Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on FacebookTwitterPinterest, or on her author website.

Over the past few years, I have become a fan of Brandon Sanderson. This might not be news to you. I “may” have spoken of his work here and there. I “may” have raved about his Writing Excuses podcast. You “may” have heard me say he’s a brilliant storyteller. In fact, my agent caught me going on about Brandon Sanderson at a writers conference once and she accused me of having an author crush.

I didn’t know there were such things. But when she put it that way, I could not refute it.

And it’s all in good fun. I do have a great respect for Brandon Sanderson’s storytelling abilities. I own many of his books. And if I had the opportunity, I would buy him a cup of coffee (or cocoa if he preferred) and thank him for hours of entertainment.

If I were to make a list of writers that I so admire I wish we were pals, Brandon would be at the top of that list.

Also on the list would be:

J.K. Rowling
Rick Riordan
Scott Westerfeld
L. M. Montgomery
Frank Peretti (Met him! And bought him lunch! See picture on right.)
C. S. Lewis
J. R. R. Tolkien
Meg Cabot
Andrew Peterson
John Grisham
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Jane Austen
Travis Thrasher
Louis Sachar
and Lloyd Alexander

That all, I think. Though I probably forgot someone. This is a list of authors whose work I greatly admire. Whose writing styles lead me to believe they are likable individuals. Who I’d like to buy a cup of coffee or cocoa and thank them for hours of entertainment. (And, yes, I realize some of these authors are no longer living. So I’ll just have to chat them up in heaven someday.)

How about you? Which writers would you like to be friends with?