This was a crazy week for me: I won not just one, but two book giveaways! Usually, if there's any kind of contest, I'm sure to lose it -- so I was in shock when Rosalind wrote a comment on my blog that I'd won a copy of Nicola Morgan's newest book, Wasted. And even better, Nicola herself asked me if I wanted to meet up for the handover! Nicola is an author you can't help but admire. She's had over 90 books published and persevered for years to break into the industry. She also dispenses incredibly useful and forthright advice at her blog, Help! I Need a Publisher. A self-described 'crabbit old bat', I have to admit I was slightly nervous at meeting her. Did she smile? Should I bring her chocolate to placate her? And what footwear would grace her tootsies?
I felt like I was blind dating. With every crabbity-looking woman that passed by, my lips formed an eager half-smile. Finally, a woman approximating Nicola's photo appeared and I stood to greet her. She wasn't crabbity-looking in the least -- what a disappointment! Sadly, I didn't get a chance to check out her shoes, as I was too busy chatting away. She's lovely, easy to talk to, and gave me some great advice. We talked about Twitter, steampunk, eReaders and more, and when she left for her train I was sorry to see her go. But I've got my copy of Wasted and I can't wait to delve in! I'll be doing a review once I'm done!
Is there an author you'd like to meet? Or an author you've already met who's helped you on your way?
(Thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments on my interview with Jen! And welcome all new followers!)
She sounds GREAT!!
ReplyDeleteOooh I won too--When You Reach Me! YAY!
That is so cool, for lack of a better word! I'm guessing she was wearing flats, but not the crabbity kind-the sensible kind.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to meet Margaret Atwood. And spend time in her garden. I'd also have liked to share a whiskey with Ernest Hemingway in Spain.
Congrats on the wins too!
I've met a few authors at conventions. They were all very nice. I was all lined up to meet Robert Jordan one time, and then they closed the line...and then he died, and I never got a chance to meet him. Sadness.
ReplyDeleteBut there are plenty that I'd still like to meet. :-)
Congratulations and how delightful! I read Nicola's blog and enjoy her advice and crabbity sense of humor. What a wonderful opportunity to meet her.
ReplyDeleteI would love to meet Neil Gaiman, but I'd probably be all fan-girly and unable to form proper sentences. The authors I have met, though, have always been gracious--Sherman Alexie, Anne Rice, Chris Abani, Susan Straight, Maxine Hong Kingston, Peter S. Beagle, Gayle Brandeis. Alyson Noel. Yeah, all of them great people.
Sounds like an neat adventure. Next thing you know, you'll be the accomplished author meeting nervous up and coming writers.
ReplyDeleteHmm... I'd like to meet Mark Twain. Even though I suspect he would immediately dislike me. The laughs would be worth getting sassed for.
Ooh cool! What fun, she does have a wonderful blog but I didn't realize she'd had 90 books published that's crazy.
ReplyDeleteI would love to meet JRR, or Neil Gaiman, or Johnathan Stroud or Chris Paolini, or all of them, but I would probably be too nervous to say anything I'm afraid.
Today's guest bloggers are Lisa and Laura Roecker!
I would love to meet Nicola! And you!
ReplyDeleteThat's a real boost, very encouraging to meet an author of so many books. There's one or two authors I'd like meet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link of Nicola's blog, I'll be checking it out because I do need a publisher!
CJ xx
How cool that you could meet her in person to get your prize. That's simply amazing!
ReplyDeleteWho I would want to meet depends on the book I'm reading at the time. There's so many great and talented writers out there :)
Gosh!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're in stellar company - you shook the hand of the Great Nicola Morgan. And did more. Wow.
I am in awe.
:-)
Take care
x
Awww, and you were lovely, too!! I am only nice with nice people. It's a chemistry thing - I simply cannot turn on any charm for arrogant or self-obsessed people, people who think a conversation is only them talking about themselves. (I met one of those last week...) So, if you thought i was lovely and easy to talk to, that says as much about you as anything!
ReplyDeleteAs to who I'd like to meet, well, I'm lucky enough to have met a lot of authors, often in the "yurt" at the Edinburgh Book Festival. I have met Margaret Atwood a couple of times, and she is scary. I think my two favourite "big names" are Ian Rankin and Alexander (Sandy) McCall Smith - I live near them (until I moved last month I was near-neighbours of both of them). They are both very different but very, very nice. Julia Donadlson is also lovely. Oh, and Margaret Drabble is another one I have chatted to quite often and she's lovely, too. I'm not going to mention anyone who's not lovely, but there are a few. I think it's all about ego - sometimes, a fragile ego produces a self-effacing, modest writer and sometimes it produces a desperate one.
One of my most special moments was meeting Alan garner and having him sign my copy of Weirdstone.
OMG I've forgotten my best moment: meeting Michel Faber and doing the fan thing and having the most amazing conversation. Actually, I wrote about it once - here's the url. I think you might enjoy it. (Hope you don't mind the hijack, Talli!). http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/2009/09/magic-yurt-nicola-morgan.html
Thanks again, Talli, and to everyone for commenting. Hope you enjoy Wasted.
PS for clarity, and because I'm a lot more scared than scary, I should emphasise that Margaret A was v nice and also interesting to talk to - but scary, too.
ReplyDeleteYay Talli!!! You're totally on a role! I won a book as well! I was so elated I never win a thing!
ReplyDeleteNicola sounds like an awesome author! I'll have to check her out! I'd love to meet Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Boy you are lucky this week!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd like to meet Stephen King. I live in NH and when I go to Maine, I always look for him hoping to see him crossing the street or shopping. So far, no luck!
How generous of Nicola to meet in person. It's always wonderful to talk a bit with authors willing to share their journey and advice too.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! Congrats! I have every hope for Nicola's new book.
ReplyDeleteWow, congrats on the bountiful blessings. You've worked hard; they're well-deserved. My confidence in your blog meant I had to follow your link to Nicola's blog. And, as always, your instincts were right. Thanks and have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to meet Dave Barry. I always loved how funny he is. I saw him perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders a few years ago, and he was great. It'd be cool to meet Natalie Goldberg too, and it'd be even better to take a writing workshop with her. Unfortunately, I doubt that she'll be coming to Chicago anytime soon; she seems like she prefers the types of settings that are more nature-oriented and out in the open.
ReplyDeleteI met Terry Brooks many, many years ago. Would like to meet Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child someday.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Talli! I can't even imagine meeting an author. Deidre Knight (the lit agent I hope to have someday) actually "spoke" to me over the internet on her Yahoo Group and I was starstruck-giddy for a week!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to land her as an agent, meet her in person and then do lunch with her and another of her clients, Gena Showalter, who happens to be my favorite author and then the three of us will be bestest friends for life. What? Come on, it's not THAT far fetched! ;) lol
Congratulations, Talli. Very cool experience.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd love to meet Nora Roberts. She's crazy talented.
Nicola is great! I really enjoyed meeting her!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be cool if we could get all of our favourite authors into one room, drink wine, and just... have fun? Or would be too weird and scary?
I would so love to meet Margaret Atwood. She's actually my mum's best friend's cousin (how's that for tenuous connections!). I sense she would be scary, though.
There are SO many authors I want to meet. That's so cool you met Nicola. Her blog is great and I can't wait to read Wasted. I'm looking forward to your review!
ReplyDeleteI have an award for you at my blog! :)
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ReplyDeleteEagerly awaiting the review! I love Nicola's blog too.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have met Roger Zelazny, his wit, warmth, and genius made him fascinating company.
ReplyDeleteGore Vidal (who once said that calling Harold Robbins a writer was like calling a woodpecker a carpenter) would be a fun meet, though dangerous if I weren't on my verbal toes all the time.
Stephen King and Jim Butcher, I think, would be pleasant, stimulating, and funny company -- if they would ever tolerate a mortal into their Olympus world.
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. It means a lot. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing to an empty house, Roland
Wasted sounds like a great book. I'm a follower of Nicola's blog too. :)
ReplyDeleteYou didn't check out her shoes? *tut* I'm glad she was as nice in poerson as she seems to be in the virtual world. Don't tell her I said that obviously as she's got a 'crabbit' reputation to maintain.
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I'm going to tromp down to London to meet my favourite Chick Lit/Travel author, but now I know I'm going to have to buy some better shoes!
ReplyDeleteThere are way too many authors I would want to meet. Congrats on the win and meeting Nicola!
ReplyDeleteUgh, my list of authors I want to meet is soooo long! I'm so jealous you got to meet Nicola!
ReplyDeleteShe sounds great! And I love her blog! On another note, I'm jealous - I never win anything:)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to meet David Almond, he's my favourite author. Do dead ones count? If so, Da Vinci, Ibsen and Shakespeare would be on my list:)
Lucky you - Nicola is great - at least from her blog :)
ReplyDeleteThere are only about a billion authors I'd like to meet ... not even sure who I'd start with.
Congrats on winning the books and lovely to meet the author, I would love to have met Jane Austen, also Anne Tyler and Anite Shreve. I would also travel back in time to go on a pub crawl with Brendan Behan and Oscar Wilde.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to meet Wordsworth and ask him how he didn't get piles, sitting on so many rocks and looking at trees.
ReplyDeleteLucky!! I don't "know" Nicola, as in I haven't really communicated with her, but I've been following her blog since... well, I think she was the very first blog I ever followed! I love her advice, and she's just so fun. Can't wait to pick up her book.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had an awesome time! :)
Congrats, Talli! Nicola sounds like an amazing person and author and I love that she commented here. How great is that? Enjoy your prize. I'm looking forward to your review.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a great blog! I really want to be an author, and got to interview Alexandra Adornetto (a teen author) which was really cool. I'd like to meet her someday.
ReplyDeleteAnd Nicola Morgan sounds like a pretty sweet person!
Talli,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful visit w/ Nicola & I'm sure she was so happy to meet you as you have a lot of good news going on right now! Nothing like getting advice from a well established author.
Was Kindle mentioned?
Personally, there are too many authors to list here so I won't even try! :)
Wow! That's awesome! I'd lovelovelu-huv to meet Ellen Hopkins. She's my all-time fav.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on winning. How awesome and generous of Nicola to give you the book personally!
ReplyDeleteNo shoe report? Darn :)
ReplyDeleteHow incredibly exciting! I have a million authors I'd like to meet. But I'm always afraid the shyness I tried to shed in high school will catch up with me and I'll become the tongue-tied fan girl. For now I suppose I'm just grateful to get to smile at them from afar and not tempt my temperment. :o)
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend!
How exciting! Congratulations! The only thing I ever won was a saw! OMG are you kidding me?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my place. It is always open to visitors. Have some cookies, tea or wine...yes...wine, at any hour :)
Very exciting and 90 books published - that is some achievement. She must be SO determined and have learnt such a lot - her blog is extremely good I agree.
ReplyDeleteOscar Wilde on a pub crawl! I can only imagine!
ReplyDeleteAnd while I used to wear heels a lot, now I am firmly in the ballet shoe camp. Although I did put on some heels for Nicola! :)
That's great! How exciting!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to meet Birdie Jaworski, I think I mentioned her on my blog once. Maybe someday . . . Oh! And you of course! : D
I filled out the questionnaire at the end of Flaubert's Parrot when I was 15 - it mist have been so silly and juvenile, but Julian Barnes was nice enough to send me a postcard in return! I've also been to book signings with Mordecai Richler and Roch Carrier. The most helpful authors are the ones on the Compuserve Books and Writers Community!
ReplyDeletemust, not mist!
ReplyDelete