Well Sand and I found a gold mine for meeting new authors. Yesterday we travelled about 30 miles south of Louisville, KY to an independent bookstore called The Bookstore to meet Toni Blake/Lacey Alexander, LuAnn McLane and Anya Bast. They were all great to talk to (since there weren't many people coming in we got to spend about an hour and half talking to them). We took a lot of books for them to sign and even purchased a few more while we were there.


Luann McLane, Sand, Anya Bast, ctgmom, Toni Blake


The store has monthly author signings and in July we are going to see Lori Foster, Janice Maynard, Dianne Castell, Linda Jacobs and Jules Bennett. In October the store is hosting a large signing with 17 authors confirmed at this time and she (the manager) is hoping to get a few more. Some months they even go out to dinner with the authors after the signings and the public is invited and we will be doing this in July and October.

I've got to start carrying a notebook with me to these things so that when authors give us some inside information I won't forget it. Maybe Sand will remember some of what the authors told us about upcoming stull. I do remember that LuAnn will have another book coming out in Jan 08 that will be the third in her cowboy series and Anya's "Witch" series will hopefully be four books.

I met Jasper Fforde last Summer here in Vienna, Austria.

He is so funny in real life! He could do stand up!

How cool! I need to pick up some of his books. I've never read any of his but I have heard they are really good. I would also like to meet Christopher Moore and Jeff Strand.

I found The Bookstore's web site, but didn't see any mention of the October signing. Do you have any inside info as to the identities of the seventeen authors?

I've met:

Jeanne C. Stein
Christopher Moore
John Grogan
Chuck Barris
Victoria Laurie
Stephen Woodworth
Vendela Vida
Mary Guterson
Thisbe Nissen
Curtis Sittenfeld
Wil Wheaton
Anthony Rapp
Ursula K. LeGuin
Nadia & Teri Nowak

You hit events like Wordstock and you can meet a lot. I hope to go up for it again this year.

The only one I've met was Denise Dennis!

I've met and had an extended conversation with Robin Hobb (really super nice woman). I went to a reading/signing for George R.R. Martin and had my picture taken with him. And I went to a panel at a convention with some medieval mystery writers - Sharan Newman, Alan Gordon, Candace Robb, and Margaret Frazer - which was a wonderful experience.

Let's see. It was at ArmadilloCon in Texas when I met Robin Hobb, so I got to meet a few more authors there. The ones that I remember most are Martha Wells and Elizabeth Moon.

Not a dang one! :pout: I need to get out more. I'd have to got to Huntsville or most likely Birmingham, Nashville or Memphis. :erm:

She hopes to get it up on the website in the next couple of weeks. I do know that Toni and Anya will be back and I believe LuAnn also (they all live within 2 hours of the store). Also Shiloh Walker is one I remember. Sand may be able to remember some of the others.

I've only met cookbook authors John Folse and Paula Deen.

I have also been penpals/ friends with Jennifer Lancaster long before she was an author so I guess that counts too.

Oh, and one of my co-wokers wrote an Algebra text book. In Chinese. :wacko:

ETA: John Biguenet (HOT!!! :luv: :luv: :luv: ) was one of my English Lit professors. :drool: I think every girl who he ever taught remembers him.

Also, Rexanne Becnel was my boss for my college work study and at the time stuggling to get her first book published. I just looked her up on amazon and she has quite the body of work these days.

I've met Ursula Le Guin - she is totally cool! I blathered on like an idiot at the signing but she was so kind and polite. I remember I mentioned that I loved the diversity of the characters in her books, and she smiled and said, "Everyone is welcome in my universe."

I also briefly met Timothy Findley at a signing when I was in university - a few years later he wound up being one of my favourite authors, and as he's since passed away my signed copy of The Wars is now one of my treasures.

Since I majored in English Lit & writing at university I had a few writers as professors - MT Kelly, Don Coles & Elisabeth Harvor. Nice people, especially Don Coles. Susan Swan was on the faculty but I never had a class with her.

I remember that J.R. Ward & Shiloh Walker will be there for sure. (obviously remembered the paranormal ones ;) ) I can't recall the others off hand, but they are hoping to get it posted on the site semi-soon. It should be a lot of fun because there will be an opportunity to go to dinner with them. CTGMOM, Noumena12, and I are going to go down to meet the authors CTGMOM mentioned above next month and go to dinner with them as well. :dance: :w00t2:

I've met Suzanne Brockmann and Alesia Holliday (who also writes as Alyssa Day).

I missed out on meeting Charlaine Harris and Susan Elizabeth Phillips when they were in town.

I would have loved to have met Paula Deen but the book store required you to purchase a $25 ticket for the signing. :angry: If I'm purchasing the book, then I fail to see why I need to buy a ticket.

I've met:

James Patterson
Ruth Reichl
Stephen Woodworth
Kent Haruf

and I've talked to Silas House on the phone.

Show off :lol: ;)

I've met at the SC convention The Carolina Cousins, Nancy Pate and Meg Herndon. And of course our own Susan (WOM)

That's about it :erm:

I met Roald Dahl at the Puffin Book Club convention when I was a kid. I don't think I really realised how amazing that was at the time!

Just had to find this thread out because I took DD1 (11) to a Jacqueline Wilson book signing yesterday! Will post a picture later, but DD thought it was worth the hour wait for Jacqueline's signature!

I've met both Terry Brooks, Ann Rule and Leslie Rule being as how they are natives here in Seattle.

I've also met Ann Rice, Bertrice Small, and James Patterson.

I met Preston McClear in person.

I haven't met any others in person, but have met quite a few online through my reviews and have made a few friends that I keep in touch with that way.

Hubby called Orson Scott Card on the phone when he was in elementary school to do a book report on him. He was out of town, but his wife answered his questions. :lol:

I"ve met Barbara Kingsolver and Amy Tan

I forgot to say I met Ian Rankin the other week :) even though I don't like Rebus!

I have tickets to go see Ian Rankin in a few weeks. I am really looking to it!

He is a really good speaker Amb - and a REAL flirt as well! I did enjoy the talk and I really want to like Rebus but ..... grrrrr

I am going to another thing at waterstones next week - a crime panel. Looking forward to that :)

I enjoy Rebus but more than anything I love Scotland and Edinburgh. So I like reading the books and knowing where the places mentioned are and I also enjoy the storyline.

It will be interesting to see what he will be like! I know he will have to speak English so it will be fun to see if the Austrians understand him! In my experience the Austrians just don't get the 'British Humour' and I end up laughing my head off and everyone thinks I am crazy ;)

I did meet Michael J. Denaut last month. He was kinda cool. I haven't read his book yet... :giggle:

I've met Dorothy Cannell and Joan Hess (had a nice chat and got books signed) and I went to see David Sedaris, but didn't stick around to meet him afterwards- too many people!
Oh yeah, I've met (smiled, shook hands, moved on) David Baldacci.

I've met
Anne McCaffrey,
Jody Lynn Nye,
Andre Norton (when I was VERY young),
William Shatner,
Shannon Hale,
Libba Bray,
Maria V. Snyder (several times),
Shobhan Bantwal,
Mo Williems,
Padma Lakshmi,
Stephenie Meyer and several I can't think o fnaming since I went to Book Expo last year I spent about 5 hours of my time just hopping author signing lines to get get free new books by authors I never heard of before (to find new ones).

But that's brilliant! You get a free book signed by an author? I mean you are right that's a great way to be introduced to new books.

Also I wanted to ask: how was meeting Stephenie Meyer? Was it at a bookstore? Was it really packed?

I've just been to a reading of British author with Ukrainian background Marina Lewycka "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian." She read from her new novel "Two caravans" and also gave a very interesting and amusing interview. Unfortunately her German publisher made so little advertisment that there was hardly anyone at that reading. She also signed a book for me.
Last week I also went to a reading of Cornelia Funke (for her new book Tintentod - Inkdeath). There were almost 1000 people.

Geez. I recognize a lot of names who I know through blogs. I've met a ton of authors over the years and studied with a bunch (Chuck Kinder, who may or may not have been the inspiration for Michael Chabon's The Wonder Boys, Reginald McKnight, Philip F. O'Connor, who wrote Stealing Home, more commonly known as the Baseball movie), but I regularly hang with Nancy Martin, Kathleen George, Rebecca Drake, and a few others -- joining groups like Sisters in Crime is a really good way to do that. SinC membership isn't restricted to writers, either. (hint!)

The Romantic Times Conference will be in Pittsburgh in April. The number of authors I'm going to meet face-to-face is staggering (Colleen Gleason, Jennifer Estep, Lisa Andel, Shane Gericke, Bonnie Vanak). And yet, I'm more excited about the workshops they'll be putting on.

Ask any author and they'll tell you that they love meeting their fans. Especially at in-store appearances, which can often be lonely things.