Corresponding with Published Writers: An Experience

Talking to writers is an interesting hobby of mine; I always send out at least one email a week to a published writer, and every few months I see one in person at a reading.

As I am a writer, I always have a few billion questions to ask of them, though sometimes I cannot ask the question or I'm limited to just one question.

Most writers I've gotten too know have been via email. I've corresponded with popular authors and some you probably haven't heard of. As a newspaper writer for the arts, I have to mingle with artists on a regular basis. It used to be I didn't know what kind of questions to ask a writer; this changed when I became a writer.

Before all my success, I had corresponded with a famous novelist named Matthew Pearl. He wrote the novels "The Dante Club" and the more recent "The Poe Shadow." I read his first novel and was so impressed by it that I sent him a simple email. At the time all I wrote was fiction, but I still had some serious questions to ask. "What magazines do you read?" I might say or "What was your favorite novel?" What was even odder was that he did answer the majority of the questions I asked him: He said he didn't read many magazines, but "Moby Dick" was one book he kept close.

I ended up corresponding with Pearl for a few months off-and-on. It stopped when he stopped answering. I had begun to review books and interview authors for websites and wanted to interview him. He never responded, which I think highlights the writer's profession: You're always busy-especially if you are working multiple jobs.

The next major author I would exchange emails was Evan Kuhlman. He wanted someone to review his book, so an editor gave me the assignment. It ended up being about the time of a turning point in my career. I read his novel and conducted an interview with him, both of which were published online.

After that I received a job at a college newspaper, and one of the first things I published were this review of Kuhlman's novel and my interview with him. I kept emailing Kuhlman as I published the review and interview elsewhere, and we email each other every month or two to this day.

Possibly the biggest writer I ever saw was Mitch Albom. He was advertising his new book "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" and I went to it. I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I saw in Album a man who had the career I wanted: Success in both fiction and non-fiction.

Lastly, I recently met the science fiction author Michael Swanwick. This was at a small book shop, and I was actually able to ask a question. "What are your work habits?" I asked, and he mentioned "Not very good" with a longer story of how he works a writing day. Even with the advent of major books, many writers are willing to listen to those aspiring to be published. They may not always return all those requests for interviews, but often a few simple questions from a fan will lead into a correspondence.