Dream Author Panel

About a week ago I was contacted by Eventbrite about creating a post where I'd share my dream panel or author event.  So, I've attended a lot of book and author conferences, at least I feel like it. And I've met a lot of my favorite authors. 

However these days, it is almost impossible for me to pick my "favorite" authors.  There was a time when you would have asked me and I would have very easily given you a short list that included Stephen King, Dean Koontz, VC Andrews, Anne Rice, and Madeleine L'Engle.  But then, I got a part time job at a bookstore.  Then, I decided to go back and get my Master's degree to be a school librarian.  After that, I started participating in my state's award book programs to help nominate the books and then promote it to students.  And ever since those things, it's like impossible to name my favorite author.  Or at least to give a small list.  So this post was hard for me.  And what I'm going to share below is a few different panels.  Let's see how this will go.

Horror/Science Fiction/Fantasy Authors:

These are authors that I just want to get a chance to meet and tell them how much I love their books, and since this is a dream panel, they aren't all alive.

• Steve Alten
• Ernest Cline
• Michael Crichton
• Stephen King
• Dean Koontz
• Madeleine L'Engle
• Robert McCammon
• Anne Rice
• JK Rowling

Romance Authors:

These are authors that I'd want to meet (and haven't yet met), not only to fangirl over them, but also because my  own writing attempts are kind of romance stories and I'd love to pick their brains for ideas on how to do my own writing by asking how they do certain things when they write.

• Nicole Archer
• Audrey Carlan
• Colleen Hoover
• Sophie Kinsella 

YA Authors:

These are some favorite teen authors that I haven't had a chance to meet yet and would really like to!

• Gwenda Bond
• Kerstin Gier
• Gretchen McNeil

Nonfiction/Science Authors:

As a former science teacher, and a lover of all things to do with dinosaurs and paleontology, there are  few scientists, who have books, that I would like to sit and listen to them talk, as well as meet.

• Robert Bakker
• Stephen Hawking
• Jack Horner

So, those would be the top author panels that I'd really, really like to sit in on, as well as get the chance to talk to them afterwards and get autographs and pictures with them.

Eventbrite is a great site for finding out what conferences and other events might be going on in your area, and I know I've used it to buy tickets for different events I've gone to.  You can check out what is going on HERE.