People always ask me who is my favourite author or which book is my absolute favourite–and I always end up saying something different. It’s difficult to narrow it down to one author or one book. There are just so many.
If you’d asked me when I was in high school, my immediate response would have been the Silver Metal Lover…or possibly Days of Grass, both by Tanith Lee. I stumbled upon both titles after school while avoiding my homework. This was back when Barnes & Noble was still on Chestnut Street near City Hall in downtown Philadelphia. I could spend hours there. I spent most of my allowance there.
In college, I would have said either Toni Morrison or Ernest Hemingway (or both). Or I might have said Gabriel Garcia Marquez and then told you how much I loved his short stories in Leafstorm.
Now there are so many writers I love–traditionally published and indie. I get just as excited over new releases by indie authors like Zack Love, Xio Axelrod, Nia Forrester or Tia Kelly as I do about when Lindsey Kelk, Justin Cronin, Martha Southgate or Andrea Lee release new novels.
I love reading–sometimes I love reading more than I love writing. A shiny new book can distract me from my writing far easier than a TV show. And I love that so many authors want to share their work with the rest of us. We book lovers are an interesting community. We may not actively seek one another, but somehow we always connect. We bond over our favorite scenes, we express our frustration at not having Book 6 in the Songs of Ice and Fire series or gush over how much we love our book boyfriends. For us, authors truly are our rockstars.
To celebrate International Authors’ Day, I’m giving one lucky winner the Maybe… series (Maybe Baby, Maybe Tonight and Maybe Forever) as ebooks. All you have to do tell me in the comments what is your favourite book and why. I will pick a winner on 18 July, once my flight has landed in the US. 🙂