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Monday, February 12, 2018

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. 


4 comments:

Sue Purkiss said...

I had the same feeling when I went to a talk by Susan Cooper! I was sitting next to Jo Cotterill, and she went up and got a picture with her and everything, but I went all shy and hung back. Story of my life!

Sue Bursztynski said...

I think that talk is up on YouTube, must watch it! She was here for a library conference in Hobart where everyone was a school librarian, so of course, EVERYBODY got tongue-tied!

Maria Behar said...

WOW!! You're not only met an impressive number of authors, but some BIG NAMES, too!! I would LOVE to be able to meet David Gerrold, Robert Bloch, Terry Pratchet, and George R.R. Martin!! I would probably be struck dumb, though. Lol.

As for Juliet Marillier, I don't know that much about her, but I did feature the cover of one of her books, "Wildwood Dancing", in a meme I have, titled "Shelf Candy Saturday". I publish this meme every week. It's a GORGEOUS cover!! I need to read the book, lol!

As for the other authors, I'm not familiar with them at all, so I will look them up on Goodreads.

Thanks for sharing! Thanks as well for commenting on my own BBH post!! <3 :)

BTW, you really should link up to the blog hosting this meme. That way, more people can find your own post. You can link up this post at the link below. This blog hop/book meme is published every Friday, and a linkup widget is provided with every post.

http://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/2018/02/book-blogger-hop-february-9th-15th.html#more

Each week, a new question is posted. Any blogger can contribute questions. You can find out which question will be featured each week, too, so you can plan your posts. You can see the schedule of upcoming posts at the link below.

http://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/p/blog-page.html

It's nice to see new people participating! So welcome to the Hop, but don't forget to link up!

Have a GREAT weekend!! <3 :)


Sue Bursztynski said...

Welcome to my blog, Maria! You’ll never meet Terry Pratchett now, alas! He passed away a couple of years ago. Robert Bloch has been gone for some time, Juliet Marillier - a lovely lady, but you may need to go to an Australian con to meet her. She lives in Western Australia. Anything by her is great, especially if you love fairy tales. Standalone books are best, she does a lot of series, but also standalone ones such as Heart’s Blood(Beauty and the Beast in mediaeval Ireland). David Gerrold is fun. You may get a chance to meet him some time. George R.R Martin - forget it! Except, perhaps in a mile long signing queue. The days when you could sit in the hotel lobby and chat with him, as I did, are long gone.

Yeah, I may sign up for the blog hop some time soon. Right now I’m just using it for starters. I need a nudge. Last year I finally signed up for the A to Z Challenge, glad I did - I met some terrific folk, started following some great blogs and got a few more followers for mine. But it took a while.