Carolyn Meyer and Moi

  It was a dark and stormy night in Eureka, California. Earlier in the day, I had been to the wonderful Eureka library which resembled a ship builder's project with its strong wooden beams and its high windows looking out to an inlet of the bay. I had gone to see if there might be a DVD of The Phantom of the Opera. Just past the entrance, on the left, was the Young Adult collection, an unusual placement for a library. I have a great fondness for YA books. They are imaginative, compact, and tell a good story. A cover caught my eye, Loving Will Shakespeare. It showed a young couple appropriately dressed for his time, walking away from the reader, wrapped up in themselves, unconcerned about anything, briskly on their way to their destiny. I was not familiar with the author. I grabbed the book and headed for staying up late in the night reading this completely entrancing view of Shakespeare's youth. I looked up the website and discovered I could, "Contact." I wrote a short fan message. I like short as short doesn't interrupt a busy person and cuts to the chase, much like the writing of a YA book. I was pleased to receive a prompt reply. Today, some three years later I met Carolyn Meyer in person while she was visiting her agent in NYC. We talked of many things. I particularly liked learning about her family and her breaking into the writing world. And, of course, I had to tell her several of my stories. In our brief time together, I flashed back to that stormy night in Eureka, and thought about how, once again, the Keeper of the Universe had been working behind the scenes to arrange a lovely conjunction of friends at lunch. Who would have guessed such a possibility? I am currently reading The Bad Queen in which Carolyn Meyer has given us a perfect example of what she does best--putting herself into the setting and becoming the character. How does she do this?? How can she be Anastasia, Isabella, Catherine, Nannerl (Mozart's sister), and numerous others? The blurb says she has written 50 books. It was a rare and beautiful day in the Big Apple and I was privileged to meet the recipient of my fan letter, a generous and gifted writer with a deep and hearty laugh and a willingness to listen.