I have a crazy idea. I've been reading his blog back to front, and am currently as far as "May 2005". And the thing he keeps saying he wants most is his own island.

Recently, it was his birthday. These two came together, and now I have A Crazy Idea to End All Crazy Ideas.

I know there are places that rent tropical islands in their entirety for a week, a month, a weekend, etc. How cool would it be for all of us, all the fans, all the readers all over the world, to get together and donate a few dollars, euros, rubles, etc apiece and get Neil his own island for a vacation?

He does so much for all of us, both with his writing and with being an unfailing gentleman at signings and such no matter how long the lines and no matter how late the hour, that wouldn't it be nice to do something cool in return?

Obviously, this would require massive amounts of planning, but as Neil so often points out on his blog, we collectively know everything. If we work together, I bet we could do it.

Oh, and a further note- five minutes of research show me this is even more do-able than I thought. I've already found an island in the Florida Keys and an interesting possibility in Ireland, the former renting for a bit over $5,000 a week, and the latter for a bit over 6,000 euros. Split between enough people, that's really not bad at all... if even a few hundred contributed, say, five or ten bucks, we'd be set. The issue would be getting the word out...