Open Fan Gurl Letter to Libba Bray

Cover of Going Bovine

Dear Libba,

I feel the need to introduce myself to you before I meet you at the Teen Author Fest next week. I am afraid I will be so in awe that I will either run and hide, or trip over my tongue and look like a blushing fool. This might happen anyway, but we will be on a panel together on Friday called Under the Influence, and I want to keep the possibility of humiliation to a minimum. (We did meet once last spring at a Books of Wonder event and you were incredibly gracious). I'm going to get all Fan Gurl on you now, publicly.

I read your blog and feel like we are kindred spirits. (It's a strange thing isn't it? People feel like they know you from their words. Writers today are more accessible than they have ever been. I feel like I am revealing myself whenever my writing gets put out there. People who read my blog and interact with me can say that they know me. Why not?)

I'm not from Texas, but it would seem that we have a lot in common, both of us being preacher's daughters.  (I grew up in a seminary in NYC). A wild youth, love of theater and an array of "jobs" before finding our true calling and service: writing in the voice of teens. And Rock Band.

And then I read Going Bovine. I am obsessed with the mystical and the impossible, so from the beginning I knew your book was right up my alley. But you pierced me to the core, Libba. You grapple with notions of reality in ways that I aspire to.

I would love to interview you for this blog. I think that my friends here would be very interested to know about the harnessing of your brilliant imagination into fiction. We could meet for some laughs and deep discussion over lattes and cookies. What do you say?