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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 24, 2011 18:54:25 GMT -5
I think I'm the first person to use the American spelling of "favorite" here.
Anyway, I was research grad schools the other day. I basically had my list finished months ago, but I wanted to give one final sweep of the MFA programs before I started putting together my portfolio. I ended up looking at Syracuse's page. It's a bit difficult to navigate, and I couldn't find any of the important information I needed, so I checked the "contact us" page to find someone to email about the information I needed. Turns out, none other than George Fucking Saunders teaches there (celebrated short-story writer and essayist who's a regular in The New Yorker, Tin House, and other such amazing magazines).
So, because I was gushing like a school girl, I sent him a rambling email telling him how much I loved him and asking him for information about their MFA program. It was about 8pm where he was, so I wasn't expecting a reply back until the next day. Ten minutes later, there he is in my inbox, giving me information and shit. I emailed back a "thank you," then he emailed back a "you're welcome," then I had a wet dream about the whole thing.
So, who's the most famous author you've had correspondence with? And who's your favorite author you've spoken to? What'd you talk about? etc.
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Post by devilishlybookish on Jun 24, 2011 19:03:54 GMT -5
That's awesome! I went to university not far from SU and didn't even know he was teaching there.
My story is far less academic. Based on a friend's recommendation I pre-ordered the debut novel of YA author Kelly Creagh. It's a long pseudo-paranormal romance that had a lot to do with my much-loved Edgar Allan Poe so I was on board. Well, I ended up finishing it the same day I got it (release day) and writing her an e-mail. She wrote me back within a day or so and was honestly the sweetest, kindest woman. It made me love the book even more.
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Post by KatjevanLoon on Jun 24, 2011 20:40:24 GMT -5
I irritated the crap out of Terry Brooks at a young writer's festival once. I've never read his books and I was a little shit when I was a teenager, so I asked him all sorts of questions that were very troll-ish. And then smiled and said "Problem?"
At another writer's festival later on, I got a chance to speak to Sherman Alexie (rather famous First Nations/Native American writer and stand-up comic/motivational speaker) and agree with him about how all we Native people think we're warriors, as he'd joked about in his very funny speech. (I also got a chance to see Terry Brooks and Ben Bova at a panel at that writers festival, and I swear Terry Brooks took one look at me and blanched.)
And I also got to ask Ursula K. LeGuin a question, which was incredibly difficult because when I went to see her speak all thoughts flew out of my mind and I sat there positively shaking because I was in her presence, until mom nudged me and said "Ask her this!" and gave me a question, and she pushed me up out of my chair and I asked the question and I don't remember at all what it was or what she said in response, and I blushed like a Weasley and sat back down again.
Oh, and at Dragon Con I spoke to Janny Wurts for like, a minute, but I didn't know who she was at that point so it was...eh.
And I sent a letter to JK Rowling once, but I just got a form letter in reply so I don't really count that as correspondence.
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Post by serpentheart on Jun 24, 2011 20:47:01 GMT -5
I suppose he isn't a famous author but he has fantasy novels published here (Australia), Tony Shillitoe. It might be cheating though because he was my year 8 English teacher and year 9 home room teacher bwahah.
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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 25, 2011 19:14:24 GMT -5
I was one of the core members of Ned Vizinni's online forum (author of "Be More Chill" and "It's Kind of a Funny Story"). He came around lots in the first few years I was a member, so I've been in communication with him semi-regularly since I was a freshman in high school. He stopped posting when under-aged girls started posting on the forum that he had inappropriate conversations with them. Then, right before the movie version of It's Kind Of A Funny Story came out, he "accidentally" wiped the boards clean, erasing all the posts about his behavior. Kinda weird.
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 25, 2011 19:42:53 GMT -5
I've met Tamora Pierce in-person before and spoke with her a bit. She complimented me on my t-shirt.  I've also met Meg Cabot and Eoin Colfer (who is fsking hilarious). |
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Post by Eternal Lobster on Jun 25, 2011 19:53:30 GMT -5
I've met Tamora Pierce in-person before and spoke with her a bit. She complimented me on my t-shirt. I've also met Meg Cabot and Eoin Colfer (who is fsking hilarious). Ffffffff I hate you so much. I knew about Pierce but Colfer?! I don't think that I've met ANYONE. I need to add this to my bucket list and drag you along to a signing somewhere. |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 25, 2011 19:56:24 GMT -5
I've met Tamora Pierce in-person before and spoke with her a bit. She complimented me on my t-shirt. I've also met Meg Cabot and Eoin Colfer (who is fsking hilarious). Ffffffff I hate you so much. I knew about Pierce but Colfer?! I don't think that I've met ANYONE. I need to add this to my bucket list and drag you along to a signing somewhere. Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. Field trip? I think so. I'll PM you the website. |
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Post by Eternal Lobster on Jun 25, 2011 19:59:59 GMT -5
Ffffffff I hate you so much. I knew about Pierce but Colfer?! I don't think that I've met ANYONE. I need to add this to my bucket list and drag you along to a signing somewhere. Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. Field trip? I think so. I'll PM you the website. I was actually just on there the other day. I saw that there will be a YA convention sometime in September. We should gooooo. |
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Post by Olive on Jun 27, 2011 7:21:54 GMT -5
Anyway, I was research grad schools the other day. I basically had my list finished months ago, but I wanted to give one final sweep of the MFA programs before I started putting together my portfolio. I ended up looking at Syracuse's page. It's a bit difficult to navigate, and I couldn't find any of the important information I needed, so I checked the "contact us" page to find someone to email about the information I needed. Turns out, none other than George Fucking Saunders teaches there (celebrated short-story writer and essayist who's a regular in The New Yorker, Tin House, and other such amazing magazines). So, because I was gushing like a school girl, I sent him a rambling email telling him how much I loved him and asking him for information about their MFA program. It was about 8pm where he was, so I wasn't expecting a reply back until the next day. Ten minutes later, there he is in my inbox, giving me information and shit. I emailed back a "thank you," then he emailed back a "you're welcome," then I had a wet dream about the whole thing. So, who's the most famous author you've had correspondence with? And who's your favorite author you've spoken to? What'd you talk about? etc. Saunders was a visiting writer at my school last fall, and the creative writing prof I had at the time managed to get him to come into our workshop for a bit. He is immensely humble, which makes him talking about things highly entertaining and rather inspiring. |
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Zeffy
Young Armadillo
Posts: 59
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Post by Zeffy on Jun 27, 2011 13:46:45 GMT -5
I irritated the crap out of Terry Brooks at a young writer's festival once. I've never read his books and I was a little shit when I was a teenager, so I asked him all sorts of questions that were very troll-ish. And then smiled and said "Problem?" I love Terry Brooks! I used to go to his chat room all the time when he was there, if that counts. |
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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 27, 2011 19:40:53 GMT -5
Anyway, I was research grad schools the other day. I basically had my list finished months ago, but I wanted to give one final sweep of the MFA programs before I started putting together my portfolio. I ended up looking at Syracuse's page. It's a bit difficult to navigate, and I couldn't find any of the important information I needed, so I checked the "contact us" page to find someone to email about the information I needed. Turns out, none other than George Fucking Saunders teaches there (celebrated short-story writer and essayist who's a regular in The New Yorker, Tin House, and other such amazing magazines). So, because I was gushing like a school girl, I sent him a rambling email telling him how much I loved him and asking him for information about their MFA program. It was about 8pm where he was, so I wasn't expecting a reply back until the next day. Ten minutes later, there he is in my inbox, giving me information and shit. I emailed back a "thank you," then he emailed back a "you're welcome," then I had a wet dream about the whole thing. So, who's the most famous author you've had correspondence with? And who's your favorite author you've spoken to? What'd you talk about? etc. Saunders was a visiting writer at my school last fall, and the creative writing prof I had at the time managed to get him to come into our workshop for a bit. He is immensely humble, which makes him talking about things highly entertaining and rather inspiring. He seems really, really nice. Just for him, Syracuse became my top choice for MFA programs. |
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