Author Appreciation Week: Top Five

I realise that AAW started by the fantastic Heidi R Kling (author of Sea) has been a huge hit in the book blogging world this last week. I was pondering on whether or not I should do a post considering the task of choosing just one of my favourite authors would be nearly impossible. So, I decided to do a Top Five...

5. Melissa Marr: Author of the Wicked Lovely YA Series. I have only read one of Melissa's books but that was enough for me to see just what a brilliant writer she is. Probably one of the best I have come across. If you haven't read any of her books, you should just so you can agree with me on this.

Melissa Marr grew up believing in faeries, ghosts, and various other creatures. After teaching college literature for a decade, she applied her fascination with folklore to writing. Wicked Lovely was her first novel. Currently, Marr lives in the Washington, D.C., area, writes full-time, and still believes in faeries and ghosts.

4. Sarah Dessen: Author of many unbelievably successful YA novels such as Just Listen and Lock and Key. Just like before, I have only read one of Sarah's books which was Just Listen but that book convinced me to put her on the list. She is one of the authors that has a great talent for writing in such a way, the reader never gets bored. Her books focus mainly on her characters and are perfect for any teenage girl.

While Sarah Dessen was born in Evanston, Illinois, she was raised in North Carolina. Both of her parents were professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which Dessen later attended from 1988 to 1993, graduating with highest honors with a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing.

3. Becca Fitzpatrick: Author of YA novel Hush, Hush and the to be released Crescendo. Omg, how much did I love Hush, Hush? Let's just say A LOT! A lot of a lot. So much so I read it all in a day which is very rare for me to read a whole book in a day. I couldn't stop. Her writing style and the characters that she creates are so addictive. Crescendo is high on the list of my most awaited novels of 2010.

Becca grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers, and at one point, dreamed of becoming a spy. Then she read BLOWING MY COVER: MY LIFE AS A CIA SPY by Lindsay Moran and changed her mind. She ended up graduating college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling.

2. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: Author of YA novel Beautiful Creatures and and the to be released Beautiful Darkness. The latter is currently up there right next to Crescendo. I have to say I was slightly dissapointed with the name. It just didn't seem very original to me but I'm sure that won't take away the utter amazingness of the book. Can't. Wait.

Margaret Stohle lives in Santa Monica with her family where she also writes the Caster Chronicles with Kami. Kami Garcia loves disaster movies, and could easily live on pizza and Diet Coke.

1. Luisa Plaja: Author of YA books Split by a Kiss, Extreme Kissing and the highly awaited Swapped by a Kiss. Split by a Kiss is still one of my favourite books for a rainy day. I could happily read it over and over again. Luisa is an awesome writer and the fact that she is super-nice blogging pal (editor of teen site Chicklish) is just an amazing added bonus. Luisa was the first writer to agree to a guest post and Swapped by a Kiss is yet again right at the top of my TBR list. She's a great role model and author. The list just goes on and on...

Luisa was born in Glasgow and was brought up in Sicily and Greater London. She currently lives in Devon with her family. She loves reading, writing and pretending she can do things she can't, such as ice skating and telling jokes.