The Three Most Famous Authors I've Ever Met

A Post By Jonathan

I'm a whole day late on my blog post, but it's okay. I forgive myself. I thought I would have more time to write during this business trip I'm on, but alas, not so much. And considering I had to boot a video game playing teenager off the hotel's sole business center computer to get this written, I'm lucky it wasn't a few days later...

Anyway, I've been thinking about writing on this topic for a little while, and the recent success of one of the writers I follow prompted me to finally pen it. My only hesitation was that it might come off a tad pretentious, but everyone loves to play the which famous celebrities have you met game, so why not apply this to authors? I mean, most of us aspiring authors out there hope to someday become household names or have a movie made from our books, so why not just go ahead an admit it/spotlight it?

Of course, no author is more famous than my colleagues here at Across the Board, though believe it or not, I have yet to meet a one of them in person, so unfortunately they don't fit the parameters! Guys, we have to get some kind of five year reunion (union?) in the works... Until then, and without further ado, I present to you the three most famous authors I've ever met, in no particular order. My hope is that you, dear readers, will list the famous authors you've met (and hopefully one-up me) in the comments below.

Famous Author #1: Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is by far the most famous author I have ever met. Believe it or not, he was the first author I ever met!

Right around the time I first started writing fiction, I was lucky enough to be working at a university that hosted a writing conference, where Card was the keynote speaker. By that time I had already read Ender's Game (and the other books in the series) and was already a big fan.

Surprisingly, not a lot of people seemed to recognize him, or were aware of his work, so I had a little bit of time to ask him questions and get a book (Ender's Game of course) signed by him.

Actually, I was a little too nervous to ask any questions, but I did tell him that I was a huge fan of his work and that he was the reason why I "try" to write.

He was like, "Write or do not write. There is no try." More so, he said, "You try to write? You mean you put pen to paper and it just won't move?"

It was a little embarrassing, but what the heck, I was starstruck! He signed my book, "A survival guide for geniuses." So freakin' cool!

Card is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels. If you have never read his books, I highly recommend you do. His book on writing, "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" is excellent as well.

Famous Author #2: Karen Dionne

I have mentioned the formerly awesome forums at the now defunct bksp.org. Much of the reason they are defunct is because their founder, Karen Dionne, hit the big time with her recent book, The Marsh King's Daughter and no longer had the time or resources to designate to the running of the site.

They are actually making a movie out of the book starring Alicia Vikander. She won the Oscar for her role in The Danish Girl and is playing Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider reboot. She was also the star of Ex Machina, a totally awesome Sci Fi flick.

I met Karen at the Backspace A Writer's Place conference in New York City. She probably remembers me best for the dude who lost his cell phone and kept bugging me about it. She found it by the way.

Anyway, she is an amazing woman and was amazingly nice to me-- and supportive of my writing and writing concerns on bksp.org. As sad as I am that that site is gone, I am super happy for Karen and her success.

Famous Author #3: A.S. King

I met A.S. King at the same conference where I met Karen (I haven't been out much since then;). She was one of the panelists at one of the sessions I attended and we talked a little afterwards. I again stuck my foot in my mouth when I called her "Stella", which is the name she went by on the forums, instead of A.S. She was very nice about it and told me she understood the confusion. 

Anyway, she had only published a couple of books by that point, but now she is described as "one of the best .Y.A. Writers working today" by the New York Times Review. Her titles include, The Dust of 100 Dogs (which I loved), Still Life with Tornado, I Crawl Through It and more.  

She has won the Michael L. Printz Honor, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The Amelia Walden Award, and The Carolyn Field Award. 

It's authors like her, and Karen, and Orson who inspire me and let me know that if I keep working toward my goal I too can achieve unequivocal success one day. 

That's my list, please leave yours, and thanks for reading! Now there is another person who's hovering around computer, so I gots to go. 

Cheers all!