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Armchair BEA – Working with Authors

armchair-bea
Design from Amber of http://www.shelfnotes.com

The first writing prompt for today’s Armchair BEA is author interaction. Here’s the writing prompt:

Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger.

Total Fan Moment

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My favorite author is Diane Chamberlain. I stumbled upon that we live in the same town and both endure Rheumatoid Arthritis. I left work in a hurry on a hot, humid day (which turns my naturally curly hair into a psychotic, frizzy mess) to get my medicine. Imagine my surprise when I see Diane Chamberlain getting her med too. I was seriously star struck and she asked if we’d met before because I had such “distinctive hair” she thought she’d have remembered. Leave it to her to choose just the nicest words possible when I thought I was a hot mess and certainly not making a good impression. She told me she’d send me a copy of The Good Father which was coming out and when it arrived, she signed it for me! Besides the fact that Diane is a fantastic, beautiful writer, she’s a genuinely caring person. I’ve emailed her on Facebook a few times both about how her books impacted me and to discuss our health concerns. She emailed me back and the next time I ran into her, she saw me and hugged me!

Diane wrote on her Facebook page once that she practices looking at people and trying to envision what life might be like in their shoes. I wish more people took the time to not judge appearances but stop and really understand what battles another might be facing. After all, we all have battles going on in our lives. I think I love her books on a deeper level than others because we can relate to one another, her characters and stories strike a chord with me, and she’s just a sweetheart…I always love the good guys.

A Great Benefit to Book Blogging is Working with Authors

As my fan moment has shown, I am completely awestruck by famous people or even people I highly respect. I usually say less than intelligent, bumbling kind of things in their presence, my ability to think on my feet goes out the window. Besides developing relationships with other book lovers in the book blogging community, the greatest benefit of being a book blogger is online correspondence with authors. I love when an author or publicist contacts me about reading their book and seeing whether my reading preferences are a good fit for their book. I love bringing new authors to my readers, ones we may not have read otherwise. It’s so fun supporting debut authors, or participating in blog tours where the energy and love for reading is contagious.

In fact, here are my top 5 favorite books I got for review from authors since I started book blogging:

Ocean of Fear by Helen Hanson, technothriller, 4*
Monsoon Memories by Renita D’Silva, family drama set in India and the UK, 5*
Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen, forbidden interracial love story set in India during their Independence from Britain, 5*
Paris, Rue des Martyrs by Adria Cimino, dramatic and fast-paced story about how 4 characters’ lives are intertwined, set in Paris 4*
Here We are and There We Go by Jill Dobbe, a teacher’s expat experience moving her young family to 4 different countries, 4*

Who are your favorite authors? Which have you met or who would you like to meet? What do you enjoy about book blogging? Thanks for stopping by and as always, happy reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

13 Comments

  1. I met Diane Chamberlain back in February and she was definitely so sweet! I didn’t know she had RA. Man, I wish we could all stop coming down with these chronic illnesses. That would be my life’s dream!

  2. WOW, what an incredible coincidence! That sounds like a lovely experience. What a nice person ^^ Each of the books you mention in this post sound intriguing; I’ll have to check them out.

    1. Thanks for stopping by Reno. Yea, I had just finished one of her books and then there she is!!! Hope you are enjoying Armchair BEA too!

  3. How cool is that? To run into an author in your town doing everyday things. I have only seen them at book signings. And I tend to bumble then too.

    I haven’t read any of Diane Chamberlain’s books. I will have to check them out.

    1. It was pretty surreal considering I had just finished reading one of her books. I guess maybe she’s used to fans bumbling, she took it in total stride. I haven’t been disappointed by any of her books, but Midwife’s Confession and The Good Father are still my favorites. Thanks for stopping by!

    1. I think meeting her really helped seal the deal for her being my favorite author. I haven’t met any others but when you feel a personal connection to their stories and then get to make that connection with the author too, it’s pretty special. Thanks for stopping by Freda, and yea, hopefully she doesn’t think I’m a stalker 🙂

  4. What a fabulous run-in with a writer and a beautiful post. I don’t think I’ve read anything by Diane Chamberlain, but I want to now after reading about your experience. I’d love to meet Sarah Waters, but don’t think she does much touring in the US.

  5. The author interaction was one thing I never dreamed would become so prolific when I first started blogging. It was pre-Twitter and thus not quite as easy to get ahold of one’s faves. And that was also before authors and the publishing industry got wind of bloggers and their effectiveness in marketing. Times, how they change. Great post, Tanya!

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