All of the Authors I've Ever Met (Probably)

During the last couple of years I've been able to meet a lot of my favourite authors at panels, signings, blogger events, or to make YouTube videos. Mainly, it's down to YALC. If you don't know, YALC is the Young Adult Literature Convention held as part of London Film and Comic Con, and it happens every year. It is the BEST. Before it became a thing, despite being a book blogger, I didn't get to meet anyone like that very often - mainly because of my anxiety, but also because of where I live, which isn't too far from London but isn't too close, either. (And we all know how London-focused the publishing industry is, but that's a rant for another day...)

Every day, I would see lucky London bloggers tweeting about the latest signing they'd gone to, or the latest launch, and I was constantly wondering: how do they do that? I knew how, obviously - they lived in London so they could go to events whenever they liked, because there's always something bookish going on. In contrast, I'm pretty sure the two bookshop events I chaired at the beginning of the year were the first YA events our area had seen in a decade. And, y'know, the London bloggers were adults (mostly.) And most of them probably didn't have anxiety. But when I was asking myself how they did it, I think my actual issue was that I just couldn't imagine it; I couldn't imagine going to loads of events and meeting more authors than you can even remember when asked. Because... what an amazing scenario?!

And now, mostly thanks to YALC and my new railcard, I kind of can - not as much as bloggers who live in the city (or any city, really - literally everywhere else is busier and more bookish than where I live) but still much more than I could a few years ago. Up until July 2014, I'm pretty sure I'd only met one author, the lovely Cathy Cassidy, whilst other bloggers were meeting 20 or 30+ per year. Or per month. I don't make a habit of counting how many authors other people go to see, but you know what I mean.

Since July 2014, I have met...

1. Rainbow Rowell
2. Carrie Hope Fletcher
3. Cassandra Clare
4. C.J. Daugherty
5. Kass Morgan
6. Chris Russell
7. Sophia Bennett
8. Keris Stainton
9. Laure Eve
10. Sophie Kinsella
11. Keren David
12. Perdita Cargill
13. Honor Cargill
14. Lauren James
15. Holly Bourne
16. Sara Barnard
17. Harriet Reuter Hapgood
18. Paige Toon
19. Emma Moss
20. Lauren Laverne
21. Simon James Green
22. Tom Fletcher
23. Jacqueline Wilson

And at panels or other events, I've seen but not necessarily met...

1. Juno Dawson
2. Sally Green
3. Veronica Roth
4. Sarah Rees Brennan
5. Holly Smale
6. Malorie Blackman
7. Simon Mayo
8. Nadia Shireen
9. Dave Rudden
10. Clare Balding
11. Annie Try
12. Samantha Shannon
13. Robin Stevens
14. Ruby Wax
15. Sarra Manning
16. Sarah Crossan
17. Annabel Pitcher
18. Liz Kessler
19. Lisa Williamson
20. Ed Vere
21. Adrian Edmondson
22. Natalia O'Hara
23. Lauren O'Hara
24. Emily Barr

Weirdly, it's almost perfectly equal, although I've probably missed some... whether I have or not is going to bug me for the rest of my life. But I'm so thankful to have been able to meet or watch all of these awesome and inspiring people, and I just wanted to thank them all, along with various event organisers and publicists, for bringing the love of reading across the country and inspiring the next generation of authors. I feel so inspired by simply being in the presence of these word wizards - here's to seeing (or meeting!) many more!

Which authors have you met?