The Last Unicorn is one of my all-time favorite books, so when I found that its author Peter S. Beagle would be in Minneapolis for a special screening of the movie, I knew I had to go. My roommate Chelsea agreed to come along.

It’s safe to say we had no idea what we were getting into.

The Riverview in Minneapolis is a 1950s-style theater, and it was packed to the gills with an eclectic bunch that night: bronies, high fantasy enthusiasts, Lady Amalthea cosplayers, and even someone in a unicorn “suit.”

There was Q&A with Peter Beagle (in which he said of one of his favorite lines, “It was either dumb luck or some kind of blessing”– my thoughts here), and the movie was fun (it’s been a while since I’ve seen it). Afterward, Chelsea and I waited in line for nearly two hours in order to meet Peter himself.

I had so many things I wanted to tell him– how much his novel mattered to me, my favorite line from it (“He thought, or said, or sang, I did not know that I was so empty, to be so full.“), what a huge fan I am … but what (lamely) ended tumbling out of my mouth was that I am a writer too and that my first book is being released next year. Peter was so sweet; he signed my book and smiled and said softly, “I remember that feeling.” Then he told me, “Don’t believe your best or your worst reviews.”

All in all, it was a fun, strange, lovely evening.