Thursday, May 24, 2012

May I tell you something about someone else?


I recently had pretty much the worst job interview ever. The position was described as "marketing specialist." Turns out, it was selling knives at Sam's Club. For less money than I make now. (Which I didn't think was possible.) Obviously, the job was not for me. Not to mention, I failed every single question.

One of the questions he asked me was: "Who is your professional hero?" I answered Jodi Picoult, because she is a successful published author, with several books that have been made into movies/tv movies (and because I knew I didn't want the job and didn't have to pick some marketing guru or something). 

I wouldn't say Jodi Picoult is my most favorite author, but I do admire her a lot. Well it didn't matter anyway because the guy had no idea who she was.

By the way, then he asked me: "What book are you reading now?" Finally! A question I like to hear. :) I told him I was reading IN HONOR. Obviously he had never heard of that, either. Oh well!

Anyway, what is the point of all this? Well, it got me thinking... who really is my professional hero? I wouldn't say I really have any heroes in the advertising world. So I decided to stick with an author. 

The author whose career I admire the most is Sarah Mlynowski. I love that she has had success in multiple genres. The strange thing is, she is the author who got me hooked on chick lit, and then later when I started reading more YA, she came out with YA books. Crazy.

I got hooked on chick lit thanks to a friend who recommended SEE JANE DATE (by Melissa Senate, the best chick lit book ever) and MILKRUN (by Sarah Mlynowski). I decided I wanted to write my own chick lit book! This was after I graduated college and I was feeling very ambitious and like anything was possible. (Oh, to have those days back again.) Sarah even came out with a book on how to write a chick lit novel: SEE JANE WRITE.

Well, I never found my Mr. Right, never had my happy ending. So I decided chick lit was not for me after all. I switched to YA. And I was so excited to find that Sarah wrote YA books!

If you are not familiar with Sarah Mlynowski's books, I highly recommend checking them out!

I actually had a chance to meet her, and she was so incredibly nice and friendly. The book signing was so much fun. Look:
Susane Colasanti, Sarah Mlynowski and Maureen Johnson. Best book signing ever.

What author do you most admire? Or, who is your professional hero?

12 comments:

  1. You know, I don't think I've read a Sarah Mlynowski book... I definitely need to remedy that! Two authors I greatly admire are Jodi Picoult (like you!) and Ken Follett because they're both incredibly prolific and highly entertaining. In the YA world, I most admire Sarah Dessen and Melina Marchetta. For the most part, they write contemporary books about real teens in fairly regular sitations, but they manage to craft gorgeous, captivating stories. I love that!

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    1. I really admire Sarah Dessen, too, and completely agree with you. :) Definitely read a Sarah Mlynowski book if you get a chance.

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  2. My favorite writer, the late great Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, is also the writer I admire most. He's been a huge inspiration to me not only as a writer, but also as a human being. I discovered him around the time my Russophilia was reawakened in a huge way, and his writing definitely had a big influence on my first Russian novel starting from the time I went back to working on it with a vengeance in November '96.

    I can really relate to how he kept so many of his stories, including entire books, plays, and long poems, memorized in his head for years before he was able to write them down (though of course I had different reasons for not writing them down immediately). It also is very humbling and inspiring knowing that he was prepared to die for his writing, and how many risks he took smuggling it out to the West. And even after he finally came home to Russia in 1994, he wasn't an angry, bitter person. He preached a message of spiritual redemption and healing from the past.

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  3. I should really have a good answer to this question. But off the top of my head, I don't. I'm going to give more thought to it now. Though now that I think about it...I have never personally been big on "heroes" and "role models". I don't think they're bad. I, personally, just don't really feel the need for them... Idk. Thanks for the thought-provoking post. :)

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  4. Meg Cabot, for sure. I love how prolific she is, and she writes everything from MG to adult chic-lit. And it's all GOOD. I love her.

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    1. Good answer! I still haven't read any of her books. I need to soon!

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  5. My answer changes all the time...depending upon who I'm reading.

    I've read very little Stephen King, but did watch an A&E biography on him a while ago. When he was just out of college with kids, he was teaching English. He'd come home, spend time with his family, grade papers then, at about 11, start writing. Every night. I admire discipline like that. When I get home at 7 and complain about a long day, I realize how whiny I'm being.

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    1. Wow. I admire that, too! I wish I had that kind of discipline!

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  6. OMG. Selling knives? lol I can picture you there with the little headset on cutting an aluminum can (and likely your hand) with a never-to-be-sharpened knife again.

    Keep searching...you'll find the ideal job in due time.

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    1. Haha! That sounds about right. Thank you! I hope you are right. :)

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  7. OMG that signing must have been AMAZING!!

    I'm with Katy in that I think my professional hero would be Melina Marchetta. Because whether fantasy or contemp, she packs a punch with every book she's ever written. She has a way with words and with completely hooking me. Breaking me down and then building me back up.

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    1. That signing was one of the best ones I have ever been to. Three of my favorite authors, and it was so much fun!

      I haven't read any of Melina Marchetta's books, but I've got Jellicoe Road on my to-read list!

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