This month’s discussion for the Show Your Shelves Some Love challenge is all about giving some love to the writers of our favorite books.  So, without further ado, here is my “Dear Author” letter/thank you note:
Dear…
Suzanne Collins, thank you for Mockingjay and giving me the ability to heal.
Diana Gabaldon, thank you for writing historical fiction about an intelligent woman’s romantic relationship that isn’t just a trope-filled bodice ripper.
J.R.R. Tolkien, thank you for giving the world the true history of the Hobbits and Middle Earth and making me a fanatic for the Fantasy genre.
Dr. Seuss, thank you for writing the best books a kid could learn to read.  If it weren’t for you, this introvert wouldn’t have discovered her love of words and her ability to escape to other worlds whenever needed.

C.S. Lewis, thank you for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I have never looked at wardrobes or armoires the same since.
Stephen King, thank you for writing the scariest book I have ever read, IT, and one of my all-time favorite Fantasy novels, The Eyes of the Dragon.  Also, thank you for showing me how evil can twist seemingly innocent things into something horrible and corrupt in Needful Things.
L.M. Montgomery, thank you for Anne of Green Gables.  Anne is my spirit animal and without her, I would have never learned that I am perfect just the way I am.
Katherine Paterson, thank you for Bridge to Terabithia, the first book to make me ugly cry.
Roald Dahl, thank you for Matilda and giving me the dream of one day escaping the family I was born into but never belonged.
John Lenahan, thank you for writing Shadowmagic and offering it for free on podiobooks.com. Without you, I wouldn’t have discovered how much I enjoy listening to audiobooks.
Ann M. Martin, thank you for “The Babysitter’s Club” series.  I never enjoyed babysitting, but I loved every moment of reading your books during hot Summer days when no one but myself seemed to realize that being outside was over-rated.

Jenny Lawson, thank you for Let’s Pretend this Never Happened and Furiously Happy.  I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hysterically while reading.  Also, thank you for the phrase “Depression lies”.
Rainbow Rowell,  thank you for Eleanor and Park, the first book, not counting anything by Dr. Seuss, that I immediately re-read as soon as I finished it for the first time.
Anne Rice, thank you for Interview with the Vampire, the book that started me on my vampire obsession.
Brontë sisters, thank you for getting me hooked on Gothic literature and the Classics.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, thank you for making me fall in love with historical fiction and giving me my childhood go-to books to read when I was sick.
Edgar Allen Poe, thank you for making my Freshman study hall periods more interesting and giving me a much-needed distraction from my Algebra homework.
Love with all my heart,
 
Rachelle, The Girl in the Book Fort
 
P.S. Thank you to all the authors I haven’t mentioned who have written books that made me clutch them to my chest, sigh, and wish there was more.  You make it worth getting out of bed in the morning, even after staying up all night to read.