Authors I am Thankful For – Thankful Tuesday

November is the month of US Thanksgiving, and I felt the need to share some of the bookish people / things I am thankful for. Today, I am sharing some of the authors I am thankful for, and why I am thankful for them.

I don’t even know where to start with this one, because how can I not be thankful to all authors who managed to bee strong enough, motivated enough, and organized enough to actually write a whole book and publish it? I will share some authors who have somehow gotten to have a special place in my reader heart, no matter why that is…

I am extremely thankful for Tiffany Reisz! She is one of the authors who has managed not only to help me read way out of my comfort zone – with her Original Sinners series – but to love that series so much I wanted to curl up and just cry when it was finished! Reisz has written other stories and series that are really great, too, and I there is just so much to love! Her stories are character-driven, and the writing is so beautiful it’s like a symphony and a painting and a story all at once. I hope I’ll be able to chat with her a little at the RT convention in Atlanta next year – hopefully, I won’t be too shy once I get the chance to.

I can’t have a list of authors I am thankful for without including Victoria Dahl! She’s an amazing writer, and in her contemporary romances, the female characters are always the kind of woman I could see myself be friends with. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Victoria is a feminist, and that she has a great sense of humor. I was lucky enough to meet her at RT in Dallas in 2015, and I have to admit I fell in love with her a little bit…

Lori Foster! Yeah, her romances featuring MMA heroes who have a strong sense of loyalty and community spirit are made of awesome! And so is Lori herself. I met her at BEA in May this year, and I am so happy I got to chat with her for a few minutes. She is amazing with her fans, hosting Thankful Tuesdays on her Facebook page quite often, where she gives away books (some signed) to people who have liked her page.

KA Tucker is another author I am thankful for. Her stories are heart-wrenching, and she’s a great person to hang out with. I love that her books appeal to my oldest daughter as well, because that gives us yet another thing in common. Tucker is apt at switching genres, as her earliest work was paranormal, then she’s got several NA contemporary romances, and her latest was a romantic suspense that kept me at the edge of my seat. With her characters that make me want to help them out, there is always something that appeals to my own softer side.

I am also very thankful for JA Huss. At first, I didn’t dare read her books. No, really! I was friends with her when she was blogging about NA stories, and when she told me she had written a book she had self-published, I didn’t want to read it. I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, and that she’d hate me for writing a critical review. When I finally picked up her Rook & Ronin series, I was completely blown away, though. Huss manages to include everything that makes us human in her characters. I can feel all the emotions and also think that things won’t end well… There is romance (extremely hot!), suspense, secrets, deceit – a kaléidoscope of humanity in her books. And she’s also really amazing with interacting with her fans. I’ve been lucky enough to meet her more than once, too, and it was truly wonderful.

Brenda Novak is another author who is not afraid of switching genres! I first got to know her writing with the Whiskey Creek series, which is contemporary romance, small-town, and a big group of friends. Then, there is the Secret Sister which is more suspenseful, and that has a really good mystery as well. Brenda’s latest, Hanover House, is mesmerizing, as it follows a psychiatrist and the prison/hospital where she tries to understand psychopaths better. Brenda is also very friendly, and great with her fans, plus, she has an auction every year to help diabetes research.

Tara Lain is my go-to author for a hot LGBTQ romance fix. And her stories always include so much more than the romance, too! There are important themes being treated, both when it comes to fitting in, and when it comes to defending oneself when it comes to having a sexual orientation other than hetero. And she makes it serious while still being able to keep the overall story quite light and in some ways even fun-filled. That’s quite a feat if you ask me.

It’s not possible to have a list like this without mentioning Michelle Mankin! When I met her in Dallas for RT, I hadn’t read any of her books yet… (I’ve read almost all of them now, and they are AMAZING!) She was so nice, though, plus my blogger-wife Brandee loved her Tempest series. Both her Black Cat Records and The Tempest series are really well done. There are rock-stars galore, a lot of heart-ache, and important social subjects being treated in her stories – it just brings yet another dimension when important themes are incorporated into fiction, you know?

Karina Halle is another author I feel like I discovered rather late. Several of my friends told me I had to read her books, and now that I have finally started, I totally agree! Karina is also very friendly and a lot of fun to hang out with. I spent some time next to her at a brunch at the festival in the South of France, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and chatting about both bookish things and non-bookish things – we’re both Norwegian, so I felt a viking connection to her as well 😉

Nalini Singh is the author who really got me into loving paranormal romance stories. And I will forever be thankful to her for that. Both her Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series are fantastic. They are character-driven, while at the same time having a very strong plot, and overarching story-line. And I love that the female characters she’s sharing with her readers are the kind of women I would like to meet in the real world. Not always nice. Not always super-strong. But almost always wanting to better themselves and the world.

Paulo Coelho is another of those authors I am thankful for, because some of his books have made such a huge impact on me. Especially The Alchemist is a story that will stay with me forever. The story is all about perspective, and how sometimes, we can go looking for what we want all over the world, only to find it right at home… The moral of the story is awesome, but it also showed that even finding what we need at home, traveling is important and makes us grow as human beings.

I’m also thankful for Gayle Forman! I love her contemporary stories, both the YA/NA and the adult ones, and I love that I have been able to use If I Stay in class. I taught that in high school almost two years ago, and we also watched the movie and compared the movie to the book. I really enjoy it when I find very well written novels by contemporary authors that I can introduce my students to, as it is a way to help them enjoy reading in English as well!

*sighs* Colleen Hoover. (I feel like I need a whole line of exclamation marks after CoHo’s name…) I was hooked on her writing when I first read Slammed in September 2012. Beautiful writing. My heart was ripped out of my chest cavity, trampled on, broken, put back together, and finally back in my chest being bigger and stronger after that book. And this just continues with each book. Colleen is also a person who gives back. Her Bookworm Box is one amazing example of that. We can buy a box that is sent to us each month. The box includes two signed books, plus some swag, and all the proceeds (yeah, ALL!!) are given to charities. How beautiful is that? I’ve also had the chance to meet Colleen more than once – last in the South of France at the end of September, but I keep being kind of tongue-tied when I find myself in front of her (or next to her…)

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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