In Praise of An Author Who Knows What His Fans want

How many times have I read a book, been really interested and gone on the internet to find out more or maybe contact the author only to dicover that I can't? Far too many. With all the technology available today, you could be forgiven for thinking that every author  would make an effort to communicate with the fans who buy their books. Of course, I'm not saying that every author has to - I understand that many are busy writing or God forbid, having a life (What is that?). But they could at least let their fans contact them. I'm not even asking them to write back to letters! It's just nice for a fan to be able to express their thoughts.

Take, for example, Stephenie Meyer. Note: I just picked her because she's the only one I've personally tried (in vain) to contact. I'm neutral about the books. But a while ago my little sister and I were reading them and we decided to write a fan letter. So there we were with our pretty little letters ready to send when I looked up "contact Stephenie Meyer'' on the internet and found out - you can't! Not snail mail, not email, no contact whatsoever. Stephenie is too busy to receive letters from the people who are making her rich. I'm honestly not trying to start a fight here. I just think it would be a nice reward for fans if they could hold out some hope that their favourite author might see their letter. I understand if you can't send emails, but a letter is much more heartfelt and there is usually a lot more time taken over it. A letter is just more personal and any fan making that kind of an effort deserves a reward. It would encourage people to read books more and make them more enthusiastic about writing, having the knowledge that perhaps their idol took the time to read their letter. This is especially true for any aspiring authors out there, myself included.

Which brings me to the main topic of this post. In keeping with my Skulduggery Pleasant theme for this month as well as my Minion status, I'll use Derek Landy, the Golden God although I'm sure there are other authors who communicate well with their fans. Again, drawing on personal experience...

In praise of Derek Landy, an author who actually blogs and keeps in contact with his fans or Minions as he calls them/ us. Derek's blog 'Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress'( http://dereklandy.blogspot.ie/)
is regularly updated, funny and usually has something interesting to say. Derek replies in his comments and reads through them sometimes. He even mentions www.skulduggeryforums.net . The Skulduggery Pleasant website is kept up to date and he runs many competitions for us to take part in. Many, many competitions.  He gives us glances into his personal life but always with a layer of humour. To top it off he adds cute little pictures to make us laugh. What more could you ask for?

In praise of Derek Landy, an author who knows what his fans want. Who recognises that we love a new mix of genres. Who knows that we adore his peculiar blend of adventure and fantasy with a dollop of thriller on top, all wrapped up with a layer of humour and snappy comments.

In praise of Derek Landy, an author who realises that we like nothing better than a good plot twist, especially one that says someone isn't who you thought they were. We might not like a 'fallen angel' but it definitely keeps us reading.

Well played, Mr. Landy, well played.

The kind of pictures Derek posts.