FWIS (from where i stand) is a monthly feature i’m doing with jessica corra and bria quinlan. all three of us are YA writers in different places in our journeys. (check out their links for this month’s FWIS from their points of view.)
today’s topic: literary heroes
it turns out, i’ve already written a post about my writerly heroes. that post means a lot to me and i stand by every word i wrote, but i originally wrote it in november of 2011 and since then, i have two more additions to the list.
THE GRACELING by kristin cashore. the world building and character development and plot twists are so intense and real and fantastical and it makes you want to dive into the story (or at least i did). the third book in this “series,” BITTERBLUE came out yesterday and i went to see her speak last night. her story about how she writes her stories (by hand!) and how she plots first and hears the voices second, well, it was encouraging. i could see a little bit of me in her.
and then i said exactly what i wanted to say at the exact moment i had her attention (while she was signing my book) and that in and of itself was a minor miracle because (a) see the title of this blog and (b) i get very tongue tied in the presence of celebrities. i was able to tell her thanks for her words — both written and spoken — and that they’d meant the world to me.
and the final addition is: laurie schnebly. i wrote about her last month and i feel the need to mention her again. her class and her wisdom and her energy wormed its way through the interwebs and into my brain and lo and behold, i’m now 6K into my new WIP, but more importantly, i’m having FUN.
those are some of my heroes (well, in the writerly world). now it’s your turn. how about YOU tell ME some of your writerly heroes? or everyday heroes? or favorite superheroes?
Abigail Mumford 
Diana Gabaldon (the Outlander series), Vicki Pettersson (The Signs of the Zodia series), and Joanna Bourne (historical romance writer extraordinaire). They all went after their writing dreams with determinination and gusto, and have been amazingly successful. Also, they are really nice people. :)
ooh, they’re literary and real life heroes! look at you, miss connected! also, i’m taking note of these authors. i definitely want to read some of their works. :)
my favorite hero is peter petrelli. he was great…er wait. you weren’t talking about the tv show, were you?
ha ha. i was talking about ANY hero — be it literary, fictionary, real life-erary.
Ohhh Real Life Writing Heroes! Sweet ;)
yeah, they were an 11th hour addition. originally i was going to copy and paste my old post, but then i saw kristin speak and well, you know about my excitement over laurie’s class, so i decided to flip things around and put the focus on them. :)
Guh. Kristin Cashore. GUH. Yeah. Fire. Brigan. GUH. (what was that about tongue-tied??) >.>
that was pretty much me when i met suzanne collins. “hi. your book. me likey. 17 times.” oy. i’m so glad i was able to redeem myself in front of kristin!
Sal Paradise from On The Road was my first literary hero! It sounds like a cliche, but at 14 I didn’t know much about the world and that character really showed me the sky was the limit. A very different view from my catholic school upbringing! That book turned me on to an entirely different world, at the same time it felt like I was finally connecting to something that felt like me…
“That book turned me on to an entirely different world, at the same time it felt like I was finally connecting to something that felt like me…” what a beautiful way to describe reading.