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Do you admit to being a total fanboy or fangirl about a particular author?


vodkafan

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Most people on here know I am a massive fan of Jack Vance. I discovered him when I was a young teen (the first book I read of his was The Languages Of Pao) he just struck a chord within me. Although I have read very many good writers since who were technically better or skillful manipulators of emotion (and I admit Vance has written  a few under par books), there is something about the way Vance writes that excites me and vibrates through my soul more than any other author. Like a story will engage my brain and emotions too. He has also seen me through thick and thin over 35 years of reading, cheered me up when I felt down.  I think that is a good thing to have one author that can reliably do that for you.

 

So I want to know if you feel that way about a particular author and why? Or is there a reason you can never feel that way about any one writer?

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Carol O'Connell is mine.

 

I happened upon a paperback book with a sepia coloured cover photograph of an angel in a churchyard and loved the look of it. The title was 'The Flight Of The Stone Angel', and the blurb read,

 

 

The young stranger came to town just past twelve noon. Within an hour, the idiot had been assaulted, hands bloodied and broken; Deputy Travis suffered a major stroke at the wheel of his patrol car; and Babe Laurie was found murdered. The young stranger who had preceded all of these events was sitting in a jail cell. 

 

How could I resist? Taut writing, captivating and exceptionally well drawn characters and an intriguing plot. I was blown away. Then I discovered that this book was the fourth story in a series that gave us a significant chunk of back story on the central character of Kathy Mallory, including how she 'found' her surname.

 

I have since read everything she has written . Carol O'Connell's original and ever human plots are startling, and her depiction of children especially is painful, searing and complete. Her stand alone novel 'Judas Child' is a book that upon completion made me immediately return to page one to start again.  

 

When I see that a new book by her is due for publication I actually feel breathless and scared that I may fall out of love with her writing. It is yet to happen.

Edited by Chrissy
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I was still living in London then, so probably about 15 years ago.

 

I have to not compare other writers to her, as I feel she stands alone as a writer. In each book I have read by her there has been one character, one sentence or one scene that has made my heart ache to the point of clasping a fist to my chest. She is that good in my very humble opinion.

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I am a bit of a fan girl about King (you should have seen me hugging my copy of Doctor Sleep and squealing!) but I'm also willing to admit that he's had books I haven't liked. I read a lot of King when I was younger, so it's nice that he's still writing now I'm older.

 

Maggie O'Farrell is another of my faves.. I have a signed, limited edition of her latest, and it's one of my prized possessions.

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Probably Steven Erikson for me (fantasy author), although it feels less 'fangirl' and more 'promoting the cause' - lots of people either haven't heard of him or don't give his books a chance, and I always feel obliged to try and persuade them otherwise (much to their annoyance, I'm sure!). :giggle2:  

 

Maggie O'Farrell is another of my faves.. I have a signed, limited edition of her latest, and it's one of my prized possessions.

 

I had to read 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' for uni. Not my kind of book at all, I thought, but it turned out to be one of the best I read on the entire 3-year course and I enjoyed it thoroughly. :)

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I don't think I'm a complete fangirl, there are authors that I really like but I wouldn't call myself over-the-top or anything. I think with pretty much every author I really like, I can see why some other people wouldn't like their work so much.

 

(I can be totally fangirly about books in general though. I always become more interested in a conversation if the subject is related to books :giggle2:)

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Ali Smith.  I had the completely joyous pleasure of attending an event at a bookshop where she was talking about one of her books, and bought a hardback edition of the book, which she signed along with my treasured copy of Girl Meets Boy - my absolute favourite book.  She was so lovely, and took the time to personalise each book she signed with a unique inscription based on the few minutes of chat she ensured she had with everyone who attended. 

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I don't think I'm a complete fangirl, there are authors that I really like but I wouldn't call myself over-the-top or anything. I think with pretty much every author I really like, I can see why some other people wouldn't like their work so much.

 

Same here!

 

Although growing up I used to be a fan of a book series called the Babysitters Club.

Edited by cuppycakes
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I don't think I'm a complete fangirl, there are authors that I really like but I wouldn't call myself over-the-top or anything. I think with pretty much every author I really like, I can see why some other people wouldn't like their work so much.

 

(I can be totally fangirly about books in general though. I always become more interested in a conversation if the subject is related to books :giggle2:)

 

I don't think you have to be OTT to be a fan of a particular author.  There are certainly one or two who I can list.  As for books in general?  No, there are plenty of books published where I question why the paper was wasted.

 

My fiction fan list would include:

 

Jane Austen

Charles Dickens

JL Carr

Sarah Dunant

Margaret Elphinstone

Virginia Woolf

Edited by willoyd
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Virginia I guess .. though she doesn't make it easy for me :blush2: Jane Austen obviously, I would say Dickens but though I admire his writing enormously I don't necessarily admire him (and yet this doesn't hamper my admiration for Virginia :shrug:) I pretty much think everything Jasper Fforde has written (that I've read) is genius and I would be a huge fan of Susanna Clarke if only she would write more than one book (she may have just got lucky :giggle:) Terry Pratchett is indeed a genius .. and so is Neil Gaiman. Possibly we can add Daphne du Maurier to that .. and I do like a bit of Dan Rhodes (not sure what bit though :giggle:)

I would pretty much read anything that the above have written but Virginia is the writer I most admire.

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George Orwell for me.  :)  I've read all his full-length books but have yet to read all the essays, or any of the letters.

 

For me, the non-fiction and the books set around poverty are better than the (possibly) two better-known fiction ones.   I even went so far as to go and visit his grave... which led to me visiting other author graves and 'sites of bookish' interest, which is something I very much enjoy doing.    :)

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P G Wodehouse is my love-lit. His work is the pick-me-up remedy to all mental anguish. :smile:

Yep .. that's another of my literary heroes :)

George Orwell for me.  :)  I've read all his full-length books but have yet to read all the essays, or any of the letters.

... and another :D

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Probably Steven Erikson for me (fantasy author), although it feels less 'fangirl' and more 'promoting the cause' - lots of people either haven't heard of him or don't give his books a chance, and I always feel obliged to try and persuade them otherwise (much to their annoyance, I'm sure!). :giggle2:  

 

I can't endorse this sort of behaviour ninja.gif

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i wouldn't call myself a total fangirl, but I do love Robin Hobb! I even bought a signed edition of one of her limited release books from the US.

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Definitely Stephen King for me. I just love the way he writes and every book he writes he makes all the characters very interesting

Same here. Stephen King was my inspiration from the very beginning, and the very reason i started reading when i was about 20 years old or so. I grew up loving his movies "Silver Bullet", "It", "Salems Lot", Night Shift and Misery were my favorite movies growing up.

So then i started to read his books and fell in love. My favorite books of his are The Eyes of the Dragon, Misery, The Dead Zone, The Mist, Salems Lot & Black House. I really would like to try reading The Talisman because i loved Black House so much and i heard The Talisman is just as good. 

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I wouldn't call myself a "fangirl" because I don't want to know anything about the authors who's books I like, (the thinking is I might find out they are horrid people and that will stop me from injoying their books :) .) But I do have three authors who's books are a lot like comfort food in book for and when times get tough I turn to their familiar pages.

 

David Eddings

 

Terry pratchett, I read my first discworld book (the Lost Continent) when I was 13 and it opened up the whole world of books to me.

 

J.R.R Tolkien

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Probably Steven Erikson for me (fantasy author), although it feels less 'fangirl' and more 'promoting the cause' - lots of people either haven't heard of him or don't give his books a chance, and I always feel obliged to try and persuade them otherwise (much to their annoyance, I'm sure!). 

 

I can't endorse this sort of behaviour ninja.gif

 

You invented this sort of behaviour  :giggle2:

 

Scott Lynch would be mine, I recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora to everyone I meet.

 

Also Stephen King as well.

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