaiian sweet rolls.
When we got to our hotel, our room wasn’t ready, so we ate a nice lunch, drank lots of POG juice, and talked to lots of birds. When our room, which is on the 39th floor and has the most spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean you can imagine, was finally ready, we dropped off our bags, and took one of those quick 20-minute naps . . . that turned into nearly three hours. I guess the last few weeks of stress and anticipation finally caught up with us, well, that and the fact that we’d only gotten a total of six hours of sleep the previous two nights. When we woke up, we took a walk down the beach, where we enjoyed spectacular views of Diamond Head, and not-so-spectacular views of the gross over-development of the rest of Honolulu.
When we got back to our hotel, we went up to the special, super-secret, you-must-know-the-password concierge club level, where Anne sat with Chase Masterson and Lolita Fatjo, while I stood on the balcony with Randall Schwartz, talking about website design (practice and philosophy) with this guy Manu who was on Voyager.
We watched the sun set over the bay, and Anne and I returned to our room around 8 p.m. We ate a light dinner, and were both asleep by 9. Thank you jet lag.
So far, I’m having a wonderful time. When I stood on the balcony of the lounge last night, watching the sun set, I thought about how insanely lucky I am: I’m happier and more content than I’ve been in years, my book seems to be a success, and a much bigger success than I ever thought it would be, and I am in Hawaii with my beautiful wife, standing on the balcony of this amazing hotel, watching a the sun set the sky aflame as it vanishes into the sea.
Today, the organizers of Cruise Trek (the whole reason I’m here) have put together a small convention that I’m attending. I get about 45 minutes on stage, so I’m going to read “The Trade” and “Fireworks” from Just A Geek and an excerpt from “The Saga of SpongeBob Vegas Pants,” from Dancing Barefoot. Before that, I think Anne and I are going to pay our respects at the Arizona Memorial, and then ride some of those awesome waves I’ve been watching for the last hour.
Aloha, everyone!

I spent all day yesterday and most of today packing and preparing books for shipment. It’s so much fun, sitting at my dining room table with Anne and the kids, listening to the New Wave station on satellite, getting things ready to go.
And check this out: today, we passed 800 orders.
Holy. Mother.
800 orders in less than three weeks. How cool is that?! I think I may pass 1000 by the end of next month.
1000!!!
Now. Here’s the bad news about all this success: I’ve totally run out of postage, and was only able to ship the first 200 orders. The rest will ship as soon as I get back from Cruise Trek on June 9th.
Back to the good news! Barnes and Noble contacted us today about “special ordering” some books for Barnes and Noble dot Com! There’s a chance we’re going to get a review in a MAJOR US newspaper! I may reach a deal with a distributor to place Dancing Barefoot in stores in just about every major US city by the end of the year!
I’m making really good headway on planning a tour, too. I think I’ll be hitting Alberquerque and Amarillo on my way to Tulsa at the end of next month, and probably a trip up the California coast on my way to Portland in August. If you live in one of those cities, and you’ve got a favorite bookstore there (preferably an independent one), take my media kit to them, and let me know about it. I’ll follow up with them, and see if we can work something out!
Last thing before I go pack my bags:
I have to fly tomorrow morning.
I’m not so crazy about the flying. Especially over more than 1000 miles of ocean.
If you can spare some “don’t be a sissy and afraid” mojo, I’d sure appreciate it.
I’ll be updating my site (and gallery!) from the cruise ship’s internet cafe, so WWdN readers can vicariously enjoy the cruise with all of us.
Be well, everyone. The next time you hear from me, I’ll be on the high seas!

Today is Fark-tacular: I got a link posted, and just read this one about my friend Max. Max is the lead singer of the band Eve6, and I live my Rock-n-Roll lifestyle vicariously through him.
I think I’ll sit this one out, though.

J.D. “Illiad” Frazer, who does the insanely brilliant User Friendly has this to say about Dancing Barefoot:

For quite some time, the name and person of Wil Wheaton were equated with the Star Trek:TNG character of Wesley Crusher. Wesley was, by all accounts, deeply reviled by a significant portion of Star Trek fandom. This vilification carried over to Wil Wheaton the actor, and as I witnessed, was done with some glee.

This kind of behaviour is hardly uncommon in the world of entertainment. Art of any sort is often considered a pure reflection of the artist’s character instead of a demonstration of that artist’s depth and willingness to take risks. Of course, it’s far easier to follow the drooling mob in their demonization of someone than it is to carefully cull the rhetoric from the truth, and thus the less perceptive (or lazier) members of geekdom will by default refuse to even consider the idea that the actor behind Wesley Crusher is more than one-dimensional.

And I did say “geekdom;” this book proves that Wil is a geek through-and-through. He demonstrates through his prose his curiosity and that he is possessed of a quirky and often self-deprecating sense of humour. The five short stories in Wil’s book are strung together in an artful manner, giving the reader random glimpses here and there of a jigsaw puzzle that, when completed, deliver a clear picture of a complex artist with very common human feelings. The Wil Wheaton of Dancing Barefoot is a man who has learned hard lessons in humility, insecurity, sadness and joy, often at the hands of an unforgiving public. And yet, he clearly emerges from his experiences with greater strength and a greater understanding of himself.

It is an unfortunate irony that those who would most benefit from reading this book are unlikely to do so, as they are the same ones carrying the most prejudices towards Wil. On the other hand, those who understand the simple difference between an artist and his art will discover Wil’s stories are a delightful read, laced with a sentimental yet amused tone, written with both humour and dignity. Beneath all of it in quiet repose is an artist who genuinely wants to do what he was meant to do.

Dancing Barefoot isn’t just a book about a famous geek seeking answers to his own questions, it’s a lens with which we can all see the world of celebrity in a real light. Recommended!

Again, I am left speechless. I mean, it’s amazing enough that all these people like my book. But the fact that they are people I positively worship . . . it’s . . . well, sorry, mom, but I have to say it: