Authors I Love on Social Media

Social media gives us bookworms something history never has: the chance to grill our favourites. English teachers can no longer pose irritating questions about why Gatsby really throws his parties and the meaning behind Lizzie Bennetts trip to the Lake District. We can now just scroll through Twitter and receive all those little facts about our favourite reads coupled with what they had for breakfast and some randomer who accidentally tweeted something funny. It’s all wonderful.

So for Top Ten Tuesday here’s a list of fabulous authors I love following on social media. If you have any to add, agree with me or have your own list drop it in the comments section!

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Rick Riordan

1. Besides the fact that we get all the Percy Jackson tweets and constant snark about the movie Rick Riordan shares authors from his imprint meaning there’s a wealth of mythology and sass available to all!

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VE Schwab

2. I love her books so as an extension I enjoy her Twitter. Prepare for frantic writing tweets and gorgeous snaps of Edinburgh at twilight and maybe the odd book announcement. She also has a blog that she occasionally posts too and I love how real she is about the realities of being a big successful author.

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Samantha Shannon

3. Besides much book excitement over her upcoming releases Samantha Shannon has the most articulate Twitter rants of anyone I follow. Plus you don’t have to scroll far to find a tweet about dragons.

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Paper Fury

4. I may have not got round to reading A Thousand Perfect Notes yet but Caits account will always be a favourite of mine. Her snarky tweets and relatable bullet point lists never fail to make me laugh, although I do miss the days her tweets centred around reading instead of writing.

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Maggie Steifvater

5. Maggie Steifvaters Twitter is one of my favourites. From her hilarious rereads of her own books, with much snark and pointing out her own plot holes, to hilarious tales about how she accidentally posted a boob picture to social media to annoying suggestions at spoilers for her books this author is always a treat on my timeline.

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Lucy the Reader

6. Lucy is a book blogger, book tuber and now an author. She used to run UKYAChat which is why I followed her originally but I stuck around for the neat stacks of classics and cute hamster shots.

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Jason Panroth

7. Sadly this account has gone on a bit of a haitus, but back when it was running it was really cool. The author shares stories about ‘Rejected Princesses’ who were basically really cool women in history. He’s a writer and illustrator, his stories have now been made into books.

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Matt Haig

8. Author of How to Stop Time Matt goes into the historical people in his books and speaks openly about mental health calling people out and helping others feel seen.

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Angie Thomas

9. Not only does Angie get crazy excited over all thing book updates, which is so cute, but her Twitter is full of her hilarious everyday. I recommend everyone go see the video of her proofs of One the Come Up ice never seen anyone so excited!

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Karen McManus

X. Author of One of Us is Lying. We get all the updates on her books, she shares fanart and she’s so supportive during Pitmad because she pitched for it!

An Interview with Author Rick Lenz

Super excited to be posting my first author interview! Meet Rick Lenz and his latest novel Impersonators Anonymous (published just last year)! He’s chatted to me all about his novels, himself and writing advice for any budding authors out there.

1) Hi Rick, welcome to my blog! Would you mind introducing your book?

Happy to, Hannah!

The main character is 26-year-old Emily Bennett, an aspiring movie producer. She becomes obsessed with completing “Showdown,” a long lost movie starring John Wayne and James Dean, which she’d heard rumor of from character actor Richard Boone (Have Gun, Will travel). The two-thirds completed film will require the use of emerging computer technology and doubles who are almost dead ringers for Wayne and Dean. She stumbles into a love triangle with her impersonators, but doesn’t know who they really are because she suffers from face blindness, a brain disorder characterized by the inability to recognize faces. The three characters emerge from their pasts, gifted but damaged. Young and ignorant, they haven’t yet learned they have power over their own lives. Their vengeful ghosts inhabit there ever a decision, every passion and every dream. As the movie is completed, these flawed characters (and others) find themselves in the titular showdown of their lives when their interwoven back stories come together in a stormy climax that reveals their hidden animosities, demons, and loves.

2) And now what are three unusual facts about yourself?

1. Before I started working regularly as an actor, I worked as a set designer, stage director, an acting teacher, hotel night clerk, MC at the New York World Fair, Parks Department employee, clothing salesman, truck driver, factory worker, file clerk, public school substitute teacher, and I spent one day dressed up as Mr. Peanut in a supermarket in the Bronx. In show business, I’ve made my living not only as an actor, but also as a singer, dancer, musician, television writer and playwright.

2. I met my wife on a blind date. It was her first. She was very nervous. She had a couple of glasses of Dubonnet to deal with that. When I arrived at her door, she looked at me and said, “Not bad.” We got married two years later.

3. When I was twenty, I slid down a glacier in Norway. I miscalculated my trajectory. I’d gone too wide and could see that I was going to be speeding into a large patch of jagged rocks sticking out of the glacier. I knew I was a dead man. But by the time I reached the rocks, the glacier was so steep that I was airborne and the flew over them. When I landed, I was past the rocks, the glacier leveled out towards the bottom, and I was spared.

3) How did you come up with the idea for your novel?

I had been successful with my first novel, The Alexandrite, in which Marilyn Monroe was a character. Since I worked as an actor with John Wayne and Richard Boone, and I had heard a rumor about a lost film that starred John Wayne and James Dean, I was fascinated and began researching both Wayne and Dean. I got hooked on the story, and had to write the novel.

4) Who is your favourite author? (No cheating and saying yourself!)

Living: Haruki Murakami. Deceased: Shakespeare and Mark Twain.

5) If you had to be stranded on a dessert island with one of your characters, which one would you pick?

I would pick Emily from Impersonators Anonymous because she is partly based on my wife, Linda, and any desert island would be paradise if she was there.

6) What was the trickiest part of the writing process for you? When did you start on you novel?

My process has changed over the years. I started making notes for this book 20 years ago. My next one (not titled or published yet) took me only a year. The one I’m writing now should be finished by next fall.

7) Which is your favourite line in your novel?

“Being dead is no more educational than being a movie star.” — John Wayne in Impersonators Anonymous.

8) What is a piece of advice you’d give to a budding author out there?

Read, read, read. And remember that not everything you write is sacred. If it’s not what you want it to be, throw it away and do it better.

Let’s Compare Notes

So there you have it! My first interview- hope it went ok!! Have you ever read Impersonators Anonymous? Do you want to be an author yourself? Would love to hear your opinion in the comments!