gaaaaaack I did it I did it

[idiosyncreant]

by which I mean I just sent an e-mail to Robin McKinley's actual factual e-mail address.

Amazing.

I am going to post it here, because why not? Apparently by sending her mail I give leave for her to publish any questions and responses to her blog, which is alright by me.

Dear Ms. McKinley,

Recently I was nudged to, for real this time, write to you. I

Comments

[jade_sabre_301]

GO YOU! that is seriously awesome. I've never bothered to write any author--I think it partially stems from a Babysitters Club book where Mallory wanted to write Louisa May Alcott only to receive a letter from her estate explaining very nicely that she died like a hundred years earlier, and Mallory was super-embarrassed.

And yeah sending out stories! I...read some of my old stuff today? So I pulled it out, which is a start, right? Also I have a story that could probably turn into a collection but does all right on its own, and I have absolutely no idea what sort of thing to submit it to. Time to...look at that I guess. The presence of online mags is becoming more reassuring to me by the day, though.

[idiosyncreant]

It's something I've started a couple of times, then put off as something I wanted to do "once I was published" or because the letter I came up with seemed pretentious. It still felt like that, but with Margaret Mahy passing recently, I realized, McKinley's the one I really needed to write to, just for my own heart's good. X)

Starting submissions stuff is intimidating, and there's no two ways about it. However, duotrope.com is a nice place to do a systematic search of mags by pay rate/genre/etc. I use it a lot!

[rosaleeluann]

Good job! I've never been brave enough to write to my favorite authors.

And yay for watching dramas! 17 episodes, wow. I put off working on my final yesterday to watch a couple episodes of Boys Over Flowers with my friends, but now I really have to work on it or I'll fail. So I'll just... go do that.

[idiosyncreant]

Hah, I watch most stuff on my own time so...I generally arrange it to be a bribe after having worked on something, myself!

Boys Over Flowers is--well, a pop phenomenon! I've watched it in practically every adaptation, even though I don't like the general tone very much, I don't know why it's so compelling. :P What other dramas have you watched?

This was, I think, the letter I really wanted to be sure got sent. I spent quite some time mimicking McKinley while figuring out what I liked in stories. :D

[rosaleeluann]

Other dramas I've watched? Well, none actually... I'm not much of a TV-show watcher, American, Foreign, or otherwise. I'm more of a book/movie person. I think I can count the shows I've watched all of on one hand, though I've watched bits of others of course. (Firefly, Avatar, Korra.... um.... the Lord Peter show made in the 80s...um... thats it.)

The friends I've been watching Boys Over Flowers with I met in the Philippines, where the show is extremely popular... we decided to see what all the fuss is about. Its as much about the watching-with-friends aspect as the show itself... I don't think I'd actually be able to sit through the whole show if it was just me, myself, and I. Its a funny group because we're three girls and one boy, and he's more into the show than any of us.
"I want to be F4, you guys!" "Um, you want to be a selfish spoiled jerk?" "Well, no. Mostly I just want their clothes."

[idiosyncreant]

Haha, that's great.
I want their clothes, too!

The first time I watched it I didn't really get the whole closet pr0n sequence. I think it would now be my only reason to rewatch...

And the idea of F4 is a pretty powerful one--I mean, getting to be the youngest, hottest, top-dogs in a closed world like that. Which is why it's been made into a drama in three different countries, talk about wish-fulfillment!

[naamah_darling]

That is a beautiful letter and I heart you for sending it, and I am sure that she will be moved by it. (How could she not be, seriously?)

It is good to write these letters. There's a letter I didn't write, and now I wish I had, and I will always, always regret that I didn't, despite the likelihood that the person ever seeing it probably approached zero. Write 'em, send 'em, let people know. We have so little time to say these things to one another. Unnecessarily maudlin? Not necessarily. Think of it as cramming as much happiness in as you possibly can. It is good to do these things.

LJ won't let me pick a different icon. Assume I was using one of the cute ones, not the angry Jandar face. Unless you interpret it as a leer of approval, which would be inappropriate in this instance.

[idiosyncreant]

Oh, thank you.

I've realized that McKinley is the one writer still alive that I owe a great debt of gratitude to, as well as just having grown up with her books. Especially of those living.

I didn't write to Diana Wynne Jones, and I don't feel bad about that--she was getting a lot of goodbye mail and I didn't want to write just because I was sad she wasn't going to write any more books. I didn't have much to *say* to her. Instead, it made me know I needed to write McKinley, even more.

So I tried to get something succinct but personal together. I was a bit thrown to discover she only has an e-mail up for sending fanmail, though I'm sure with research I could get something on paper to her publisher, or whatever. And now I'm seeing some grammatical errors now, where I quickly changed some things before sending it. Alas.

It's sent!