Authors are People Too

Oh man, I'm so bummed to hear that I missed Steve Kluger at Porter Square Books - and I could have gotten there so easily, too!  Guess I've got to keep my eyes and ears open about who's coming to my area. I'm lucky to live in a city that offers a wealth of these kind of opportunities, the trick is not missing out. I got to go to a couple of really cool author readings last fall (Junot Diaz, John! Green!), but that feels like forever ago.

Going to readings is always so inspiring to me as a writer. Though so many of my favorites are downright intimidating in their talent, it's nice to be reminded that authors are people who sweated it out behind the near-perfect little packages that amount to a finished book, people who maybe choose ugly shirts or get nervous in front of crowds. It helps to keep me from being scared away from writing on the grounds that I'll never measure up. Does that make sense?

I love author blogs for similar reasons, though I get different things out of each one. Some I enjoy because they so funny and inventive (Maureen Johnson), others because they are delightfully chatty in a way that sheds light onto their everyday lives and real personalities (Meg Cabot, Deb Garfinkle, Sarah Dessen), still others I find inspiring and helpful in terms of the writing process (Laurie Halse Anderson). And some are just plain bad ass (Lois Lowry). I read so many I could never list them all in here (though most I've linked as "Avengers" ) but I think they are such a great communicative tool, and for me they are encouraging as well as entertaining. And occasionally they alert me to a book tour coming to a location near me.

Written material copyright 2009 Dawn A. Emerman

Comments

[Debby G.]

Thanks for the shout out.

I hope you're doing well.