I’ve been really lucky to have met a lot of authors and honestly MOST of my favorite authors. Between having a decent amount of events come to Philly area and being close to New York, I’ve been SO lucky to see so many great authors! It’s always memorable to meet an author whose books I have enjoyed and chat with them or an author who you’ve chatted with for YEARS and then finally get to meet (cough *that time I met Morgan Matson after YEARS of loving her books*) but here are some of my most memorable author moments in my seven years of blogging. I hope you’ll share some of your most memorable author meetings with me in the comments!
1. That time I got to celebrate my birthday with Gayle Forman:
Okay so technically it wasn’t my FIRST time meeting Gayle. I had been lucky to meet Gayle, one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE AUTHORS, a bunch of times between her coming to Philly a couple times for events and me going to NYC to events she was at. She is literally my favorite — so smart, so interesting, funny and I LOVE HER BOOKS SO MUCH. She was coming to our area on my birthday and I tweeted her that I was happy to be spending my birthday at her event and she’s like I’M BRINGING YOU A CAKE. And like….she actually did. And the whole crowd at my favorite local indie bookstore sang to me. Birthday 2013? ONE OF THE BEST BIRTHDAYS EVER. Gayle is The Best.
2. That time I met my childhood idol:
The day I got to meet RL Stine was one of the best days ever. He was a huge part of the reason why I was a reader — I devoured his Goosebumps books and his Fear Street books were the only books that (besides Christopher Pike) that I was reading as a teen. I was at BEA, at the Macmillan booth, talking to a publicist I knew and I see him walking by. I’m like IS THAT RL STINE??? And she’s like yeah you wanna meet him? And I’m like YES UM OMG WHAT DO I SAY?!? Then she introduced us and he’s like “Hi, call me Bob!” CALL ME BOB? OKAY BOB OMG HI BOB AHHH. I know I babbled about how much I loved his books but I barely remember. I didn’t pass out. I know that much. I saw him the next year walking around with his wife and I said hi to him real quickly and he was just SO NICE and so down to earth. It’s scary to meet a childhood idol…it could have gone really badly and I would be scarred for life. But he was even better than I had imagined.
3. That time I had 20 seconds to speak to John Green:
I went to the National Book Fest quite a few years ago and John Green was there signing. The line was SO LONG (they only had 2 hours to sign but he stayed until everyone got through) and so you only had like 20 seconds to speak to him and snap a pic while he was signing your book. I was figuring out what I was going to say and decided on “I GOT MARRIED LAST YEAR AND USED ONE OF YOUR QUOTES IN MY CEREMONY” and he looked at me very genuinely and said, “hey that’s really awesome!” I later went on to make a fool of myself when I got to be on a conference call interview with him and we were told we were muted when it wasn’t our turn and IT TURNS OUT WE WEREN’T…and I was the moron who, when my husband came home, was like OMG OMG OMG LISTEN IT’S JOHN GREEEEEEEEEN and then added, “don’t worry I’m muted he can’t hear me.” And then he stopped…..and laughed…and said “hey you actually aren’t muted!”
4. That time I got to meet Elizabeth Wein in a very small, intimate setting:
I looooved Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity and it was our book club’s first book so we all went to her event when we found out she was coming to our area. It was just book club plus like one other person and we got to sit in a circle with her and chat in such an intimate setting. She’s such an interesting woman and it was so nice to hear cool things about the book and the research and just other stuff. One of those rare author events where you really get to know an author and spend time with them since the crowd was so small!
5. That time I got to meet and interview one of The Biggest Deals In YA and she was the nicest and most down to earth ever:
Sarah Dessen….queen of YA. I adore her books and I adored her even more getting to meet her and interview her before the event at my local indie. She was such a delight to talk to and so open and honest and I could just feel her passion. I loved talking about how the industry and YA scene has changed, her career over all those years, and more! Here’s the interview if you are interested — she was so candid and wonderful and it was so nice to see that from someone who is literally the biggest YA author out there with such a long and wonderful career.
So tell me…what are some of your most memorable author meetings? Are there any authors that are like on the TOP of your list that you want to meet?
Top Ten Tuesday, as always, is hosted at my other blog — The Broke & the Bookish. This week’s topic was all about authors you want to meet or authors you have met.
PS. Wondering how to find out about book events in your area? I got you!
Melissa Lee says
Rick Riordan was at the very top of my list and when I met him I just diiiiied 😶 He was super sweet!!! Tamora Pierce is someone who I am dying to meet still.
Jamie says
OH MAN that is awesome! I feel like Rick Riordan is such a huge popular author…so exciting! I think if I had to pick one I’m still dying to meet (besides JK Rowling) it would be Melina Marchetta! I feel like that’s never going to happen *sob*
Anne@Headfullofbooks says
I met John Green before he was uber popular but he was still extremely nervous. I wonder if he has gotten over his social anxiety. My TTT
Jamie says
From what I hear it is something he still struggles with! I can’t imagine how hard it’s been as he’s surged in popularity over the years.
Chrissi Reads says
Your experiences really made me smile! 🙂 It’s clear how special they are to you! I haven’t been lucky enough to experience anything like you have but I loved living through your experiences.
Jamie says
They really are such good memories…I’ve been really lucky! Here’s to some memorable author encounters in your future! 🙂
Amy says
My all time favorite author experience was definitely meeting Morgan Matson. She was at yallwest in 2015 and I was dying to meet her because I’ve loved all of her books but her signing time ended up being right after I had to leave. I tweeted something about being bummed that I wouldn’t get to meet her, and she responded and ended up meeting up with me earlier in the day to sign my books. She was the sweetest person ever, and we talked about how I have the same name as Amy from Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour! It’s been a country le of years and I still can’t believe how nice she was to come to me since I couldn’t come to her.
Jamie says
ISN’T SHE THE BEST? I loved meeting her after years of loving her books and chatting with her online! She is seriously so wonderful to her fans!
Jess @ Curiouser and Curiouser says
Wow, you’ve had some brilliant experiences! There’s nothing better than when you meet an author and they turn out to be even nicer than you hoped they’d be. =)
Jamie says
Right?? It’s always scary to meet someone whose work you love. I’ve had a few times where I DIDN’T have good experiences with authors whose books I loved and it’s so hard to reconcile.
Lori says
I love all of these, Jamie! I would love to met Gayle, Sarah, and Elizabeth too! I’ve had some fantastic experiences meeting authors at the Decatur Book Festival. It’s always so much fun.
Jamie says
I hope you get to meet them all some day!!
Kyra says
Aww they’re all so nice!😭💖 I’d love to meet Gayle Forman and Sarah Dessen as I adore their books! Since moving to England I’ve been lucky enough to meet my all time favourite author (Derek Landy) as well as some of my other favourite authors (Holly Bourne, Holly Smale and LAINI FREAKING TAYLOR). I always babble and flail too much because I’m awkward like that 😂
Jamie says
I hope you get to meet Gayle and Sarah one day…you won’t be disappointed!!! And wow…you’ve met some really awesome authors!!
Kate @ Midnight Book Girl says
Gayle Forman is amazing! I really should have added her to my list! One of the best events I’ve gone to was with her and Maggie Stiefvater- they’re discussion was so amazing and actually enlightening. She’s just so kind, and I love that she brought you birthday cake! Best birthday ever!
My Top Ten Tuesday
Jamie says
Oh man I bet her and Maggie were awesome together! Every time I’ve seen Gayle either solo or on a panel she’s been so great! One of my favorite was one she did with jenny Han and a few others at book con and it was all about friendship! It was great!
Nessa Luna says
I would still love to meet J.K. Rowling of course, but also Marissa Meyer, Sarah J. Maas, Rick Riordan who are some of my favourite authors! My TTT!
Jamie says
JK Rowling would be a dreaaaam! I’ve been lucky enough to meet Marissa Meyer and Sarah…hope that you get to some day! And man….I wonder how crazy a Rick Riordan event would be! It would have to be so crowded! I think he came to my area a few years ago but I couldn’t go!
Leandra says
I love getting to see author/reader meetings. And the fact that Gayle Forman brought you a cake?! Awe.Some. I haven’t met any of my favorites (yet), but Maggie Stiefvater did reply to a fan email I sent, which I’ll always treasure!
Jamie says
I LOVE when author’s reply to fan emails! I hope you get to meet some of your faves soon 🙂
Mariela says
I love that she brought you a cake! That is great!
I always wanted to go to the DC book festival! maybe this year I convince my husband to go with me because I don’t know how to get to DC by myself.
My TTT.
Jamie says
Right?? When she said it on Twitter I didn’t think she actually meant it and I totally didn’t expect it…I mean, it was her event!!
The National Book Fest is really awesome! The first time I went to it I went with my now husband and we made a day of it. He doesn’t read but managed to enjoy some of the panels they had…especially because some sports guy spoke in one tent so he liked that haha
Lauren @ Bookmark Lit says
Aww these are great! I love your Dessen and Forman stories.
I’ve only met Leigh Bardugo at BEA 2015. She was so nice and I was such a moron, babbling about how she was the first author I’ve ever met. She was like “aw I’m honored!”
Jamie says
Awww I love that Leigh was your first author! She’s so delightful and wonderful to her fans! (I met her when I hadn’t read her books so it wasn’t like a OMG HUGE FAN moment but I thought she was awesome).
Now I’m trying to think about who the first author *I’ve* ever met was. I thiiiiink maybe it was at this small event that a blogger put on in my area and it had some local Philly/Jersey area authors. I think most of them were smaller press and I didn’t really know many of them but I discovered a lot (though a bunch were paranormal authors bc it was 2010 which I discovered wasn’t my thing as much). I was a newer blogger (like 3 months in) and it was my first time meeting other bloggers and I was JUST really getting into YA so I was just buying random shit lol So it was probably Cyn Balog and Jennifer Murgia if I had to guess. BUT the first bigger author I met that I KNEW was Lauren Oliver.
Cholla says
What a great list! R. L. Stine was like THE MAN when I was a kid!
I’ve gotten to meet Vicki Pettersson a couple times since she’s local half the year. 🙂 Nothing makes you feel better as a reader than when the author remembers you!
Here is my TTT.
Jamie says
RIGHT? Even the kids in my class who didn’t like reading LOOOOOOVED RL Stine. I had all those Goosebumps books and as a teen I seriously lived for his fear street series and honestly all his other horror novels.
And YES I loooove when an author remembers me. OR when they recognize me from Twitter or my blog name! That’s always nice!
Madalyn @ Novel Ink says
Sarah Dessen made my list this week, too! I would love to meet Gayle Forman someday. And of course I’d love to meet John Green! I’ve been in the same room with him before (I went to the TFIOS movie premiere in my city, and he and the cast were all there), but never actually gotten to talk to him or get my books signed. Your story about the conference call is hilarious!!
Jamie says
I hope you get to meet Gayle someday!! And how cool that you went to the TFIOS premiere!! And yeahhhhh…at least if I ever meet him again I will be like I WAS THAT GIRL WHO WASN’T MUTED ON THE CONFERENCE CALL AND MADE A FOOL OF HERSELF….unless that’s happened to him before haha. Or maybe it wasn’t as memorable to him as it was to me
Jessica @ a GREAT read says
Oohh nice!! That’s so cool! I love meeting authors! That feeling truly never gets old! Great post!
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Jamie says
It really doesn’t!!
Sarah J. says
Aw! I love hearing about author meetings! Spending your bday with Gayle Forman must have been so amazing! I got to meet her at a RT Booklover’s Convention when I was in high school and I was so starstruck because I loved her books so much in middle and high school. I met a bunch of authors at the convention, but the one that sticks out the most is Lisa Kleypas. I discovered her historical romance series, The Hathaways, when I was in seventh grade and my mom and I are huge fans. It was so awesome because she was the first author I had ever met and I also got to meet her with my mom!
Chrystal says
You rock at meeting authors. J mean a birthday cake and everything! 💙
Susan Elizabeth says
I got to see R.L. Stine talk at BookCon 2015 and he was ah-mazing! I didn’t get to meet him, though, because I was watching another panel while he was doing his signing — One day! He & Ann M. Martin were my childhood role models (and let’s be honest, they’re still my role models today). In the panel, they were calling him “Bob” and it was so weird!
Susan Elizabeth says
And that Gayle Forman birthday cake story is so cool!!
Elizabeth says
Those are awesome stories! I got to meet my favorite author, Sharon Kay Penman when she came on a book tour to Seattle!! I told her via Facebook that I’d be flying from Alaska to meet her and then she showed up to her book reading and stated that she felt so bad that I and someone from Victoria had flown so far that she’d bought cupcakes for both of us! I really hope someday to go on an Academic Travel Abroad tour when Penman leads one again!
Jordon @ Simply Adrift says
Hahaha I looove these memories! They’re so funny! I feel like you’ve had some real memorable moments with awesome authors.
How cool is it that Gayle Forman brought you cake AND everyone sang to you?!?
I actually haven’t met any authors ever. I’m from New Zealand so of course there are never any authors visiting NZ, it’s too far away. Now that I live in London though I haven’t really thought about it, like do authors even tour to the UK? I really need to look this up.
I would love to meet Juliet Marillier (She’s my all time favourite author), and then also Sarah J. Maas (I totally think we would make awesome friends), Marissa Meyer, Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner, Jay Kristoff & Richelle Mead o_o
Jamie says
I’ve been SO SO lucky with meeting authors and having great encounters!
And oh my gosh please let me hook you up with some awesome book bloggers based out of London. They go to all sorts of book events in London and have all sorts of fun and are SO WELCOMING. They will keep you in the know. I met a few of them when they came to BEA a couple years ago and then when Will and I went to London last year we met up with them for dinner. They are so great!! Are you on Twitter? Tweet me @brokeandbookish and I can introduce you to them!
Jordon @ Simply Adrift says
Arghh yes please!! My twitter handle is @simply.adrift 😀