Some Famous Writers I've Known

Nobody tells you that one of the best things that can happen when you become an author is that you get to hang out with other authors. This happens at panels, conferences, book signings, and just casually when you run into them on your travels. It may not be the Fellowship of The Ring, but there's a definite connection (and no Orcs).

When I'd only been publishing books for a few years, I was thrilled to be on the Jewish Book Fair circuit at the same time as Walter Mosley (who is half-Jewish). We were both appearing in Houston and when I saw their schedule and told the book fair's director how much I admired Mosley, she graciously asked if I'd like to stay an extra day and meet him (!). I joined a group for dinner and heard him give a splendid reading. Later that evening, Mosley and I had drinks and talked about the dynamics of building a series.

I've had dinner with the witty and urbane novelist Edmund White in Paris after having met him at an awards ceremony in D.C.  Walking across a Paris bridge after dinner, he gave me insider's advice about what to see in and near Paris that first-time tourists usually miss, and thanks to him I spent a glorious day at the amazing chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte. As he had predicted, it was almost empty of tourists and I was dazzled.

At a summer Oxford University conference, crime novelist Val McDermid rescued me from the humiliating spectacle of passing out in an overcrowded, boiling-hot lecture room which had just one measly fan off in a corner.  She deftly swept me away to the river where we sat in a kind of gazebo, cooling off for a few wonderful hours chatting about our careers, life, and love as we watched little boats pass by. We stayed in touch and when I taught creative writing one summer at Regent’s College in London, Val was my students’ favorite guests speaker.

I can't count how many authors have been gracious enough over the years to write blurbs for my books, and one who was too busy to read that particular book actually invited me to teach at the summer workshop she ran instead. Author after author has been unfailingly kind to me in one way or another.

There have been a few colorful exceptions. My favorite was the New York Times best seller who I’d been exchanging some notes with because we admired each other's work. That author invited me and my spouse over for drinks the next time we were in New York. The visit was going to be one fun piece of a blowout birthday weekend that included dinner at the Russian Tea Room. 

When we got to New York and I called from the luxury hotel we'd splurged on, the writer insisted I had the date wrong. That wasn't possible, since, well, I did know my own birthday and had told him that I was coming in for my birthday. This rising literary star was super frosty on the phone and even sent a postcard later telling us about the wonderful menu we had missed at his home (it actually didn't sound that great).

But a childhood TV hero of mine was staying at the hotel and when I saw him in the lobby, I got to tell him how much I loved his show; I spent time that weekend with my best friend from college; the hotel's Sunday brunch was stupendous; and we had terrific seats to see B.D. Wong in M. Butterfly.

The generous and friendly ones have vastly outnumbered the others, and of course the exceptions have given me great material—now and then ….

Lev Raphael is the author of Writer's Block is Bunk! and 26 other books in many genres. During and since the pandemic, he has published over eighty flash, memoir, and travel essays in a wide variety of literary journals. One of his favorite micro-essay publications is "Streetwalker Stew” at Oddball Magazine: https://oddballmagazine.com/oddball-stories-with-lev-raphael/

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