I'm 17 now, but I first started reading SGE when I was little (7 or 8). Not only did I LOVE the book, but meeting you at NTTBF was thrilling to little me. Over the years, you'd recognize me and it really meant a lot to me then and means a lot to me now. So, yeah, NTTBF is still one of my favorite annual events and the interactions I had with you are incredibly significant and memorable to me. Thank you for all that you do!!!!
I love this story so much it hurts. We need more kindness in the world. More people helping others. More sharing of the stuff we like. Thanks for writing this. xx
I got into Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for its blurb. Otherwise, i don't think I would have read it or discovered his other works!
The only time I recall meeting an author in real life was when I was in kindergarten. I think you and Adalyn Grace are the only authors I have interacted with online!
Aww, I love this story! R.L. Stine was a huge influence on my younger years because his books were the first scary books I read aside from Scary Stories to tell in the Dark.
My significant author interaction occurred a few years ago at my first YallWest. It was right after I started writing again after a 9 year hiatus. I had taken Adrienne Young's Writing With the Soul workshop right after taking another writing class that was so bad, I almost decided to give up writing forever.
I happened to be on Third Street Promenade and saw Kristin Dwyer walking nearby. I knew she was part of WWTS and that her book was coming out later that year, so I asked her to sign a WWTS bag I brought with me to collect published author signatures. Kristin was so excited to see the bag in the wild, she asked to take a picture of me with the bag to send to Adrienne.
It's been a few years now, and I've gotten to go on a couple writing retreats with her and now call her my friend, but I still laugh that she has a photo of me on her phone from when we were complete strangers. It's been wonderful connecting with more and more people in the MG/YA writing community because they have all been so welcoming and wonderful.
It really is a lovely community. There's nothing better than welcoming debut authors into the community at festivals. And truly, all the new authors are coming from past audience members! I certainly was one.
Great story. I did meet a great young author once. He shared his thoughts on life with me during the course of a couple days while touring Houston. His vulnerability, wisdom and advice has touched my heart many times over. He will never know the impact he has had in my life. His name is Soman Chainani!❤️🏳️🌈
I loved hearing this story at yallwest. Those singular moments that can change a trajectory.
Ok here’s my famous author story, which did not change my life path. I used to work in Finance in Hong Kong and then I moved to tech in San Francisco. My old boss reached out and invited me to a swanky dinner opening he was in town for, and “oh my author friend Amy Tan will be joining us.” I left work as early as I could, sprinted to the bookstore to buy her book but they were holding an event and her books were behind the panelists so I couldn’t buy it.
I end up at this small 5 or 6 person intimate dinner where no one cares who Amy Tan is so I played it cool and my claim to fame is when I said, “Amy can you pass the green beans?”
Not a significant interaction, but when I was in elementary school, they used to bring this guy (David M. Sargent Jr) in annually to do a presentation for the k-2nd graders. I don't think he was very popular (he may even have been local at the time tbh?) But his books were all based around his dogs, and sure enough, he always brought his dogs with him. I don’t remember anything about the presentations, and I only still have one of the books, but you never forget a guy who just really loves his dogs and devotes his career to such. I was gonna say "I occasionally look him up, and haven’t been able to find anything about his life post-2010ish", but this time, I found an obituary. It's always weird to find out people you barely knew or even had much connection to, but still thought fondly of, have died
It's weird because the memory is so strong! And memories truly do seem to live long past a person's actual life, which is why I think it's so important to be part of other people's memories and help people create them as much as you can.
Hello again Soman! You may remember me from last week, when I asked about your early life for a school project. I have a few questions, and I would be really honoured if you could answer them.
What I'm looking for would be anything about your school life (from the age of about 5-18). What was your opinion on literacy at school? What was your opinion on school itself? What were your hobbies or interests when you were 5-18? Really just your ideas and thoughts on your younger years. And while I’m here, I just want to ask what motivated you to write the first SGE book?
(Yes, I did copy and paste most of this from my reply on your reply last week)
Thank you for reading to this point, it means a lot!
Thanks for these little nuggets of inspiration <3 I'm so grateful for these little stories and especially this blog to learn more about your fascinating life and process Soman!
I got to hear Marissa Meyer, one of my all-time favorite authors, speak during the release tour of Supernova. That was life-changing. This year I also got to attend talks by Ruth Ozeki and Kai Cheng Thom. Both of those talks were absolutely incredible as well. I really admired the way all three of them were so humble yet confident and I can only hope that I get to be in a similar position as all of them someday!
But I agree with many of the other comments -- getting to share my thoughts on here and then receiving your replies definitely feels like the greatest honor, and it always leaves me starstruck!
I love Marissa! Our tours have coincided a bunch of times. When I was young, I didn't get to attend any author events, because I don't remember it even being a thing...!!! I'm jealous of all of you, ha ha.
Bob is the best! Still remember that Yallfest lol. Such a great guy.
Remember us all in that room and Sandy and Raf trying to explain Storyball, and he's just staring at us like... what is wrong with all of you.
I'm 17 now, but I first started reading SGE when I was little (7 or 8). Not only did I LOVE the book, but meeting you at NTTBF was thrilling to little me. Over the years, you'd recognize me and it really meant a lot to me then and means a lot to me now. So, yeah, NTTBF is still one of my favorite annual events and the interactions I had with you are incredibly significant and memorable to me. Thank you for all that you do!!!!
I'm so happy you kept coming to see me!
I love the story! Thus far, the closest I've gotten to famous authors is interreacting on Substack, but who knows what the future may hold?
Exactly!
"Buddha with gallows humor" bahaha that's awesome. I absolutely love this. He just seems like such a good dude.
I remember feeling this way when Gary Schmidt agreed to blurb my second book. Still blows my mind.
He is one of a kind. It's a weird feeling when someone you admired from afar reads your book!
I love this story so much it hurts. We need more kindness in the world. More people helping others. More sharing of the stuff we like. Thanks for writing this. xx
It's what I love so much about your stuff too -- the mix of emotion over the things that need to change... and the things that don't.
I got into Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for its blurb. Otherwise, i don't think I would have read it or discovered his other works!
Who blurbed it??
I'm not sure about the exact person but it was the Wordsworth classics edition, I believe!
The only time I recall meeting an author in real life was when I was in kindergarten. I think you and Adalyn Grace are the only authors I have interacted with online!
Adalyn is wonderful, on and off the page.
Aww, I love this story! R.L. Stine was a huge influence on my younger years because his books were the first scary books I read aside from Scary Stories to tell in the Dark.
My significant author interaction occurred a few years ago at my first YallWest. It was right after I started writing again after a 9 year hiatus. I had taken Adrienne Young's Writing With the Soul workshop right after taking another writing class that was so bad, I almost decided to give up writing forever.
I happened to be on Third Street Promenade and saw Kristin Dwyer walking nearby. I knew she was part of WWTS and that her book was coming out later that year, so I asked her to sign a WWTS bag I brought with me to collect published author signatures. Kristin was so excited to see the bag in the wild, she asked to take a picture of me with the bag to send to Adrienne.
It's been a few years now, and I've gotten to go on a couple writing retreats with her and now call her my friend, but I still laugh that she has a photo of me on her phone from when we were complete strangers. It's been wonderful connecting with more and more people in the MG/YA writing community because they have all been so welcoming and wonderful.
It really is a lovely community. There's nothing better than welcoming debut authors into the community at festivals. And truly, all the new authors are coming from past audience members! I certainly was one.
Great story. I did meet a great young author once. He shared his thoughts on life with me during the course of a couple days while touring Houston. His vulnerability, wisdom and advice has touched my heart many times over. He will never know the impact he has had in my life. His name is Soman Chainani!❤️🏳️🌈
You're going to make me cry! I still remember our time together. Truly a wonderful trip.
God Bless R.L. Stine indeed. I loved hearing about this story :) Thanks for sharing!
I loved hearing this story at yallwest. Those singular moments that can change a trajectory.
Ok here’s my famous author story, which did not change my life path. I used to work in Finance in Hong Kong and then I moved to tech in San Francisco. My old boss reached out and invited me to a swanky dinner opening he was in town for, and “oh my author friend Amy Tan will be joining us.” I left work as early as I could, sprinted to the bookstore to buy her book but they were holding an event and her books were behind the panelists so I couldn’t buy it.
I end up at this small 5 or 6 person intimate dinner where no one cares who Amy Tan is so I played it cool and my claim to fame is when I said, “Amy can you pass the green beans?”
And she did.
Ha! Amazing story. And she likely remembers you as a fun, lively dinner guest!
Not a significant interaction, but when I was in elementary school, they used to bring this guy (David M. Sargent Jr) in annually to do a presentation for the k-2nd graders. I don't think he was very popular (he may even have been local at the time tbh?) But his books were all based around his dogs, and sure enough, he always brought his dogs with him. I don’t remember anything about the presentations, and I only still have one of the books, but you never forget a guy who just really loves his dogs and devotes his career to such. I was gonna say "I occasionally look him up, and haven’t been able to find anything about his life post-2010ish", but this time, I found an obituary. It's always weird to find out people you barely knew or even had much connection to, but still thought fondly of, have died
It's weird because the memory is so strong! And memories truly do seem to live long past a person's actual life, which is why I think it's so important to be part of other people's memories and help people create them as much as you can.
Hello again Soman! You may remember me from last week, when I asked about your early life for a school project. I have a few questions, and I would be really honoured if you could answer them.
What I'm looking for would be anything about your school life (from the age of about 5-18). What was your opinion on literacy at school? What was your opinion on school itself? What were your hobbies or interests when you were 5-18? Really just your ideas and thoughts on your younger years. And while I’m here, I just want to ask what motivated you to write the first SGE book?
(Yes, I did copy and paste most of this from my reply on your reply last week)
Thank you for reading to this point, it means a lot!
Hmm, let me write a diary about this, because it's a lot to think about, but worthy to discuss. Stay tuned!
So so sweet. 🥹
You. I wouldn't be writing and illustrating today if you hadn't read what I sent you, liked it, and encouraged me to do more. I'll always be grateful.
Illustrating! Now I'm curious. You are an even better writer than me!!
Kind modesty, perhaps flattery. But, I'll take it and thank you for it. ;)
Thanks for these little nuggets of inspiration <3 I'm so grateful for these little stories and especially this blog to learn more about your fascinating life and process Soman!
Thank you so much :) I'm loving writing these!
What a great story!
I got to hear Marissa Meyer, one of my all-time favorite authors, speak during the release tour of Supernova. That was life-changing. This year I also got to attend talks by Ruth Ozeki and Kai Cheng Thom. Both of those talks were absolutely incredible as well. I really admired the way all three of them were so humble yet confident and I can only hope that I get to be in a similar position as all of them someday!
But I agree with many of the other comments -- getting to share my thoughts on here and then receiving your replies definitely feels like the greatest honor, and it always leaves me starstruck!
I love Marissa! Our tours have coincided a bunch of times. When I was young, I didn't get to attend any author events, because I don't remember it even being a thing...!!! I'm jealous of all of you, ha ha.