From A Fan

Dear Margaret Atwood,

     I'll admit it: I've only read a few of your works. They probably weren't even your best, just your most commercial ones. Die-hard fans of yours would call me a poser. But even from what little I've read from you and the utterly insufficient experience I have in literature, I can tell that you are a master. Actually, I suppose you'd prefer the term mistress, but you get what I'm saying.

     You wield words like a sharp weapon, striking against submission, convention, and prejudice, and defending the woman and the human person from those who seek to bring them down. Your work is art in all its practicality. You are absolutely brilliant, and you inspire me as I'm sure you inspire thousands all over the world. If the impact I make on literature someday is a tiny fraction of what you've made today, then I can say I've succeeded as a writer ten times over.

     You do Canada proud, Ma'am. 

From, A Fan

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Dear Stephen King,

     I read The Shining when I was about fourteen, and haven't stopped reading your work since. The only reason I can't say I've read everything you've ever written is because you've written a whole damn lot, but it's a goal of mine. 

     I think you're amazing. Your manage to take the elusive, dark, shadowy stuff just beneath the surface of our commonplace realities and give them shape, form, body, voice. You make us question intrinsic goodness and doubt the sureness and solidity of our worlds. 

     Now there are people who think that because you've written so much, you can't possibly be any good. They place you in the ranks of authors who churn out novel after novel without regard for the story, the plot, the characters. They think that quality and quantity cannot exist hand-in-hand, or worse, they think that quantity is quality.

     What these people don't realize is that you are that good. Your characters are dynamic, your settings convincing, your plots crazy enough to be real. In other words, you make some grade A quality shit, Sir, and you do it consistently. You're my favorite author in the world, and I hope to one day write one novel that I can say you'd enjoy reading. 

From, A Fan

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Dear George R.R. Martin,

     I'm a relatively new fan of yours, having only recently read the first four books of your series A Song of Ice and Fire. It was in the top five of nearly every list titled "Best Fantasy Books" I found online. I had my doubts at first, but they were right: you're brilliant.

     Your plots are winding, your characters far from cliche, and the entire world of Westeros utterly gritty and down-to-earth. You make magic and dragons seem implausible and completely real at the same time. But what really made me a fan is your attention to detail. Every character, plot twist, and sentence is accounted for. It's weird how my favorite line of yours is in the acknowledgements section, when you wrote, "The devil is in the details, they say. A book this size has a lot of devils, any one of which will bite you if you don't watch out."

     That is absolutely on the money, Sir, and now I'm one of your legions of fans awaiting the next installment of details you're going to give us. I seriously can't wait, because I know it's going to be freakin' fantastic.

     No pressure, though. 

From, A Fan