Meeting with Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine is fantastic, to begin with. She is such a little pixie herself, and looks as much the children's fantasy author as Stephen King looks like a horror writer and Orson Scott Card looks like sci-fi. She is so sweet to everyone, very kind and supportive. She is hilarious and gives awesome recommendations and writing advice. She makes even the stupidest questions sound important and the awkwardest fans feel welcome.

There are some writers who are known for being kind and pleasant with their fans, and I think Gail Carson Levine is one of them. Another is Connie Willis. Others are known for being stuck-up and rude. I'd want to be the first kind, wouldn't you? Have any of you had the experience of doing a reading or signing? It seems like it would take a lot of energy and effort, but that it would still be worth it to at least attempt to be one of those authors people leave thinking, wow, they are so awesome, rather then, gee, that was sort of a let down. Being genuine and thoughtful can make you one of those writers I think, and Gail Carson Levine is certainly one to learn from.

I'm going to leave you with the broadcast of a Brigham Young University reading series given by Brian Doyle. Any of you lucky enough to have met Brian Doyle or gone to one of his readings, you know what I mean when I say this is how its done:


Happy writing!
Sarah Allen