Sometimes you get a chance to meet that one author whose books helped to form your image of what you would write. Mine was two–Anne Rice and Christopher Pike. I got to meet Anne Rice in November 2014 and it was awesome (and awkward)!

I was a publisher back then, and our latest release Smoke, Bacon and Booze (a cookbook) was being featured at the INSPIRE! Toronto International Book Fair. It was a big deal (especially since we’d only been in business for a year and a half). Looking over the schedule of events, I saw that Anne Rice would be signing books on the Saturday and boy, was I ready to stand in line for that!

However, I was standing at my book on Friday evening when a friend walked up and said, “Hey, did you know that Anne Rice is signing books right now?”

My head shot up!

“NOW? Oh my God! Watch the booth!” I yelled at my chef author, Derek Lankinen and I grabbed my purse and went dashing down the aisle, fangirling out and most likely looking like an absolute crazy person.

I dashed to the Indigo Books’ booth and asked where Anne Rice was. Her Saturday signing was with them, so I assumed that’s where I had to go. I was panicking, thinking that maybe I’d missed her. Warily, they told me she was over in the Random House booth and I frantically repeated “Thank you thank you thank you,” as I dashed away.

When I arrived, there wasn’t much of a lineup–two people–and I frantically started looking for her new book, “Prince Lestat” to buy. I keep using the word frantic and it’s really, quite accurately descriptive. I think I even fell down at one point. Yeah, that happened.

Finally, with book in hand, I think I was the last person to get my book signed. I knelt down beside her and told her that, while I was a publisher now, I’d started out as an author, and her Vampire Chronicles had shaped my idea of vampires along with Christopher Pike’s books. She murmured something about not having read his and I found myself wandering numbly back to my booth, my precious book clutched to my chest.

I collect signed books. I probably have more than 30 now and that one is one of my most prized possessions, along with my signed copy of Diana Gabaldon’s “Written in my Own Heart’s Blood”, Kathy Reichs’ “Bones Never Lie” and George Takei’s “OH MY!”

Maybe next time, I’ll tell you how I met Kathy Reichs at the same conference and we had a short discussion about David Boreanaz (Oh my indeed!)

Have you ever had the chance to meet one of your favourite authors? Who would you meet if you could?