This week we’re writing about the authors we fangirl over. For me, that doesn’t just mean I love their books, but that I love them as a person – or at least the person they present – and get ridiculously excited about anything they do. Often, I’ve learned a lot from these authors – from their fiction, yes, but also from what they’ve shared online.
Seanan McGuire is the first to come to mind. Reading her many series alone is a masterclass in craft and adaptability. She writes horror, fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, urban fantasy – basically anything under the speculative fiction umbrella. And she does so with deceptive ease. Not only that, she’s worked hard to make her worlds inclusive.
It’s always weird to remark about an author as a person, since you don’t really know them, not really, but her online persona has always been welcoming and kind, and the kinds of things she talks about and boosts have opened my eyes to so many issues. Again, it seems effortless. Again, I know it’s not.
Cherie Priest is an equally versatile and amazing author, whose work ranges from Southern gothic (Fathom, Four and Twenty Blackbirds) to steampunk (Boneshaker) to gothic horror (Maplecroft) to modern ghost stories (the Family Plot). She has, likewise, been a kind and open persona and shared quite a bit of the nitty gritties of her publishing journey over the years.
I think about one story of hers in particular quite often, a moment of despair before she hit it big with Boneshaker, when she wondered if she should even keep going. Knowing that level of doubt and fear is normal in publishing, even for someone five to six books into their career, is incredibly helpful. Pushing through that doubt and persisting seems to be what sets career authors apart from the rest.
There are more authors I fangirl over – the entirety of the 2019 Debut Authors group, for one, all my agent sibling, for another – but those are in a much more personal, friend sort of way. Still, get me talking about any good book and you’ll see my inner fangirl come out.
Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash
