One of our goals here at Today’s Author is to help all of the writers among us to do what we love to do: write. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by talking to each other and learning from each other. Our Writers Circle series is designed to do just that – provide a chance for us to discuss writing, editing and publishing questions.
This week’s topic is:
A few weeks ago we discussed what you might ask your favorite author if you had the chance. Today we’d like to know if you have ever interacted with a famous author. Did you meet in person? Interact over twitter? Receive comments from him or her on your blog? Tell us what your interactions were like with this author in the comments below.
Today's Author 
I’ve been surprised by how many reach out in response to my book reviews. Gary Corbin who writes about ancient Greece checked with his publisher on a question I had. And Tom Schreck discussed a not-so-wonderful review I wrote of one of his books, asked me to try his latest, and sent me a free copy. It was 5/5! Both of these were through the Goodreads platform.
That sets the standard I think. Authors should be accessible to their readers.
A few months ago I met Joyce Carol Oates. She was signing books at Wittenberg University. I paid $29.95 for her book “Carthage” basically just to meet her. (Turns out it’s pretty good) I said, “Hi, it’s very nice to meet you.” She said, “Are you a student here.” I said, “No, I just finished serving in the Peace Corps.” She said, “That must have been a profound experience.” I said, “Yes, it was. Very profound.” Then I left. I was just too nervous to say anything meaningful.
I’ve met and worked (recipe tester) for Peter Reinhart. He has written several baking books. His best known work is, “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.”
I found him to be very down to Earth, extremely helpful on baking techniques, and quite a jovial soul. He once visited a near by city and I was lucky enough to take one of his demonstrations. After the class we visited, and he autographed my book and he thanked me for being one of about fifty testers.
During the testing period he made himself as available as he could, even providing a forum and email address for his testers. I met several new friends thru that journey.
Years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Madeleine L’Engle and wrote about the experience on my own blog, Ink Flare. If you’d like to know more, here’s the link:
https://sharonboninpratt.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/meet-madeleine-lengle/