I hope you're not flying today. My friend Randy Riggs was visiting me in Chicago this morning, but then he had to fly back to LA. Bad news for him, but great news for me: He had to leave all his liquid or semi-liquid toiletries at my apartment. His Old Spice is going to last me for, like, two weeks. (Although I can't use it this particular weekend, since I have to get up at five tomorrow morning and fly to Alabama.)

While I appreciate everyone's thoughts on mortal literary enemies, in the end I've decided to be enemy-free for now. In fact, I've decided to abandon hate altogether. What the world needs now is love. Sweet love. So I've collected the following list:

MY TOP 5 (or 7) YA AUTHOR CRUSHES*

1. Markus Zusak
The only guy on our list. (EDIT: Scott Westerfeld, mentioned below, is also a guy, as his wife points out in comments.) Sure, I get tired of librarians talking about his good looks and generosity and kindness and brilliance, but it's all true. He's funny, extraordinarily personable, and a genius (if you don't believe me, read The Book Thief). Also he is Australian. One gets bonus points for being Australian.

2. Sarah Dessen
Not Australian, but the next best thing: North Carolinian. Sarah Dessen has the advantage of bearing a resemblance to Sarah Green, but my author crush on her really began with The Truth about Forever, and then increased as I read her other books, and then came to a deafening crescendo when we drank and gambled together in New Orleans. (I only went gambling because I wanted to support the New Orleans economy. And boy did I!)

3. E. Lockhart
E. Lockhart's gender is a closely guarded secret--well, at least you can't figure out its gender from its initial. I happen to know, however, that E. is a woman. And man, what a woman. She writes about gherkins better than anyone I know, and her books are at once deeply funny and subversive.

4. Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier
I am extremely jealous of Scott and Justine because, unlike certain authors, they both have wikipedia entries, and while that jealousy could eventually morph into a kind of mortal-enemyish rage, I really like them. They both write consistently excellent books. They are adorably married, and both quite charming. Also, they are about 53% Australian, which helps.

5. Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Holly and Cecil get lumped together not because they are married like Scott and Justine, but rather because 1. they share an agent, and 2. they are my only two literary crushes who were/are into role playing games. (In the interest of full disclosure, my brother Hank and I really loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle role playing game, and in fact I would probably quit writing books entirely if Hank and I could play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle role playing game professionally.)

So who are your top 5 literary crushes? (And yes, this is my lame attempt to start a meme.)




*I mean non-romantic crushes. My definition of literary crush here is someone whose writing makes you wish you could hang out with them all the time. It's like when you meet someone and they're really cool and you think, "God I hope I get to become friends with that person." Eventually that feeling fades, and you just ARE friends (e.g., I am already friends with noted Out Magazine featuree David Levithan).