Book Blogger Hop - Who Have You Met?

Okay, this week’s question for book bloggers is ... which writer s have you met? And where did you meet them? 

You’re kidding, right? Mind you, the web site where I found this question had an impressively long list. It’s just that I can’t remember them all. I’ve been at so many conventions and children’s lit events and library conferences that they blur together. And the writer community in Australia is not big. Chances are that sooner or later you’ll run into most of them, especially if you’re in children’s or SF fandom. 

But I’ll just mention a few off the top of my head. They are all people I’ve actually spoken to, or had speak to me personally, not just those I’ve heard. It narrows it down a bit and even so, there are plenty more I won’t have mentioned.

Off The Top Of My Head

Robert Bloch - at Cinecon in Melbourne. Very pleasant! And funny. I remember him sitting with us one evening and chatting. As he was leaving, he turned to the most silent member of our group and said, “You talk too much!”

Jack Dann - various conventions over the years. Delightful man! Very friendly, calls everybody his pals.

Juliet Marillier - I attended her fairy tale workshop at Swancon. A very knowledgeable lady! She really know her fairy tales and uses them in her writing.We’ve been in occasional email contact since then and she has been interviewed on this site. 

Justine Larbalestier - at SF conventions. 

Susan Cooper - at a library conference in Hobart. But I couldn’t speak, too overwhelmed with fan girlishness.

Jan Needle - same conference. A very funny man who looks a bit like Harlan Ellison and writes depressing YA fiction! 

Melina Marchetta - at a YA event at the State Library. I got a hug for giving her such a good review - well deserved! 

Margo Lanagan - various conventions. Stops for a chat. Nice lady! 

George R R Martin - at a tiny convention in a motel in Melbourne many years ago, just before he finished Fevre Dream. That was before anyone except SF fans had heard of him and he sat chatting with us all in the motel foyer. We couldn’t afford him now! 

Queenie Chan - graphic novel writer and illustrator who lives in Sydney these days. We did a panel together at Continuum. Lovely lady! 

David Gerrold - at two conventions, Con Amore in Queensland and one at a small convention in a suburban motel in Melbourne. Very enjoyable company; a couple of us took him out to dinner and interviewed him for a fanzine. 

Terry Pratchett - was kind enough to speak to the children at Aussiecon 3. I was running the children’s program. I also met him briefly at a Discworld convention in Melbourne. 

Some children’s writers

Morris Gleitzman- the new Aussie Children’s Laureate, whom I once chatted to at a Penguin Books evening, when I had to admit my students had chosen to hear Andy Griffiths instead at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. That was rectified last year when we went to hear him. Different kids. 

Andy Griffiths, Felice Arena - two true gentlemen! I met them both at the YABBA Awards. 

Gabrielle Wang - at various book launches and SCBWI events.  Lovely, gentle lady, the author of beautiful fantasy for kids.

Anna Ciddor - various children’s literature events. Most recently at the Jewish Writers Festival. Author of The Family With Two Doors and a lot of Viking-themed children’s fantasy novels. A funny, delightful lady - and I went to school with her husband! 

Ellie Marney - Reading Matters and Continuum. She writes about a teenage Holmes and (female)Watson in modern Melbourne. A fellow schoolmarm. 

Michael Pryor - various conventions. My favourite of his fiction was a YA steampunk series called The Laws of Magic.