I bought this little paperweight at a science fiction convention maybe ten or fifteen years ago. As you can see, it has a little wear. In case you’re not familiar with its origins, ‘illusionist’ was one of the game roles in Dungeons and Dragons. While I’m not a real game player, I thought that my role as a writer certainly qualified me to use the term.
Over the years, this little chunk of rock would surface from time to time, and I tasted the idea again. Each time, I liked it. When the day came to pack up my desk at Motorola and leave for the last time, this was in the box. Today, that box is resting in the corner of my office, really untouched from the day I brought it home. The paperweight, however, is here in my desk drawer, where I see it every day.